Submitted by NAS Whidbey Island

A search and rescue (SAR) team of seven from Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island conducted a medical evacuation (medevac) from Lopez Island Airport to the Skagit Valley Hospital in Mt. Vernon on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

The SAR crew was notified of an elderly male on Lopez suffering from congestive heart failure. The crew took off at 5:45 p.m. and landed at Lopez Island Airport at 6 p.m. The ambulance met the helicopter shortly after and the aircrew completed the patient turnover. The crew took off at 6:20 p.m. and proceeded to the Skagit Hospital where the patient was turned over to a higher level of care.

This was the 21st medevac of 2017 for NAS Whidbey Island SAR, which has also conducted seven Searches and 36 Rescue missions delivering 71 lives to a higher level of care.