Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter file photo.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew medevaced a German couple, Monday, from the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System 967-foot Malta-flagged tanker ship, BW Lilac, approximately 110 miles north of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
The Jayhawk aircrew transported the man and woman, reportedly in their 60s, to the Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Regional Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where emergency medical personnel received and transported them to the “Centro Medico” Hospital in San Juan.
They reportedly sustained injuries aboard the 32-foot sailing vessel, Uplace, and required a higher level of care ashore.
Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan received a request from the International Emergency Response Coordination Center at 9:45p.m., Saturday, to medevac the master of the Uplace, who had sustained a leg injury. Watchstanders conducted an Emergency Group Call, EGC, to alert maritime traffic near the distress. The BW Lilac crew responded to the EGC and diverted from their transit to assist the mariners.
Once on scene in 12-foot seas, approximately 340 nautical miles north of Puerto Rico, the BW Lilac crew embarked the mariners and reported to the Coast Guard that the woman had sustained a broken wrist. Upon rendezvous with the BW Lilac, the Jayhawk aircrew hoisted both patients safely aboard the aircraft.
“We were happy to get the patients to safety and a higher level of care after such a scary incident,” said Petty Officer Rich Stewart, MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter flight mechanic and aircrew for the case. “A huge thanks to the BW Lilac for going out of their way to take them aboard and ensure they were taken care of.”
The Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue, also known as AMVER, is a worldwide voluntary reporting system sponsored by the United States Coast Guard. It is a computer-based global ship-reporting system used worldwide by search and rescue authorities to arrange for assistance to persons in distress at sea.
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