Coast Guard medevacs 4 from USNS Kanawha off Va.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The Coast Guard medevaced four injured crewmembers of the Military Sealift Fleet Support Command ship approximately 60 miles east of Virginia Beach Thursday.

The crew of the USNS Kanawha, a 677-foot fleet replenishment oiler, contacted Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders at 10 a.m. reporting they had been struck by a rogue wave, which injured four crewmembers.

On recommendation by the Coast Guard flight surgeon, two helicopter rescue crews aboard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters from Air Station Elizabeth City arrived on scene to medevac the crewmembers.

According to Lt. Lance Leone, co-pilot of the MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter, one helicopter transported the two most stable patients to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth while the other transported the more severely injured patients to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital, which is a Trauma I designated hospital.

Trauma I is the highest designation from the American College of Surgeons for a trauma center.

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