Usually we show you Coast Guard helicopters medically evacuating passengers from cruise ships. Yesterday, however, Carnival Spirit was too far away from Hawaii for a helicopter to reach it. To help stabilize the patient, the ship's doctor requested the Coast Guard bring them six units of blood. A few hours later, when the ship was about 600 miles away from Hawaii, a US Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was flying over the ship surveying its layout. A few minutes later, it lowered its rear cargo ramp and first dropped a trail line across the ship's bow, and then dropped a shatter-proof container with six units of blood in the water just behind the ship. All that was left for the crew of Carnival Spirit to do was grab the trail line and pull it onto the ship.
