USCG Medevacs Tanker Crewmember off Key West

On Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Charles David Jr. medevaced a 31-year-old Filipino crewmember from the tanker Philotimos at a position about 135 nm southwest of Key West, Florida.

Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstanders received a medevac request from the Philotimos' crew reporting that a 31-year-old crewmember was suffering from possible appendicitis.

The Charles David Jr. crew arrived to the scene and transferred the ill crew member on board. For transport to shore, they transferred him to a Coast Guard Station Key West response boat, which delivered him to local emergency medical services in stable condition. 

"This medevac was a great success," said Lt. Greg Mitchell, commanding officer of the Charles David Jr. "The coordinated efforts of the Charles David Jr. crew, Station Key West, and Sector Key West enabled all of us and the crew of the Philotimos to work through the challenges of distance, language barriers, and medical concerns."

The Charles David Jr. is the seventh vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel class. She is named after the WWII hero Charles Walter David Jr., a steward aboard the cutter Comanche who died after rescuing crewmembers from a sinking troop transport in the North Atlantic.