TAMPA, Fla. – The Coast Guard medically evacuated a 55-year-old male from a 41-foot commercial dive boat about 60-miles west of John’s Pass, Fla., at approximately 4 p.m. Sunday.
Crewmembers aboard the vessel contacted Coast Guard Sector Mobile’s command center in Mobile, Ala., at about 2 p.m. reporting that Bill Nelson was suffering from decompression sickness and needed immediate medical attention.
Search and rescue coordinators from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., launched an HH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., and safely hoisted Nelson aboard the aircraft.
Nelson was taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., at about 5 p.m.
