Two U.S. Coast Guard air crews evacuated an ill crew member from the deck of a cargo vessel 80 nautical miles east of Hilo to Honolulu today, the Coast Guard said in a press release.

The Coast Guard's Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu received a call from the master of the ship Luo Ba He concerning a 57-year-old male crew member suffering severe abdominal pain.

The ill man was hoisted aboard an HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter and transported to a Coast Guard C-130 long-range search plane at Hilo International Airport. The man was then flown to Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu and transported by city paramedics to The Queen's Medical Center.

The HH-65 crew included a rescue swimmer who was deployed to the deck of the cargo vessel with a rescue basket and then hoisted back aboard with the patient. A Coast Guard physician's assistant tended to the patient on the C-130 flight from Hilo to Honolulu. The patient was further stabilized by Honolulu EMS.