USCG release – SEATTLE — A Coast Guard aircrew medically evacuated a 22-year-old male with a reported hand injury from the fishing vessel near La Push, Wash., Tuesday, May 21. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles medically evacuated the crew member from the 254-foot vessel Phoenix and transported him to Port Angeles where they met awaiting local Emergency Medical Service personnel. At 11:28 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received an emergency call from a boater in the area. The boater reported the vessel was approximately 25 miles west of Coast Guard Station Quillayute River. A crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk and a boat crew from Station Quillayute River initially responded to the incident but were unable to transfer the crew member aboard their vessel due to rough sea conditions. The aircrew arrived on scene at approximately 1 p.m. and completed the hoist. The mariner was transferred the mariner to the EMS personnel, who then took him to the Olympic Medical Center. Sea conditions were reported at 12-knot winds and 11-foot sea waves and growing.
