NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — U.S. Coast Guard rescue crew medically evacuated a 32-year-old man from a 41-foot sailing vessel about 20-miles southeast of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Saturday.
Emergency dispatchers contacted watchstanders aboard Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville, Fla., command center at 3:33 a.m. to request a medevac for the male reporting he was experiencing shock-like symptoms from a head injury caused from striking the mast of the vessel.
After consulting with a Coast Guard flight surgeon, a medical evacuation was determined necessary.
A rescue aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater Fla., launched aboard a MH-60 Jayhawk to locate the 41-foot sailing vessel with three people aboard.
A rescue crew aboard the 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Bluefin homeported in Fort Pierce, Fla. was also deployed to assist.
Coast Guardsmen aboard the Jayhawk located the sailing vessel, which had ran aground in the Mosquito Lagoon, at 7:30 a.m.
The crew safetly hoisted and transported the 32-year-old male to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Members of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commision assisted in the medical evacuation and transported the other two crewmembers of the 41-foot sailing vessel to the Halifax Medical Center via All Terrain Vehicles.
“When the Jayhawk crew located the three boaters they were all wearing life jackets,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Samuel Marodis, operational watchstander aboard Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville. “In 2011, 84 percent of drowning victims were reported as not wearing a life jacket, this piece of safety gear could mean life or death for a boater.”
The man’s condition is unknown.
