COAST GUARD MEDEVACS 2 FROM CRUISE SHIP 135 MILES OFF NC COAST

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard medevaced a 25-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman Sunday from a cruise ship approximately 135 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Coast Guard 7th District personnel contacted Coast Guard 5th District Command Center watchstanders at approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday, notifying them the Carnival Splendor, a 950-foot cruise ship, had two sick individuals in need of medical attention aboard approximately 410 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras.

Fifth District watchstanders contacted the Carnival Splendor, requesting the ship alter course toward North Carolina, and they agreed to conduct the medevac Sunday morning when the Carnival Splendor would be close enough for a Coast Guard helicopter to remove the sick passengers.

At approximately 4 a.m. Sunday, command center watchstanders dispatched crews aboard an MH-60 Jawhawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to assist.

The Jayhawk crew arrived on scene at approximately 5:45 a.m., hoisted two people into the helicopter and took the patients to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, where the patients were reported to be in stable condition.

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