The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(CLEVELAND) — The Coast Guard conducted a medical evacuation Monday afternoon of a 65-year-old Canadian man from a freighter in northern Lake Huron.
The man's name is not being released and there is no Coast Guard imagery or video available for this rescue.
Just before 1:30 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received a report from a member of the 715-foot Canadian-flagged motor vessel Atlantic Erie that, while upbound on Lake Huron, a 65-year-old crewmember had fallen down a ladder injuring his hip and ribs. There were no reports of head trauma, but the man was having trouble breathing and was becoming disoriented. The Atlantic Erie's master requested a medevac.
The vessel was approximately 37 miles south-southeast of Alpena, Mich., at the time of the initial report.
Sector Detroit conducted a conference call with the Coast Guard Ninth District duty flight surgeon to discuss the possibility of a medevac.
Based on the man's symptoms and the information provided, the flight surgeon recommended that the vessel continue its transit and rendezvous with a Coast Guard Station St. Ignace, Mich., boat crew once the Atlantic Erie reached the Straits of Mackinac.
Watchstanders set up a communication schedule until the motor vessel met with the Station St. Ignace boat.
At 2:30 a.m., Sector Detroit watchstanders passed communications to watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., as the motor vessel entered Sault Ste. Marie's area of responsibility.
Sector Sault Ste. Marie made the proper notifications to the local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office regarding the pending medevac.
At around noon, a boat crew from Station St. Ignace, aboard a 45-foot response boat, conducted the medevac of the injured man man and transferred him to emergency medical services once back on shore. EMS took the man by ambulance to Straits Hospital in St. Ignace.
The man's current condition is unknown.
