Coast Guard Evacuation

From the Duluth News Tribune - 4/13/2012 The U.S. Coast Guard evacuated a crew member from a freighter off the Superior entry on Thursday evening after the man suffered an asthma attack. The 27-year-old man, a Canadian citizen, was taken from the 730-foot Algoma Olympic by a Coast Guard rescue boat, according to a Coast Guard news release. He was transferred to an ambulance on land and taken to Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth. The news release reported that the man was in good condition at the time of the transfer to the ambulance. His identity and current condition were not released. According to the Coast Guard, the station in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., received the evacuation request at about 8:30 p.m. Central time. A Coast Guard rescue crew from Duluth and a local emergency medical responder boarded a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium and went to the freighter to evacuate the crew member. The Canadian-flagged Algoma Olympic was anchored off the Superior entry at the time of the evacuation, waiting to enter the harbor to load iron ore pellets in Superior. It was scheduled to leave port today. Thursday's incident was the second medical evacuation conducted by the Coast Guard on Lake Superior this week. On Tuesday, a Coast Guard helicopter airlifted an ailing crew member off the freighter Sam Laud near Isle Royale.