PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard assisted two kayakers Sunday who were stranded in the marsh near Bear Island within the Hammocks Beach State Park in Swansboro, N.C.
Carteret County 911 relayed a distress call to Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders at 10 a.m. notifying them that a man and woman were stranded and that the woman lost her kayak and had been in the water for approximately 10 minutes.
Watchstanders dispatched crews aboard a 24-foot Special Purpose Craft and a 45-foot Response Boat from Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle, N.C., to assist.
Once the SPC-SW crew arrived on scene, they retrieved the two kayakers from the marsh and transferred them to the RB-M where they had a heated cabin and two members of Emerald Isle Fire Department emergency medical services personnel aboard.
“Our close relationship with Emerald Isle Fire/EMS was a contributing factor to the kayakers receiving medical attention quickly,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Evans, the coxswain aboard the RB-M from Station Emerald Isle. “EMS was able to provide initial care while in transit back to Station Emerald Isle, where further EMS assistance was waiting.”
The kayakers were reported by EMS to have had mild hypothermia and were taken to Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City, N.C.
