Awards Story 2018: The Canadian Coast Guard Volunteer Rescue Specialists

Winner of the People's Choice Award 2018

The winner of the IMRF 2018 People’s Choice Award was the Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Specialists . Anyone could vote for this category by visiting the IMRF facebook page and ‘liking’ the finalist they thought most deserving. More than 2089 votes were cast for the Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Specialists. More than 11,600 "likes" and "shares" were submitted in total for all the Finalists.

Every year the Canadian Coast Guard Volunteer Rescue Specialists receive hundreds of requests for medical assistance at sea in the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. They offer training and skills to shipboard navigation, engineering and logistics crew helping them to provide advanced pre-hospital care to the sick and injured at sea.

Recent rescues include a medical evacuation from a vessel where a crew abandoned a sinking ship to the lifeboat but eight of the 22 had no immersion suits on, jumping into North Atlantic waters in little more than sweat pants and t-shirts. The Rescue Specialists provided treatment for multiple injuries including smoke inhalation and hypothermia, transferring some of the crew to a helicopter and taking the rest to hospital onshore.

The Canadian Coast Guard Volunteer Rescue Specialists conducted a search and rescue to locate three missing powerboat fishermen, treating them for hypothermia before bringing them ashore.

The team responded to a grounding on Vancouver Island when a pleasure boat operator misjudged his distance from shore and hit rocks at high speed. He sustained severe head and spinal injuries, the rescue specialists attended to his wounds, completing a full c-spine immobilisation, enabling his safe transport to hospital.

A trimaran boat capsized in the North Atlantic, and 10 hours later the crew were picked up by a passing tanker. The Canadian Coast Guard Volunteer Rescue Specialists responded to the incident, four of the crew could be taken ashore, but one had suffered bad head and neck injuries and required more extensive care. The Rescue Specialists remained aboard the tanker for 18hrs providing care until he could be safely airlifted to hospital.

Media Gallery

Click on the following link to view the photo gallery in Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmEvFFZ1

IMRF Awards 2018 - Media Gallery

View the full Media Gallery 2018 here (new window).

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