The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Table Bay duty crew received an alert on Tuesday evening, 30 May 2023, to prepare for a rescue mission of a crewman suffering a medical complaint onboard a 60-year-old Indonesian ship.
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The ship was redirected from its intended course while sailing in open waters and headed towards Cape Town in need of medical assistance.
Watch:
NSRI, along with various other emergency teams, performed a medical evacuation of a crewman from an Indonesian ship.
On Wednesday morning, 31 June 2023, the NSRI Table Bay duty crew deployed the rescue craft, accompanied by WC Government Health EMS rescue paramedics, to rendezvous with the ship approximately 7 nautical miles west of Green Point. During the operation, the distance covered extended up to 12 nautical miles out to sea.
The NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre), NSRI Table Bay duty controllers, TNPA (Transnet National Ports Authority), Police Sea Borderline Control, Telkom Maritime Radio Services, EMS Metro Control, Netcare 911 ambulance services, an EMS duty doctor and the ship’s agent assisted MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) in the coordination and logistics of the medical evacuation operation.
In rough seas with a 3-metre swell, a motor boat was used to provide a lee to the NSRI rescue craft to aid in the rescue crew’s boarding the ship and for the extrication of the patient.
The patient was reported to be in a serious condition. He was secured into a Stokes basket stretcher and transferred onto the NSRI rescue craft in a technical operation. In the care of the EMS rescue paramedics, he was taken to the Robben Island Gateway Jetty before being transferred into a Netcare 911 ambulance and transported to hospital where he remains in a serious condition.
All involved are commended for the swift emergency evacuation operation.
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Picture: National Sea Rescue Institute