• 1 min de lectura
• 1 min de lectura
A passenger aboard RCI-Royal Caribbean's ship Ovation of the Seas was medically evacuated by helicopter on August 9th while the vessel was sailing off the coast of British Columbia.
Ovation OTS was ~100 km/~60 mi northwest of Tofino when the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria received a request for assistance.
The Canadian Armed Forces responded from 19 Wing Comox with a CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter and a CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft. The Kingfisher reached the area first and provided aerial coordination while the Cormorant positioned over the ship for the evacuation.
Search-and-rescue technicians were lowered onto the ship's Helideck by winch, where they assessed and stabilised the passenger before preparing the patient for transfer. The passenger's spouse was also evacuated using a rescue basket, and both were subsequently flown to hospital in Victoria BC for further medical treatment.
The operation demonstrates the procedures used by Canadian search-and-rescue crews when medical emergencies occur aboard cruise ships operating offshore. During the summer Alaska cruise season, the waters off British Columbia are regularly transited by large passenger vessels, requiring coordination between cruise ships and Canadian rescue assets when urgent medical transfers cannot wait until the next port of call.
