Office of External Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard

Date: May 4, 2008

Contact:  PA3 Tom Atkeson
(618) 225-9008

COAST GUARD MEDEVACS MAN FROM CARGO SHIP

NEW ORLEANS - The Coast Guard medevaced a 34-year-old man from a bulk cargo ship in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 150 miles south of the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River, today.

At approximately 12 p.m., a watchstander at the Eighth Coast Guard District Command Center received a call from a crewman aboard the bulk carrier ship Nordelbe, a Cypress flagged cargo ship, requesting medical assistance. The watchstander contacted a flight surgeon with Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans who confirmed the man needed to be medevaced.

An HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans and an HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., were launched to assist the man.

The HH-65 crew hoisted the man at approximately 4 p.m. and took him to West Jefferson Medical Center in Metairie, La., for treatment.

*** Media Note: No video of this rescue is available.***

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U.S. Coast Guard - Saving lives since 1790