Coast Guard Performs Consecutive Medevacs in Western Alaska

The Coast Guard performed back-to-back medevacs of two heart attack patients aboard separate cargo vessels in Western Alaska.

The first call came Tuesday morning, when the Netherlands-flagged ship BBC Denmark reported that a 48-year-old mariner was showing signs of a heart attack. The vessel was nearly 600 miles southwest of Unalaska at the time, and made way toward Adak in an effort to meet a Coast Guard helicopter crew off the cutter Munro. The helicopter made contact with the BBC Denmark on Wednesday morning, and the patient was successfully transported to Adak and then on to Anchorage for further care.

Later that day, the Coast Guard received a second call from the container ship APL China, reporting a similar situation happening 225 east of Unalaska. The Coast Guard was able to send a helicopter to pick up the 54-year-old patient on Wednesday evening. The man was then sent to Anchorage by way of Sand Point.

At the time of the transfers, both men were reported to be in stable condition.