Coast Guard rescues girl from cruise ship off Santa Barbara

Last week, the US Coast Guard airlifted a 3-year-old girl from a moving cruise ship about 90 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara after she suffered a medical emergency.

The Coast Guard said in a statement that the girl was rescued on Wednesday afternoon after Princess Cruises’ ship Emerald Princess reported that a young passenger was exhibiting “convulsion-like symptoms.”

Body camera footage from a Coast Guard crew member who was lowered to the ship showed the helicopter hovering just above the swimming pool and artificial turf on the Emerald’s upper deck Princess. The child was sitting on a stretcher outside a spa, according to the footage. The ship’s medical staff stood nearby as the young girl leaned against her mother.

The child was given a teddy bear before being carried on deck, placed in a metal basket and lifted alongside his mother into an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from San Diego.

The girl and her mother were transported to Harbor UCLA Medical Center. The child was in stable condition, according to the Coast Guard.