Report from Tristan da Cunha Adminstrator Steve Townsend
While the MFV Edinburgh was waiting off-shore for a break in the weather so that we could finish off-loading, we got a radio message from the vessel on Friday 17 July 2020 saying that a crew member had been taken ill. We immediately launched a RIB to collect him and bring him ashore to the hospital, where he was examined. The doctors here confirmed that he had suffered a serious myocardial infarction (i.e. a heart attack).
An emergency ambulance collects the medical evacuee from the MFV Edinburgh in Cape Town harbour.
Following consultations with cardiologists in Cape Town, the medical opinion was that he needed an operation, and that it would be better if he returned to Cape Town on the boat, rather than waiting another two months here on the island for the next boat. However he would need some medical attention on the voyage. So we brought ashore two members of the ship’s crew who had some medical training, and explained to them what treatment was required, before they all returned to the Edinburgh on 19 July. We also lent the boat one of our oxygen concentrators to assist him on the voyage, and gave him all the necessary medication.
The ship set off again on 19 July, arriving in Cape Town on 25 July. The crew of the vessel kept in daily contact with the doctors on Tristan and the cardiologists in Cape Town.
We are delighted that he made it back to Cape Town, and that he has been admitted to hospital. We wish him a speedy recovery.
