The Bundaberg-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew has winched a man from the deck of a bulk carrier this afternoon, in a rescue mission more than 70 nautical miles offshore.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) tasked the rescue chopper at around 11am to the ship’s location, north-east of Bundaberg.
The vessel had been travelling to China when the crew member became sick.
An AMSA Challenger 604 jet was also tasked from Cairns to provide top cover for the chopper, during the offshore operation.
The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) Flight Paramedic was winched down to the deck of the large carrier to retrieve the man.
The pilot circled the rescue aircraft around the vessel until the paramedic indicated they were ready for retrieval.
The paramedic and patient were then carefully hoisted back into the helicopter.
The RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctor and QAS Flight Paramedic treated him on board the chopper as it flew back to the mainland.
The patient, aged in his 30s, was airlifted to Bundaberg Hospital in a serious condition.
It was the third oceanic mission for the Bundaberg-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter in two days.
In the early hours of this morning, the crew located and airlifted two survivors of a boating incident off the Central Queensland Coast.
Yesterday, the crew winched an injured man from a long-line fishing vessel, 100 nautical miles off the coast in the Coral Sea.
