HOUSTON – Coast Guard Air Station Houston medevaced a diver approximately 120 miles off the Galveston coast, Sunday.
A watchstander at Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston received a call at approximately 11 a.m. via VHF marine radio from a person aboard the 36-foot pleasure craft Southern Cross requesting immediate assistance. The reporting source stated that the vessel and four people aboard were on a diving excursion when one of the divers had to make a rapid ascent. As a result, the diver, a 45-year old female required immediate medical assistance.
The Coast Guard launched an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter and crew from Air Station Houston and an HH-65C Dolphin helicopter and crew from Air Station Corpus Christi. The Dolphin crew from Air Station Houston arrived on scene first and hoisted the woman into the cabin of the helicopter and transported her to Mainland Hospital in Texas City.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Holbrook, operations specialist and watchstander at Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston attributes the working VHF marine radio onboard the Southern Cross to saving the woman’s life.
“Without having a working VHF marine radio onboard, we would not have been able to help them because they were so far offshore. That radio literally saved her life,” said Hollbrook.
The condition of the woman is unknown.
