Woman rescued after an hour in the sea at night
By From staff reports
<!-- End .byline --> Saturday, December 5, 2009
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<!-- End story_meta --> A female crew member of a commercial fishing boat was rescued out of the ocean in the darkness Saturday night about five miles west of Oxnard, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
After she was reported missing about 5:10 p.m., a 47-foot motorized lifeboat was sent out from the Coast Guard’s station at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, along with a helicopter from Los Angeles and an 87-foot patrol boat.
With the help of a spotlight from the helicopter, searchers found the woman about 5:45 p.m. She was treading water about a quarter-mile from where she was last seen on the boat two hours earlier. She was rescued and taken to shore in the lifeboat, officials said.
“It’s a quite remarkable case, to find one person in the water at that visibility,” said Lt. j.g. Stephanie Young, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.
The crew member, whose name was not released, may have been in the water for about an hour, estimated Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Maresh. She appeared to be suffering from hypothermia and was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.
Officials were trying to determine how she went overboard. Sunset was about 4:47 p.m. Saturday.
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