River rescue crews aid ailing seaman

First responders from Vancouver, Portland and several other agencies were mobilized Thursday after a crew member on a ocean-going freighter had a medical problem.

The stricken man was aboard the Star Life, a 550-foot Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier.

The inbound ship was just preparing to anchor, approximately two nautical miles downriver from Kelley Point Park, when a crew member had a medical emergency, according to a news release from the Portland Fire Bureau.

Portland Fire Dispatch was informed of the incident by the Columbia River pilot’s dispatcher at 1:45 p.m. Columbia River pilots board vessels in Astoria, Ore., and accompany the ship’s captain as they navigate the river. Response to this incident was complicated by difficulty in locating the vessel according to the news release.

A crew from Portland Fire Station 17 responded to the Star Life, boarding it via a gangway lowered from the larger vessel. Portland Rescue Boat 17 then requested assistance from Fireboat 6. Firefighters, once aboard the Star Life, were able to assess and stabilize the patient — an engineer who was having an allergic reaction.

Using the ship’s davit, a crane-like device, the patient was lowered to the deck of Fireboat 6; it was then necessary to transport the patient to a waiting ambulance at Frenchman’s Bar, downriver from the Port of Vancouver. Portland Rescue Boat 17, specially equipped with a beach-landing ramp, was used to deliver the patient to the ambulance at about 3:30 p.m.

“This incident was difficult because of several unique access problems and required the cooperation of several agencies,” said Portland Fire Captain Casey Honl, the officer in charge of Fireboat 6.

The Coast Guard, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbia River Pilots, Vancouver Fire Department, and Clark County American Medical Response assisted.