Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma graduates its first class of Rescue Swimmers
The first class of Aviation Survival Technicians, graduated from Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma, Friday, August 12, 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo)
PETALUMA, Calif. – The first class of aviation survival technicians, an occupation in the Coast Guard responsible for jumping from rescue helicopters and hoisting survivors from vessels in distress, graduated from Coast Guard Training Center...
Sew others may live: making masks for the fight against COVID-19
Petty Officer 2nd Class Chad Morris sews materials at a sewing machine in the rescue swimmer shop in North Bend, Oregon, April 10, 2020.
(Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Bend)
NORTH BEND, OR. – Coast Guard aviation survival technicians, better known as rescue swimmers, undergo some of the most intense training available in any military branch. They are highly conditioned...
Fins in the water
Petty Officer 3rd Class Evan Thigpen (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn)
by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn
“I took the injured woman first,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Evan Thigpen, an aviation survival technician (AST) at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City (ASEC), North Carolina. “We were doing fast-basket recoveries to the helicopter, but I had...
Rescue swimmer medevacs possible heart attack victim for his first rescue
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Coast Guard rescue swimmer performed his first rescue Monday, medevacing a crewmember in critical condition from a tanker in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 30 miles off the Matagorda Jetties.
“Because he was unconscious at the time, we had to use our rescue litter, which is a specially designed stretcher we are able to hoist with using the helicopter,” said Petty...
Haitian baby born on Coast Guard Cutter with help of ship and helicopter crews
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – An Air Station Clearwater, Fla., helicopter crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma assisted in the delivery of a male Haitian baby on the cutter Saturday afternoon.
First female Coast Guard rescue swimmer retires
SEATTLE — The first female Coast Guard rescue swimmer retired after more than 25 years of distinguished Coast Guard service Monday.
Video – The Beginning of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program
Retired Chief Warrant Officer George Hathaway speaks about the early days of the Coast Guard rescue swimmer program during the mid 1980’s and describes his first case in Alaska.
U.S. Coast Guard assists Canadian Coast Guard in rescue
JUNEAU, Alaska – A Coast Guard rescue swimmer from Air Station Sitka, Alaska, checks on the condition of two men aboard an 18-foot recreational vessel in Portland Inlet, Canada, Friday. Air Station Sitka responded to a request for assitance from the Canadian Coast Guard. The two men were midly hypothermic. The Coast Guard rescue swimmer remained with the men until Canadian Coast Guard assets...
Humboldt Bay Coast Guard Responds to Rafting Accident on Smith River
McKinleyville, Calif. – Coast Guard Air Station Humboldt Bay received a report of three people in the water on the Smith River, east of Crescent City, Calif. At approximately 3 p.m. today.
