Coast Guard medevacs teen 303 miles off Ocean City, MD

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard medevaced a 14-year-old from a cruise ship 303 miles east of Ocean City, Maryland, this morning.

Watchstanders in the 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth were notified by the captain of the cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway that a young man was suffering appendicitis-like symptoms aboard.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and an HC-130J aircraft crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, launched and arrived on scene.

The helicopter crew hoisted the teen from the cruise ship and transported him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. The patient's grandmother was also hoisted to accompany him to the hospital.

"The professionalism exhibited by the crew of the Norwegian Breakaway ensured that the Coast Guard was adequately informed of a life threatening situation aboard,” said Lt. j.g. Dan Dunn, the command duty officer at the 5th District Command Center. “Their willingness to alter their course inland ensured that the aircrew transported this young man to the appropriate medical facility in a timely manner, thus saving his life."