Pacific Tracker, a tracking and telemetry ship managed by TOTE Services, rescued a sailor suffering from a medical emergency aboard his sailboat approximately 450 miles southwest of Monterey, Calif., on July 9.
The sailor suffered a severe nosebleed which was uncontrollable with gauze and anticoagulants. U.S. Coast Guard rescue authorities at the 11th District Command Center queried AMVER, the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System, located the 662-foot Pacific Tracker and requested the ship divert to embark the injured sailor.
Capt. Jeffery Royer, master of Pacific Tracker, agreed to divert and embark the sailor. After a conference call between Royer and Coast Guard authorities, a plan was developed. The sailor was safely embarked and the ship’s nurse was able to help stabilize the patient.
A Coast Guard rescue helicopter was able to meet Pacific Tracker and the sailor was airlifted to emergency medical services waiting at Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco.
