STEVENSVILLE, MD – Maryland State Police Aviation Command rescued a man after becoming injured on a cargo ship in the Chesapeake Bay Monday afternoon.
Shortly after 1:45 p.m. on Monday, the United States Coast Guard requested Maryland State Police Aviation Command (MSPAC) to hoist an injured person from a cargo ship.
According to a preliminary investigation, the Abtenauer Bulk Carrier Cargo Ship was traveling in the Chesapeake Bay, in the area of Stevensville, Maryland when a cargo ship worker was injured after falling more than 10 feet from a ladder. Due to the injuries he sustained and the need for an evaluation at a trauma center, MSPAC was requested to respond for a hoist rescue. MSPAC’s Trooper 1, based out of the Martin State Airport in Middle River, Maryland responded.
Coordinating with the U.S. Coast Guard cargo ship personnel on board, the MSPAC crew configured the Leonard AW-139 helicopter into a steady 120-foot hover. A trooper/flight paramedic was lowered to the designated ship platform, where an assessment of the injured man was performed. Due to the patient’s injuries, a backboard was secured onto the man and he was placed in a Patient Extrication Platform device (PEP bag) with the assistance of the ship’s crew. Once the patient was successfully hoisted safely into the helicopter, he was then transported to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland for treatment of his injuries.
This mission highlights the ability of the talented crews and capable helicopters of the MSPAC to seamlessly transition from a hoist rescue into a medevac mission. The Maryland State Police Aviation Command staffs each helicopter with two pilots and two state troopers/paramedics. The MSPAC has served Maryland citizens since 1970. Aviation Command missions include medevac, law enforcement, search and rescue, homeland security, and disaster assessment. The success of rescues performed by MSPAC depends a great deal on the cooperative effort of local fire, rescue, emergency medical services (EMS), and law enforcement agencies.
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