Sick sailor in distress - Emergency on sailing yacht off Heligoland
Enforcement teams rescued a sick sailor from a yacht northwest of the island Helgoland. An enforcement vessel of the Federal Police received a distress call from the yacht early in the morning, the officers reported. The man complained of severe chest pains. An Italian cruise ship in the vicinity was also involved in the operation. Its doctor was supposed to transfer to the sailing yacht. However, this was initially not possible due to the weather conditions.
The Federal Police enforcement teams eventually managed to bring the doctor aboard the cruise ship using a control boat and transported him, along with two paramedics, to the sailing yacht. They managed to stabilize the sailor and bring him onto the Federal Police vessel. From there, a helicopter flew him to a hospital in Schleswig-Holstein. According to the Federal Police, the sailor is reportedly in a stable condition.
The sailor's distress call prompted an immediate operational response from the Federal Police's maritime force. Despite unfavorable shipping conditions, the operation to transport the Italian doctor to the sailing yacht was escalated to an emergency situation. Located in Lower Saxony, the nearest hospital received the sailor once he was safely on land after sailing yacht voyaging near Heligoland.
