Crew members from U.S.C.G. Station Cortez, Bradenton, medevaced a 43-year-old British national experiencing a cardiac event on January 1st from Royal Caribbean's ship, Serenade of the Seas, U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Erik Villa announced.
The passenger’s name was not included on the USCG accident report.
According to the report, ship staff was notified that the man was suffering chest pain at ~5:30 pm on January 1st, and immediately contacted USCG Sector St. Petersburg.
Being the closest to the liner, USCG St Petersburg then called USCG Cortez when Serenade OTS was ~17 mi (27 km) off Anna Maria Island's north coast.
USCG Cortez deployed a rescue boat and transferred the patient off Serenade OTS at 08:30 pm.
The medevac crew brought the passenger to the CG-Cortez station, where he was transferred to West Manatee Fire Rescue paramedics until the emergency medical services of Manatee County arrived.
District paramedics had little involvement at the incident scene before Manatee County emergency medical services took over treatment, in accordance with the 1986 US Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act.
While deploying district paramedics to assist in cardiac events is a procedure, EMS didn't need assistance with treatment since the patient was not in need of immediate care.
For more Serenade of the Seas incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.