Coast Guard delivers blood for ailing cruise ship passenger
In this screenshot taken from a video provided the U.S. Coast Guard, an aircrew from Barbers Point flew 400 miles to drop a container of blood to a cruise ship off the northeast coast of Oahu on Tuesday. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle)
A Coast Guard air crew transported Tuesday 10 units of blood to a cruise ship about 400 miles northeast of Oahu with a sick 76-year-old man on board.
The crew aboard the Carnival Miracle contacted the Coast Guard in Honolulu at 4:21 p.m. Sunday about help for a sick passenger.
The ship originally departed Vancouver, British Columbia, and was headed for Nawiliwili, Kauai.
The ship’s doctor was treating the man for internal bleeding. A Coast Guard flight surgeon, who was consulted, recommended an airdrop of blood if the man’s condition worsened.
When his condition worsened, the Coast Guard launched an HC-130 Hercules 4:07 a.m. Tuesday and flew 400 miles from Air Station Barbers Point to the ship.
The crew dropped the blood from Tripler Army Medical Center by means of a parachute to the cruise ship’s medical personnel.
The Coast Guard will maintain communication with the ship until it arrives Wednesday in Nawiliwili.
