SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Air Station Borinquen medevaced a 28 year-old man from Culebra Island, Puerto Rico Saturday afternoon.
The man was aboard a vessel in waters off a beach on Culebrita Island, Puerto Rico, when he reportedly dove into the water and resurfaced unconscious and not breathing.
Coast Guard Search and Rescue Coordinators at Sector San Juan received initial notification of the incident from a physician who was at the beach and performed CPR on the man, who was able to recover his breathing and heartbeat but still remained unconscious.
Coast Guard controllers coordinated with a Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine unit, who arrived on scene and transported the man from Culebrita Island to Culebra Island, where he was transported to the Culebra Clinic Emergency Room. Medical personnel at the Culebra Clinic determined that the patient’s condition required that he be medevaced to a hospital on the main island of Puerto Rico to receive further medical care.
The patient and a medical physician were transported to the Culebra Island Airport and embarked aboard a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter that transported them to the Centro Medico Hospital in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico where the patient was received by awaiting medical personnel.
