The U.S. Coast Guard transported a patient in critical need from the Vineyard on Thursday morning, landing and taking off from downtown Oak Bluffs’ Alley Waban Park.
It’s unclear the nature of the medical emergency — first responders and healthcare officials did not disclose that information nor the patient’s identity.
Typically MedFlight would transport patients off the Island that may be in critical condition, but Oak Bluffs Police Chief Jonathan Searle said that MedFlight was unable to travel to the Island because of windy conditions and poor visibility.
He said that the Coast Guard chose Waban because they felt it was the safest place to land given the conditions. He noted that because of fog and rain, visibility was limited; the chief added that visibility was better in Oak Bluffs compared to Martha’s Vineyard Airport.
Hospital officials say that it’s not uncommon for patients to be transported by the Coast Guard.
“We frequently work with the Coast Guard to transport critically ill patients during stormy weather conditions,” Claire Seguin, chief nurse and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
As a former commercial pilot (with a 1/2 hr of stick time in a helicopter), and someone who has been transported by both Coastguard Jet and Cutter for medical reasons, I am totally in awe of them as a whole, especially the helicopter pilots, although the cutter crossing was pretty dramatic. I also once, while fishspotting 350 miles out on Georges Bank, watched a Coastguard helicopter pluck an injured fisherman off of the roof of the pilot house on a swordfishing boat, which was festooned with antennas and guy wires. I think they had about 15 minutes max before bingo fuel for the pickup. Awesome stuff.
P.S. And I suspect anyone who has read ‘The Perfect Storm’ would agree. Also, again, based on my personal experiences, I think the hospital does an incredible job dealing with process of getting someone transported during all kinds of New England weather.
Big thanks to the crew and the hospital vstaff
Jack, your comments remind me of a young woman (at the time 23 years old) who participated in an ocean rescue from a helicopter during a storm (your reference to The Perfect Storm fits the description of the weather then). She broke her leg in the process of rescuing people and continued to rescue more people with a broken leg! She later received an award and the most enthusiastic standing ovation that I’ve ever seen in my entire life!