JUNEAU, Alaska – A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka aircrew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter safely medevaced a 50-year-old U.S. citizen off the motor vessel Horizon Kodiak 230 miles southeast of Sitka Sunday.
The 17th Coast Guard District command center in Juneau received a call from Rescue Coordination Center in Victoria, B.C., at approximately 3 a.m. requesting a medevac for Mark Hoffman, reportedly suffering from chest pain and shortness of breath 25 miles west of Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C.
A U.S. Coast Guard flight surgeon and Canadian Coast Guard flight surgeon decided Hoffman needed be medevaced and requested a helicopter launch.
A Jayhawk was launched from Air Station Sitka at 7 a.m. to conduct the medevac arriving on scene at approximately 9:15 a.m. Hoffman was then safely hoisted into the Jayhawk and taken to Ketchikan where he was transferred to local emergency medical services.