Sick woman winched to safety by LifeFlight 40km from land off the Sunshine Coast

A woman who fell ill while on a boat 40km off of the Sunshine Coast was winched to safety by a LifeFlight crew. SEE THE FOOTAGE

A woman in her 50s has been rescued by helicopter from a boat at sea, 40km off the Sunshine Coast.

The Sunshine Coast LifeFlight helicopter was flown to assist just after 1:30pm on Saturday, when fellow passengers noticed the woman became very sick and was drifting in and out of consciousness.

A LifeFlight statement said that as the helicopter approached the boat, the rescue crew decided it would be safest to first winch an RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Aircrew Officer down to the water.

The Aircrew Officer swam a short distance to the boat, assessed the woman, then prepared her to be winched up to the helicopter.

Once on-board the helicopter, the woman was treated by the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctor and a Queensland Ambulance Service Flight Paramedic.

The woman was then flown to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a serious and stable condition.

The rescue was performed by the Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission Helicopter, which is currently based at the Sunshine Coast.

This aircraft is part of LifeFlight Australia‘s commercial operation, which provides helicopter rescue and emergency services to Queensland.

Originally published as Sick woman winched to safety by LifeFlight 40km from land off the Sunshine Coast