Victims of a boat that went down in waters off Vancouver were given CPR. Two people were declared dead and 3 others are under treatment and released from a hospital. A fishing boat went down off the west coast of Vancouver Island near the remote tourist community of Tofino.
Watery ordeal
All 5 people on board the vessel were taken to shore but health officials later confirmed that two of them had died according to Coast Guard spokesman Dan Bate.
The 8.5 meter long catamaran was fishing for halibut near Bartlett Island which was north of Tofino. Someone on the boat made a distress call according to Sub-Lt. Melissa Kia with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria.
They were able to talk with the vessel to confirm that the five passengers were abandoning into the water. Although the boat was attempting to get in a better position to speak via cellphone, it lost communication with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
The coast guard rescue boats, a Royal Canadian Air Forces helicopter and a plane from CFB Comox were dispatched to look for the passengers and a broadcast was put out requesting marine vessels in the area to search the area.
The boats linked up with the coast guard and an off-duty paramedic performed CPR to one passenger while a Coast Guard Rescue Specialist attempted to resuscitate another.
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LEARN MORE
Learn how to help by enrolling in a first aid and CPR course and for more information, check out these sources:
https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/drowning-treatment
https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/cardiopulmonary-resuscitation-cpr-treatment
https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-cpr/basics/art-20056600