Patient medevaced from Admiralty Island after explosion

A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew medevacs a 17-year-old male from Wrangell to Sitka, Alaska, July 17, 2018. The man was transported to awaiting emergency medical services personnel for further care.
A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, July 17, 2018. (Public domain courtesy photo by Stephen Prysunka)

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a patient from Admiralty Island Saturday after he reportedly sustained critical injuries in an explosion.

In a tweet, the Coast Guard says a 60-year-old man lost the fingers on his left hand in the explosion in the Hawk Inlet area.

Hecla Greens Creek Mine spokesperson Mike Satre wrote in an email that the crew of a nearby commercial fishing tender provided first aid and transported the victim to Greens Creek Mine, where he was stabilized by the mine’s medical staff.

According to Satre, the injured man does not work at the mine but owns a floathouse in the northern part of Hawk Inlet nearby.

A Coast Guard crew from Air Station Sitka transported the victim to Juneau for further medical treatment.

Bartlett Regional Hospital declined to comment on the victim’s status.

Editor’s note: The headline for this story has been revised to avoid confusion about the precise location of the explosion.

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