Crew member in medical distress rescued from fishing vessel at sea

November 1, 2016 – Comox – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

Late Monday afternoon 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron was tasked by Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Victoria on a humanitarian mission to medevac a crew member of a commercial fishing vessel requiring transport to hospital for immediate care.

Quick Facts

• The vessel was 60 nautical miles (110 km) northwest of Cape Scott at the time of the call for assistance.

• A CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and a CC-115 Buffalo were tasked to respond.

• The Buffalo arrived on scene first and after making contact with the crew by radio provided them instructions to prepare for the arrival of the Cormorant with SAR Techs on board.

• The Cormorant arrived on scene shortly after the Buffalo and two SAR Techs were lowered onto the deck of the vessel to prepare the patient to be hoisted onto the Cormorant.

• The patient was transported by Cormorant to Port Hardy then transferred to the Buffalo and subsequently flown to Victoria where the BC Ambulance Service transferred the patient to hospital.

• 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron’s Cormorant and Buffalo aircraft are the Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Centre’s (JRCC) primary means for aviation and marine SAR responses in the Victoria Search and Rescue Region (SRR). These aircraft and their highly trained crews are ready to respond to search and rescue missions on a 24 hour basis.

• The Victoria SRR includes 1.4 million square kilometres of mainly mountainous terrain in British Columbia and the Yukon, extending approximately 600 nautical miles offshore into the Pacific Ocean. Given the size and complexity of this SRR, SAR crews operating in this region are highly skilled and ready to confront the challenges of this region in order to save lives. 

• The Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC Victoria), in Esquimalt, B.C., is the joint Canadian Armed Forces–Canadian Coast Guard centre for SAR monitoring, alerting and emergency response in the Victoria SRR.

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Editor’s Note:

Due to flying schedules the crew involved in the rescue is not available for interview.

Associated Links

• 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron
• 19 Wing Comox
• Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria (JRCC Victoria)
• Victoria Search and Rescue Region

Contacts

Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Victoria
(250) 413-8937

19 Wing Public Affairs – Comox
(250) 339-8201