The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) rescued an Oregon woman experiencing a mental health crisis in Semiahmoo Bay on Monday morning.
The Blaine Police Department responded to a call about 7:50 a.m. Monday requesting a welfare check for a woman throwing rocks at vehicles in the 9200 block of Semiahmoo Parkway, according to spokesperson Tim Richardson. The woman was later identified as a 50-year-old from Oregon.
The woman declined to speak to officers when they arrived, and instead walked toward the beach. As officers approached the woman, Blaine police said she began walking into Semiahmoo Bay in the direction of Canada about 8:40 a.m.
Blaine police called the RCMP and U.S. Border Patrol to advise them of the situation, and then requested a marine unit from the U.S. Coast Guard and Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman was in the U.S. waters of Semiahmoo Bay for about an hour, about 400 yards from shore, or more than three football fields, according to police.
The water temperature was 47 degrees, according to police, while the air temperature was about 57 degrees.
RCMP was the first boat to arrive about 9:40 a.m. and pulled the woman, whose head was barely above water, into their boat 10 minutes later. Police described her as hypothermic with a weak pulse.
“The timeliness of their arrival likely saved her life,” said Brent Greene, deputy chief of Blaine Police Department.
North Whatcom Fire and Rescue met RCMP at Blaine Harbor, where the medics then transported the woman to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham for an involuntary health commitment.
Call 911 if you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis or suicidal thoughts.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988 or text HOME to 741741 for a crisis counselor.
The Whatcom County Triage Center crisis line is 800-584-3578.
The Washington Warm Line is 877-500-9276 and provides peer support for people living with mental illness 5-9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
For more information about resources, visit namiwhatcom.org/crisis-resources.html.
