Unalaska, AK – A 40-year-old man was medevaced from the pollock mothership Golden Alaska to Cold Bay after reportedly experiencing chest pains.

Nery Arriaza was lifted from the 305-foot processor fishing vessel yesterday by a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew. The Golden Alaska was approximately 46 miles north of Cold Bay when Arriaza first started feeling chest pains. The captain of the vessel contacted the Coast Guard about the situation at 9:12 am, and a helicopter that had been forward-deployed to the Coast Guard cutter Morgenthau arrived about three hours later. Arriaza was taken to Cold Bay, and then to Anchorage for further medical care.

Petty Officer Jonathan Lally says that the Coast Guard has had a busy season so far, and that's why patrols of the Bering Sea are especially necessary this time of year.

"The reason we have the Dolphin helicopters out forward-deployed to the Coast Guard cutters is to make rapid response times for emergencies or cases like this, where you had a medevac of a gentleman and they weren't able to get into port in a timely manner," says Lally.

This is the third Coast Guard rescue that has occurred in the past week. Last Tuesday, the Coast Guard rescued five men from the longliner Terrigail, and on Friday they rescued another five fisherman from the F/V Midnite Sun.