For the second time in the past month, the Coast Guard helicopter forward deployed to St. Paul Island was called out for a medevac. Shortly after midnight Wednesday, a 44-year old crewmember aboard the catcher-processor Starbound started experiencing heart-attack symptoms. Petty Officer Sara Francis says given the severity of the situation, it was critical to get him to care immediately.

“They went out and hoisted him from the fishing vessel Starbound, a 240-foot Seattle-based catcher-processer, about 69 miles southeast of St. Paul. The weather on scene was 23 mile per hour winds, with 4 foot seas, and they brought him safely back to the clinic in St. Paul for further treatment.”

Francis says she doesn’t know exactly how long it would have taken the Starbound to get into port.

“But certainly our helicopter can get there a whole lot faster.”

The Coast Guard has kept an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter in St. Paul during the busy fishing “A” season for the last 10 years.