Fisherman suffers amputated finger

Ian Klopper, NSRI Kommetjie station commander, said:At 10h24, Thursday, 15th December, NSRI Headquarters were contacted by fishing boats relaying a distress call that they had overheard from the local fishing craft Mustang II that was reporting to have an injured fisherman on board their boat and that their boat was also suffering one of her two motors with motor mechanical failure and reporting to be limping towards Hout Bay on only one motor from 20 nautical miles West of Hout Bay and requesting medical assistance.The message that they had overheard on VHF radio was feint and incomplete.NSRI Hout Bay and NSRI Kommetjie were placed on alert and on investigation Telkom Maritime Radio Services had also received the relayed radio distress calls and MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination centre) had been notified.Our NSRI Kommetjie duty crew dispatched the sea rescue craft Spirit of the Vines and NSRI Hout Bay duty crew launched the sea rescue craft Albie Matthews.Spirit of the Vines rendezvoused with the casualty craft 11.5 nautical miles off-shore and NSRI medics treated the 34 year old fisherman, from Plattekloof, for complete amputation of his left index finger sustained while fishing.The injured patient was transferred onto our sea rescue craft and brought in a stable condition to the Kommetjie slip way where CMR (Cape Medical Response) paramedics took over care of the patient and he was transported to hospital in a stable condition by CMR ambulance for further treatment.The NSRI Hout Bay sea rescue craft escorted the casualty craft Mustang II to Hout Bay harbour without incident and they required no further assistance.NSRI commend the many boats at sea that relayed the distress call to the authorities enabling us to gather information that helped to pinpoint the casualties general location and the nature and the urgency of the distress. TO REPORT A SEA RESCUE EMERGENCY DIAL 112 FROM A CELLPHONE NSRI Hout Bay Albie Matthews