Coast Guard medevacs infant from cruise ship

[The Patriot]

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. - A Coast Guard rescue helicopter crew medevaced a female infant and her mother off a cruise ship approximately 245 miles south of Cape Lookout, Friday.

Coast Guard watchstanders received a call via satellite phone from crew aboard the cruise ship Norwegian Gem requesting medevac of a 16-month-old female suffering from upper respiratory track infection and respiratory distress.

A MH-60T helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C. was dispatched to the scene and at approximately 8:45 a.m. hoisted both the child and her mother aboard.

"It was a very difficult hoist," said Lt. Cmdr. Todd Bloch, commanding pilot of the mission. "We arrived on scene with 40 knot winds, coupled with heavy rain and snow. Space was pretty tight, as we hoisted near the smoke stack."

The infant was taken safely to New Hanover Regional Hospital in Wilmington.




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