Traverse City Michigan helicopter crew, deployed to Caribbean, medevacs man from cruise ship

CLEVELAND – A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Traverse City, Mich., temporarily assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Spencer patrolling Caribbean waters, medically evacuated a man from a cruise ship about 115 miles south of Haiti Wednesday night.

Staff from the cruise ship Emerald Princess called the Coast Guard Seventh District Command Center to request a medevac for the 64-year-old man Wednesday after he reportedly began experiencing breathing problems and was placed on a ventilator.

The Air Station Traverse City crew hoisted the man onto the MH-65C Dolphin helicopter and brought him to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they were met by Trinity Air Ambulance for further transport to awaiting emergency medical technicians in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

The man’s condition after his transfer to Trinity Air Ambulance is unknown.

Aircrews and helicopters throughout the Coast Guard routinely deploy outside of their areas of responsibility to other regions in support of a wide-range of Coast Guard missions including search and rescue, drug and migrant interdiction, marine environmental protection, and living marine resources.