By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A 25-year-old man was medevacked to Seattle after he sustained “significant injuries” to his neck, shoulder and arm while commercial fishing this morning in Aleutkina Bay, four miles southeast of Sitka, emergency responders said today.
The Coast Guard in Juneau received a call around 6:30 a.m. today on VHF Channel 16 asking for immediate help for the skipper of the seiner Ginny O. The call said the skipper had been seriously injured and was going into shock, said Petty Officer First Class Nate Littlejohn, from the U.S. Coast Guard in Anchorage.
Sitka Fire Department received a call from a citizen shortly afterward, also asking for help, Chief Dave Miller said.
Authorities did not release the patient’s name or details about how the injury occurred.
A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka helicopter prepared for an immediate launch, and the fire department planned to send an EMS crew to the scene aboard the city emergency response vessel. But before the crews left town, just before 7 a.m., they received word that the crew of an Allen Marine tour vessel, Kalinin Express, had heard the request for help, and was bringing the patient into town, Miller said.
An awaiting ambulance crew at Crescent Harbor transferred the patient from the Kalinin Express to SEARHC Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital to be stabilized before being medevacked to Seattle on Guardian Air for further care, the fire hall said.
Littlejohn said the case has been referred to the Marine Safety Detachment, which will be investigating the cause of the accident.
“We’re looking into the cause in order to look at ways to mitigate future incidents,” said John Linnborn, Marine Safety Detachment supervisor in Sitka. “Any time someone is injured beyond first aid, we’ll look into what the cause of the incident is.”
Miller said he was grateful for the assistance offered by a private company, as well as a number of other fishing boats in the area.
“It would’ve taken 10 to 15 minutes to get there and 10 to 15 to get back, so it saved a lot of time,” the chief said.
