A Navy Aircraft Commander from Cobb County led a mission to rescue an injured civilian boater near Guam on Wednesday.
Lt. Nathan Gordon, who is from Marietta, and the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 responded to a civilian distress signal via a satellite phone, according to a news release from the Navy Office of Community Outreach.
The civilian was injured three days before while traveling through a severe thunderstorm on a 32-foot sailboat, about 100 nautical miles west of Guam. Gordon and his team were on the scene two hours after the call came in.
“We were told the gentleman’s health had diminished significantly over a time span of three days,” Gordon said in the release. “The satellite phone was a key tool in (the) rescue. His ability to contact the U.S. Coast Guard and pass us a precise location greatly decreased search time, getting him the medical care he desperately needed.”
The team immediately gave the man IV fluids to stabilize him, Gordon said.
The incident was the 16th emergency call to the squadron by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam this year.
“It is an honor to serve with the hard-working sailors of HSC-25,” Commander Christopher Carreon, executive officer of HSC-25, said. “This rescue represents how hard each sailor works to provide full mission capable aircraft so we are ready to support the search and rescue mission of Guam and the (Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands).”
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