Coast Guard hoists ill man from cruise ship nearly 170 miles from California coast
A passenger on a cruise ship nearly 170 miles off the coast of Los Angeles was medevaced from the vessel on Sunday after experiencing severe abdominal pain, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
At about 1 a.m. on Saturday, the Coast Guard District Eleven Command Center received a request for medevac from the Princess Cruises-operated Grand Princess ship, for a 63-year-old man who was experiencing severe abdominal pain.
When the call was received, the cruise ship was located over 1,000 miles off the coast of San Diego.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard told Fox News Digital the Jayhawk helicopter does not have the range to be able to conduct a rescue that far away from the coast.
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Because of the distance from shore, the Coast Guard put the cruise ship on a communications schedule, where cruise ship staff and the Coast Guard communicated every four hours until the ship was within range for a Jayhawk helicopter crew to conduct a rescue.
At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, more than 36 hours from the initial call, the Jayhawk aircrew was able to hoist the man experiencing abdominal pains from the Grand Princess ship.
During the rescue, a Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento C-27 Spartan aircrew provided overflight support.
Once the Jayhawk returned to shore, the man was seen walking with assistance to an ambulance.
The rescue was the first to be conducted by the newly established Coast Guard Air Station Ventura, according to a press release.