Pararescuemen from the 129th Rescue Wing, California Air National Guard, preparing to jump from an HC-130J Combat King II aircraft Saturday night to reach a 26 year old fisherman who sustained a serous head injury over 750 miles off the coast of Costa Rica.(U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Duane Ramos)
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Coast Guard coordinated efforts to medevac an injured mariner with the U.S. Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing and the Costa Rican Coast Guard approximately 1200 miles west of Costa Rica Tuesday evening.
At approximately 9:10 a.m., Friday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s Eleventh District Command Center received a report from members of the Costa Rican Coast Guard that a mariner had suffered a head injury while working aboard the fishing vessel Victoria G.
Watchstanders sent Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) notifications to request the assistance of any available nearby ships. When no vessels within 288 miles were able to respond, the watchstanders requested assistance from the 129th Rescue Wing based at Moffett Air National Guard Base, California, which launched an HC-130J fixed wing aircraft.
The ANG aircraft arrived and deployed four pararescuemen, who conducted a nighttime parachute jump into the Eastern Pacific to safely board the vessel and stabilize the injured mariner. The Royal Midori, a ship responding to the AMVER notification, began to sail towards the injured mariner’s vessel to provide any further assistance needed.
The pararescuemen team and the injured mariner were transferred to the Royal Midori, which transported the injured mariner to a Costa Rican Hospital.
The injured mariner was last listed in stable condition.
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