The Coast Guard reports it medically evacuated a 37-year-old man from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Jewel of the Seas approximately 25 miles west of Sanibel Island, Florida Sunday, January 22, 2012.

At 2:57 a.m. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg command center received a request from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship concerning a man that was exhibiting heart attack symptoms and was in need of immediate medical evacuation. No accident was reported. A Coast Guard flight surgeon was consulted and a medevac was recommended. However, the surgeon concluded it would be too risky to fly the patient in a helicopter. At 3:30 a.m., a 41′ Coast Guard utility boat crew from Station Fort Myers Beach, Florida, along with a local emergency medical technician (EMT), were dispatched to meet the cruise ship. The rescue team met the Jewel of the Seas at 6:10 a.m. and the EMT was able to safely transfer the man from the cruise ship onto the Coast Guard utility vessel. The man was medevaced to Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach where local EMS personnel took over and transported him to Lee Memorial Hospital. The man’s condition is unknown at this time.

Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard