A passenger on board a cruise ship, about 30-km off Brooks Peninsula (northwest of Vancouver Island), had to be evacuated to hospital by an RCAF Search and Rescue helicopter, after he fell ill.
The Comorant helicopter left its base at 19 Wing, Comox at 7:40 a.m. today, and reached the cruise ship ‘Oosterdam’ at about 8:30 a.m.
The RCAF said strong winds of almost 75 km/hr forced the helicopter to conduct a hoist off the bow of the ship from a height of 140-feet.
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The helicopter also had to fly backwards at 45 km/hr to compensate for the wind and turbulence while two Search and Rescue technicians were lowered to the deck.
The patient was then loaded into a rescue basket.
“We had good communication with the ship’s bridge crew and they were able to maneuver the ship to help us, but we still had to handle strong winds,” said Captain Luc Coates, aircraft commander. “The First Officer, Capt Pete Wright and Flight Engineer, Warrant Officer James MacDougall, worked very well to develop a plan before we came in; it made the hoist efficient, despite the challenging winds.”
Once the patient was on board, the helicopter flew to Victoria General Hospital, where he was transferred in stable condition.
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