USCG HH-60 file photo
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — A Coast Guard aircrew rescued a 45-year old woman from a remote, isolated beach between the Morse and Sprague rivers at the Southern portion of Cape Small in Maine, April 7, 2011.
Coast Guard Sector Northern New England was notified by the Sagadahoc County Sheriff Office around 11:34 p.m., who found a vehicle at Hunnewell Beach that matched that of a missing woman they and other local officials had been looking for since around 12:00 p.m.
Local authorities discovered footprints on the beach in the vicinity of the water line and it was believed the woman may have entered the water.
A Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and a boat crew from Coast Guard Station South Portland were dispatched. Crews from the Maine Marine Patrol, Sagadahoc and Lincoln County Sheriff departments and the Wiscasset Police Department also assisted in the search.
Using the aircrafts forward looking infrared radar, the helicopter crew located the severely hypothermic woman around 3:09 a.m., and transported her to Maine Medical Center where she was listed in stable condition.
“The outcome of this case highlights close coordination between the Coast Guard and local and county authorities,” said Lt. Nick Barrow, the command center supervisor for Sector Northern New England. “Search crews on land helped direct the Coast Guard helicopter to a remote tidal beach that could not easily be accessed by land, where the woman was found alive, but in need of immediate medical attention.”
