On Thursday afternoon, 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron from 19 Wing Comox was tasked by Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Victoria on a humanitarian mission to medevac a crew member of a commercial fishing vessel at sea to hospital for immediate care.
The vessel was 165 nautical miles south west of Ucluelet at the time of the call for assistance.
A CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and a CC-115 Buffalo were tasked to respond. Once on scene, a Search and Rescue (SAR) Tech was lowered onto the deck of the fishing boat to prepare the patient to be hoisted onto the Cormorant.
The patient was flown to Victoria General Hospital for treatment.
The Victoria SRR includes 1.4 million square kilometres of mainly mountainous terrain in British Columbia and the Yukon, extending approximately 600 nautical miles offshore into the Pacific Ocean. Given the size and complexity of this SRR, SAR crews operating in this region are highly skilled and ready to confront the challenges of this region in order to save lives.
The Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC Victoria), in Esquimalt, is the joint Canadian Armed Forces–Canadian Coast Guard centre for SAR monitoring, alerting and emergency response in the Victoria SRR.