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A SERIOUSLY ILL crew member has been airlifted from a Spanish fishing vessel off the south west coast of Ireland.
The emergency medevac (medical evacuation) was requested by Spanish and UK maritime authorities after a crew member was reported to have suffered a possible stroke.
Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry mounted and coordinated the medevac operation.
The Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was tasked at around 2.00pm and requested to proceed to the location about 80 minutes south west of Shannon.
In the meantime, the trawler was requested to proceed north east towards the Irish coast to reduce the distance the helicopter would have to travel to rendezvous with it.
An Irish Air Corps CASA CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft was also tasked to provide top cover for the mission. Rescue 01, which had been on patrol off the west coast at the time, was requested to assist Rescue 115 with top cover radio communications as the helicopter would be too far from land to maintain direct contact with the Irish Coast Guard marine rescue coordination centre.
Rescue 115 reached the vessel at around 3.20pm and a winchman/paramedic was lowered onto the deck to prepare the patient for airlifting.
The ill crew member was winched on board the helicopter in a matter of minutes and was flown to Shannon Airport from where he was transferred into the care of the National Ambulance Service and transported to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
An Irish Coast Guard spokesperson said: “The Shannon based Coast Guard helicopter successfully evacuated a casualty from a Spanish fishing vessel off the south west coast earlier this afternoon. The mission was carried out on foot of a joint request from UK and Spanish authorities. The casualty was landed at Shannon airport for transfer into the care of the HSE.”
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Thanks Shannon coast guard. Speedy recovery to this person.
Hopefully that man is ok. Another excellent job by the lads and ladies at the coast guard. And the dig out by the Air Corp too before I forget. An 80 minute flight would be the guts of 250-300km from Shannon I’d be thinking, someone able to help out with the range on their radios then? Would’ve thought they’d have a repeater somewhere to aid it?
@This time its personable!: or maybe satellite phones? Must be some reason they can’t. Fair play to them.
@This time its personable!: VHF is line of sight. Operating low in the sea so far out they cant contact ATC. The aircorps, providing top cover, was the repeater in a sense. 250nm at 36,000ft. 30nm at 1,000ft
@Paul Hedderman: Thank you Paul, it’s a long time ago since I did my GMDSS and messing about with UHF and VHF. I’ve forgotten it all, the only thing I recall is we’d use the UHF for our own due to it being better through bulkhead and decks. I wouldn’t know what to push on a hand held now even!
@This time its personable!: you type in the number you want and then press the green phone button!
Only a few miles from shore with their huge ships pillaging our fish , and costing Irish taxpayer for chopper service and not to mention risk involved.
@brendan o connell: well outside irish territorial waters. And I’m glad my tax paying money went towards saving a life.
@brendan o connell: Shame on you for that comment.
@brendan o connell: For goodness sake, Brendan. There’s no need for that.
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