PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard medevaced a man Monday who experienced chest pains while on a fishing boat approximately 10 miles northeast of Wachapreague.Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads in Portsmouth received a report at about 3:50 p.m. of a 42-year-old male crewmember experiencing chest pains aboard the 81-foot fishing boat Southern Crusader II approximately five miles northeast of Wachapreague Inlet.Sector Hampton Roads personnel issued an urgent marine information broadcast and arranged the launch of a response boat crew.A Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew launched from Station Wachapreague. The crew met with the Southern Crusader II at about 4:15 p.m. and transferred the patient. The RBM crew took the man to Station Wachapreague where he was placed in the care of awaiting Accomack EMS personnel.
"Strong communications with Sector Hampton Roads Command Center personnel and the advanced capabilities of the 45-foot Response Boat-Medium helped my crew to respond in a timely manner, transfer the crewmember experiencing chest pains, and bring him to medical professionals on shore," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Sanchez, response boat operator for the case.
The man was responsive at the time of the transfer. He was taken to Riverside Shore Memorial Hopsital in Nassawadox.
Southern Crusader II is homeported in New Bedford, Massachusetts.