JUNEAU, Alaska — An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard forward-operating location rescued three hypothermic mariners from a skiff in Holtham Inlet, Tuesday.
The Jayhawk aircrew located the skiff in Holtham Inlet low on fuel and beset by weather and sea conditions. A rescue swimmer was deployed, found the two men and teenage boy hypothermic, and hoisted all three.
They were then transported to awaiting emergency medical services personnel at Kotzebue, Alaska.
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Seventeenth District command center received a request at 10:35 a.m. from the Alaska State Troopers for assistance in searching for a vessel overdue to Kotzebue.
“We were fortunate to have a very positive outcome to this case based on cooperation with the Alaska State Troopers and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue organization. Both provided a detailed search area and through local knowledge that allowed us to find the overdue boaters within 5 minutes of arriving on scene,” said Lt. Jeffrey Mistrick, MH-60 Jayhawk pilot. “The important takeaway here is that everyone should always be prepared with the skill and equipment to spend more time in the elements than they expect. Wind, rain and cool temperatures can quickly cause hypothermia and hamper survival efforts as we saw yesterday.”
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Charly Hengen (archive).
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