A crew member aboard a vessel was rescued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) yesterday morning after a suspected stroke.

SCDF deployed two marine vessels after receiving a call for medical assistance around 1.30am. They arrived alongside the ship, which was anchored in eastern Singapore.

Seven SCDF marine specialists, of whom two are also trained as emergency medical technicians, boarded the anchored vessel with their rescue and medical equipment.

They found the crew member, who was conscious, on the ship's main deck.

"He was suspected to have a stroke, with numbness and a loss of sensation on the right side of his body," said SCDF in a Facebook post.

It added that SCDF marine specialists carefully secured him to a stretcher, which was then lowered onto a marine rescue vessel.

A crew of marine specialists had simultaneously set up a height-lowering system on a crane on the anchored vessel, in order to lower the crew member onto the vessel.

"The rescue and evacuation operation had to be coordinated carefully in view of the strong winds and sea current. The marine specialists also had to constantly communicate and coordinate with the crane operator as the casualty was being lowered," said SCDF.

The crew member was taken to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal where he was medically assessed by an ambulance crew, and then taken to Changi General Hospital.

Isabelle Liew