The Sunshine Coast LifeFlight helicopter crew has winched a woman to safety, after she fell ill while on a boat at sea, off the Sunshine Coast.
It’s believed the occupants of the seven metre long vessel raised the alarm when they noticed the woman had become very sick and was drifting in and out of consciousness.
The rescue chopper was tasked to assist just after 1:30pm (Saturday, 4th February) and flew approximately 40 kilometres off the coast to rendezvous with the vessel.
The rescue chopper crew initially made contact with the people onboard via marine radio, to assess what the best course of action would be.
It was decided it was safest to winch an RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Aircrew Officer down to the water, before swimming a short distance to the boat, where the patient was on board.
He assessed the woman’s condition and prepared her to be winched up to the aircraft.
Once on board the helicopter, the woman, who is aged in her 50s, was treated by the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctor and Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) Flight Paramedic.
She was airlifted to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
The Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission Helicopter performed this mission. The aircraft is part of LifeFlight Australia’s commercial operation, which supports the work of the community helicopter fleet, through our profit-for-purpose model.
It is currently based at the Sunshine Coast and is rotated through our community bases from time to time, when operationally required.
