MERIDIAN 1

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Medevac by helicopter

A crew member aboard the "Meridian 1" fishing around the Subantarctic Islands was whisked to Southland Hospital by helicopter on Aug 23, 2011. Southern Lakes Helicopters were called to the vessel before lunchtime after a Russian national, believed to be in his 50s, developed a serious stomach ulcer at sea. The man appeared to have been suffering from perforated ulcers. When helicopter staff arrived, he had to be assisted to stand up while he was strapped into the winch used to lift him into the helicopter positioned overhead. Two helicopters were used to winch the man aboard – he was winched up to safety on one, while the other provided "top cover", or back-up in the unlikely event that problems arose during the rescue operation. Conditions at sea had been relatively calm, with swells between five and six metres and light winds. The vessel, was fishing around Campbell Island when the man developed an ulcer. The vessel began steaming towards Bluff about 2 a.m. and was about 125 nautical miles south-east of Bluff when the man was winched aboard the helicopter, which arrived back in Invercargill shortly after 5 p.m.