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On Thursday the Coast Guard completed the
medical evacuation of a 52-year-old man from
Midway Atoll.
At 10 a.m. Tuesday morning the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received notification from U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel that a contractor fell from a roof and injured his
ankle.
The Coast Guard’s
duty flight surgeon recommended a medevac within 72 hours for further medical assessment and care. According to a release from the Coast Guard, the service dispatched an
HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point that landed on Midway Atoll, brought the man aboard and transported him to the air station.
Emergency medical
services personnel brought the man to The Queen’s Medical Center
in Honolulu, where he
was reportedly in stable condition.
Midway is roughly 1,300 miles northwest of Oahu and from 1941 until 1993 was the home of Naval Air Facility Midway Island, which played a crucial role in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. After the base closed, the island became a tourist destination for history buffs and visitors drawn by its unique ecology, but due to budget cuts its visitor program was shuttered after the last guests went in 2012.
Today the isolated atoll is home to a handful of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff and contract workers who manage a small set of facilities and oversee the wildlife refuge and war memorial.
“We are truly grateful to the U.S. Coast Guard and their quick response,” said Elaine Johnson, project leader for Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial, in a statement. “The refuge is a sanctuary for moli
(Laysan albatrosses) and other seabirds, sea turtles, and Hawaiian monk seals, but it is also very isolated. Knowing that we have great partners like the Coast Guard who are able to help in times of an emergency is reassuring.”