VIDEO: Coast Guard Drops Medical Supplies to Cruise Ship
Correction: The cruise ship was located northeast of Hawaii, not northwest as first reported.
A Coast Guard crew flew more than 1,000 miles Sunday to deliver critical medical supplies to a patient on a cruise ship located northeast of Hawaii.
The crew of the Holland America Line vessel Oosterdam contacted the Coast Guard at 4 a.m. Sunday requesting assistance for a 70-year-old passenger being treated by the ship’s doctor for internal bleeding.
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A Coast Guard flight surgeon recommended a drop of blood, platelets and transfusion equipment.
At about 11:30 a.m., a crew aboard a HC-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Barbers Point dropped the supplies via parachute to medical personnel aboard the Oosterdam.
Cruise ship personnel will remain in communication with the Coast Guard until the liner reaches Lahaina, Maui on Tuesday.