Coast Guard medevacs man from cruise ship near Ketchikan, Alaska > United States Coast Guard News > Press Releases

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Two Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boats-Medium are photographed moored at Coast Guard Station Ketchikan, Alaska, April 28, 2023. Station Ketchikan is equipped with two 29-foot Response Boats-Small and two 45-foot Response Boats-Medium which are used to carry out missions throughout southeastern Alaska such as law enforcement, living marine resources enforcement and search & rescue. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ian Gray.

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Coast Guard Station Ketchikan

Two Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boats-Medium are photographed moored at Coast Guard Station Ketchikan, Alaska, April 28, 2023. Station Ketchikan is equipped with two 29-foot Response Boats-Small and two 45-foot Response Boats-Medium which are used to carry out missions throughout southeastern Alaska such as law enforcement, living marine resources enforcement and search & rescue. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ian Gray.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Samuel Bordenkechem, a boatswain's mate at Station Ketchikan, pilots a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium in the Tongass Narrows, April 28, 2023. Station Ketchikan is equipped with two 29-foot Response Boats-Small and two 45-foot Response Boats-Medium which are used to carry out missions throughout southeastern Alaska such as law enforcement, living marine resources enforcement and search & rescue. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ian Gray.

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Coast Guard Station Ketchikan

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Samuel Bordenkechem, a boatswain's mate at Station Ketchikan, pilots a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium in the Tongass Narrows, April 28, 2023. Station Ketchikan is equipped with two 29-foot Response Boats-Small and two 45-foot Response Boats-Medium which are used to carry out missions throughout southeastern Alaska such as law enforcement, living marine resources enforcement and search & rescue. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ian Gray.

KODIAK, Alaska — The Coast Guard medevaced a man from a cruise ship near Ketchikan Wednesday.

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Ketchikan medevaced the 36-year-old crewmember experiencing cardiac symptoms and brought him to awaiting EMS in Bar Harbor, Ketchikan.

Coast Guard watchstanders in the Sector Juneau command center received the request for the medevac from the cruise ship Konigsdam at about 6 p.m.

The Coast Guard boat crew met the cruise ship at a rendezvous point in Revillagigado Channel where the patient was brought aboard and transported to shore.

“When we get the call to help someone in distress, we drop everything and get underway as quickly and safely as possible,” said Petty Officer Samuel Bordenkecher, a boatswain's mate at Station Ketchikan. "Excellent communication among the captain and crew of Koningsdam, Sector Juneau watchstanders, South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department, and ourselves allowed us to get this man off the ship and to the medical care he needed as quickly as possible.”

The weather on scene during the time of the rescue included 1-foot seas and 10 knot winds.

-USCG-

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