Crime & Safety
Girl Flown by Coast Guard to Long Beach Memorial
The 8-year-old child suffering seizures was airlifted from Catalina Island versus medevac due to the heavy fog, Coast Guard reports.
An 8-year-old girl was rushed by U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from Catalina Island to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Tuesday after she went into seizures and a traditional medevac flight was deemed unsafe in the morning's dense fog.
According to Coast Guard spokesman Adam Eggers, the young patient was accompanied by a flight surgeon who was aboard the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter to escort she and her father during the flight.
Eggers said the father and daughter were picked up at 10:25 a.m. in a cloak of fog that shrouded the coastline for hours Tuesday morning. The crew and patient arrived at the hospital about 50 minutes later.
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Eggers said the flight was needed because medical treatment the girl needed was not available at the tiny island hospital in Avalon.
"The Coast Guard received the medevac request," Eggers said in an announcement, "because other air assets are unable to respond due to poor visibility and heavy fog."
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To view standard video footage of a HH-65 Dolphin helicopter flying off the coast of California, click http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1572720
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