Air Station Kodiak crews coordinate to make long-distance medevac possible

Aircrews from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak performed a long-range medevaced early Wednesday afternoon of a man from a fishing vessel northwest of St. Paul Island

The 170-foot Baranof was 322 nautical miles northwest of St. Paul Island at the time of the rescue.

The 45-year-old man was safely hoisted at 12:12 p.m. and taken to St. Paul for a wing-to-wing transfer with a commercial medevac company for further transport to Anchorage.

The case started shortly before noon on Tuesday when the District 17 Command Center watchstanders received a medevac request for a fisherman reportedly experiencing gastrointestinal bleeding.

Watchstanders conferred with a duty flight surgeon and launched three Kodiak-based aircrews to respond.

 

Long-range medevacs, such as this one, are a team effort and require a lot of coordination, said Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Catalioto in a press release. Catalioto was the watchstander who coordinated the initial response.

Collectively, crews flew 20 hours, covered approximately 1,600 nautical miles and refueled three times on the ground to successfully transport the man to further care, according the Coast Guard.

“Alaska presents a unique set of challenges,” said Catalioto, “one primarily being the remote locations of some of the cases.

“We are fortunate to have such dynamic crews ready and capable to respond in a moment’s notice,” he said of the Air Station air crews.

Weather on scene was 17-mph winds, four foot seas and 10 miles visibility.