Gulf oil spill: Sickened cleanup workers evacuated

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Two crew members from two controlled-burn fleet vessels at the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were evacuated Friday after they started experiencing chest pains, according to the unified command center.

One man, identified only as the master of a fishing support vessel, experienced chest pains as the crew was in search of high-concentration oil areas, a command center statement said. He was transferred to the dive support vessel Premier Explorer, which has emergency medical personnel aboard, the statement said.

A crew member of another vessel also had identical symptoms, and was taken to dive support vessel Sea Fox.

Two other crewmen with seasickness also were transferred to the Premier Explorer.

A medevac helicopter was dispatched to hoist all four crewmen for transfer to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, La., according to the command center.

There were no active burns in the area at the time, and no aerial dispersants have been used within two miles of any vessel or platform, the statement said.

Taslin Alfonzo, a spokeswoman for West Jefferson Medical Center, said two victims arrived Friday night and were washed down in a decontamination area as a precaution, then held overnight for observation.

The status of the other crew members was unclear.

--Geoff Mohan