Canadian rescue teams evacuate three people from cruise ships
Two passengers and a crew member were airlifted in separate medical calls off northern Vancouver Island over four days.
Royal Canadian Air Force search-and-rescue personnel responded to three cruise ship emergencies off northern Vancouver Island, evacuating two passengers and one crew member over a four-day period, according to authorities.
On Monday, two search-and-rescue technicians were lowered onto Serenade of the Seas to prepare a passenger experiencing medical distress for transfer to a hovering helicopter. The passenger was flown to Port Hardy and handed over to paramedics.
Two days earlier, 442 Squadron evacuated a sick passenger during pre-dawn hours about 200 kilometres northwest of Port Hardy. The patient was transported by helicopter to Comox, where paramedics took the passenger to a hospital.
In a Sept. 10 response in roughly the same area, the squadron airlifted a crew member who was reported to be in critical condition. The ship’s doctor accompanied the patient to Comox. Both were then transported by a B.C. Emergency Health Services helicopter for immediate care at an undisclosed hospital.
Officials from 19 Wing Comox and B.C. Emergency Health Services did not provide details about the illnesses or injuries, citing patient privacy.