He is a unique asset to the island because he is also a firefighter and paramedic. So when the call to the Coast Guard came down the line on the afternoon of Sept. 6 about a scuba diver in respiratory distress 500 feet off Raccoon Point located on the northwest side of Orcas Island, Hamilton knew he could help.

He was in a nearby location off of Port Lawrence manning the Blackfish Express as it returned from a whale watching tour. Hamilton was on the closest boat to the diver so he told passengers on the Blackfish that they would be taking a detour – one that could likely mean the difference between life and death.

“If the diver had the bends they could have died,” said Hamilton. “We let the customers know we are going to utilize the boat to save a man’s life.”

Hamilton estimates that within few minutes they had the diver on their boat. Luckily, a nurse was onboard and volunteered to assist, allowing Hamilton to concentrate on driving the Blackfish.

“He [the diver] was having trouble and coughing up blood,” Hamilton recalled.

In another five minutes, the Blackfish was at Brandt’s Landing, where an ambulance was waiting to transport the patient to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Hamilton said the diver is now in a stable condition.

This is not the first time the whale watching boat has assisted in a medical emergency. Three weeks ago a person on the remote Patos Island went into anaphylactic shock after being stung by a bee. Hamilton said that in that instance they loaded their tour clients off the boat and members from Orcas Fire and Rescue boarded the vessel to respond to the situation.

Acting Fire Chief Miklos Preysz said while Orcas Island Fire and Rescue has no formal contracts with private or commercial boats, whale watching boat operators like Outer Island Expeditions have been relied on in emergency situations.

“Time is of the essence,” said Preysz when it comes to who responds to emergencies on the Salish Sea.

The U.S. Coast Guard, San Juan Ferry and Barge, Camp Orkila’s vessel, the Canadian Coast Guard’s hovercraft and the San Juan County Sheriff’s boat are also resources for water rescue. Preysz has even used his own boat in times of trouble like when Downriggers Resaurant in Friday Harbor burned down several years ago. He estimates that each year they get 12 to 22 incidents called in from the water or outer islands.

Living on the islands can make for idyllic conditions, but the marine environment often complicates matters when accidents occur.

“Sometimes people forget what it means to be surrounded by water,” said Hamilton.