CLEVELAND — A U.S. Coast Guard rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit hoisted a Canadian man off of Lake St. Clair in Ontario, Canada, after he became stranded on the ice while riding an all-terrain vehicle, Friday afternoon.
At about 3 p.m., a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received a request for assistance from Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton, Ontario.
After learning of the accident, Sector Detroit personnel diverted a Coast Guard Air Station Detroit MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew already in flight and launched another from Air Station Detroit with a rescue swimmer aboard.
The first helicopter on scene did not have hoist capabilities but was able to drop a radio to the stranded man and waited for the second helicopter to arrive.
Once on scene, the rescue swimmer from the second helicopter was lowered to the ice to assess and stabilize the man, before he was hoisted aboard and transported to awaiting emergency medical services personnel at Mitchell’s Bay Marina in Mitchell's Bay, Ontario.
The man was last known to be in good condition.
A few of the Coast Guard's many safety tips for outdoorsmen and ice enthusiasts are to never venture out alone and to always have a way to communicate distress to authorities should an emergency occur.
