Keeping the blogosphere posted on the goings on of the world of submarines since late 2004... and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found. Idaho's first and foremost submarine blog. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me; don't call me at home.)

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Submarine Sailor Injured

A quick post from my son's roommate's computer as I'm packing my son out of his dorm...

There are reports of an injured submarine Sailor out in the Atlantic. Excerpts:
The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush was ordered Wednesday to make "best speed" to assist an injured sailor onboard a U.S. Navy submarine conducting operations in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Mayport, Fla.-based USS Boone was also dispatched to aid the submariner...
...The Navy says the sailor has a head injury and, according to the last medical assessment, appears to be stable.
Here's more information from Navy Times. Galrahn discusses some of the OPSEC concerns from this announcement.

Do you have any MEDEVAC stories?

Staying at PD...

Update 0850 18 Dec: The injured Submariner has been flown to Charleston:
A MH-60S Knight Hawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 26 transported a Sailor from a U.S. Navy submarine operating in the Atlantic Ocean to USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) for medical evaluation Dec. 16.
A Navy neurosurgeon, assigned to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, assessed the Sailor to be in stable condition and both have been transported to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C., for further evaluation and treatment as necessary.
"Mariners at sea take care of each other," said Vice Adm. Daniel P. Holloway, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet. "There is no better way to show our Sailors and their families the extent the Navy will go in order to take care of their own."...
..."The saying that we never leave a shipmate behind was proved today," said Capt. Chip Miller, George H.W. Bush commanding officer. "There was a Sailor out there who needed our help, and we were honored to receive the call. I am very proud of the professionals on board this ship and our families at home who provide constant support."
Bush was scheduled to return to its homeport of Norfolk Dec. 15 when the ship was tasked by Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet to return to sea.

55 Comments:

Blogger Mike Golch said...

I'm glad the Navy is doing it's best to look after one of it's own.Capital Hill may get a littles teste about the costs of the use of these ships.

12/16/2010 12:43 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was on watch at THIRD FLEET in 2008 when the NEBRASKA had the incident when a sailor (MM3 Michael Gentile) got crushed by their rudder ram. I happened to be watching chat when NEBRASKA came up, in a panic, trying to find out a way to get him off the boat for medical attention. It was sickening to realize that they were too far out to get a helo or a nearby ship to them quickly. I remember the guy on chat (radioman or COMMO, can't remember which) saying the skipper was running at Flank on the surface. From experience, I know that doesn't get you much more speed than the actual surfaced bell limit provides, but I sure as hell could understand trying in that situation.

I hope everything comes out fine for the sailor and boat in the above article.

12/16/2010 12:59 PM

 
Anonymous News Reader said...

Capitol Hill does have little testes, no argument here.

12/16/2010 1:09 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Has anyone thought that this is a good situation to use an Osprey? Faster than a helo and can hover over the sub.

If one of these was on the Bush they could lauch and run max speed towards the sub while a Hornet with buddy tanks could refuel it enroute.

12/16/2010 1:38 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Injury during a drill while hurricane david raged above (1979). Tricky helivac even in the storm's wake. Transited on the surface 12 hours to and from rendezvous point on the surface to make medevac. All of us were seasick.

12/16/2010 3:32 PM

 
Blogger Vigilis said...

"Do you have any MEDEVAC stories?"

Head injuries are serious no matter what; let's hope we never hear more about this sailor, which would indicate he came out well.

Submarine MEDEVAC stories have been rare unless we had first-hand knowledge of an event, or until recently.

12/16/2010 4:26 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/12/navy-bush-carrier-submariner-rescue-medical-121610w/

stable at hospital in Charleston

12/16/2010 4:46 PM

 
Anonymous STSC said...

On a North Atlantic 'training mission' we had a rider suffer kidney failure. Doc put him on de-ionized water and IV bags of glucose for food while we spent the next week getting to somewhere we were authorized to be and were able to MEDEVAC him off. He recovered. If we'd stayed out another week he probably would have died. Doc got major kudos from the land based real Doctors for his diagnosis at sea.

Did a helo MEDEVAC when an MT1 had chest pains & trouble breathing (after painting in the LET w/o ventilation or breathing filter). The helo off-load was super dangerous in rough seas and everyone who went up to the Bridge came down wide-eyed after seeing the grounding thing do its job. The helo crew were pros and after several tries were able to get him off - he ended up being okay.

I was MEDEVAC'd off my first boat, but thankfully we were in port at the time. The MEDEVAC plane from Groton to Bethesda was a huge eye-opener for me. I will never forget that plane full of wrecked Sailors and Soldiers (& worse knowing I had to be bad off to be on the flight myself) and hope none of the readers here ever have to that experience for themselves.

12/16/2010 5:43 PM

 
Anonymous ret.cob said...

Dropped off eight guys (and the corpsman) in Portsmouth, England. They had been quarantined in the CO/XO staterooms in 644 for a week with meningitis. New Senior Chief corpsman gave us all pills that made us piss orange. Nobody else got sick, but those 8 guys were in the hurt locker. One of them was "Big Red" Johnson, a chief A-ganger at the time, would eventually become a Trident COB.

12/16/2010 6:56 PM

 
Anonymous HMCM(SS) Retired said...

Here here Vigilis...

"Head injuries are serious no matter what; let's hope we never hear more about this sailor, which would indicate he came out well."

Let us all take pause to remember MM2(SS) Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died Jan. 9, 2005 from his head injuries sustained onboard USS San Francisco.

I could share numerous stories but those details shall remain btwn me and my shipmates/patients.

RP

12/16/2010 7:15 PM

 
Blogger John said...

The kidney stone attack on my last patrol resulted in my medivac. We were in the North Atlantic in the winter. Originally scheduled a helo tranfer but for some reason that didn't work out. It took 36 hours to get in close enough to do a small boat transfer. That was not fun. Doc had me stuffed between the missile tubes across from his office. He stayed up just about the whole time while I survived on Demerol. I eventually made it to Royal Naval Hospital, Plymouth and after a few days back to the States.

12/16/2010 11:17 PM

 
Blogger Unknown said...

To anon @ 1:38pm:
NAVAIR is reviewing the V-22 Osprey (COD replacement), while Army med is doing same (MEDEVAC mission). Ultimately it will boil down to cost vs versatility.

12/17/2010 12:50 AM

 
Blogger Mark said...

While in the Red Sea waiting for the shock and awe to begin, two A-gangers got in a fight in AMR. One slammed the others head with a deck plate. Injuries were bad enough for us to request a medivac. A local tin came over to assist and asked if they could provide supplies to us. We said sure how about fresh veggies/fruit and some milk. They responded with sure and how about some beer also. We didn’t know how to respond to that one. A quick look into the regs and we saw we were eligible for beer. It was not even on our radar as submarine sailors that you could get beer at sea. We ended up getting fresh food, milk and many cases of beer for the injured A-ganger, best trade ever. As an extra bonus the tin can’s “doc” was a female Lt. She had never been aboard a submarine so she transferred over and checked on the A-ganger as we prepared him for the transfer. She got a tour of the boat and most of the crew drooled after her, regardless of what she looked like, she was the best we had seen in 2 months. We ended up shooting missiles the next week so the A-ganger missed it and all the kudos involved in emptying the 12 holes in front and most of the TR. He missed the beer at sea, but had plenty on shore as we continued doing circles for several more weeks.

EMCS/SS Ret
Math Teacher Up-State NY

12/17/2010 2:36 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A Midshipman tried to put his head through the AMR2 toolbox during a 30 up in the late 90s (T-hull). He eventually recovered, but I thought he was a goner when I arrived on scene. We hauled ass to the nearest port and craned him off the boat in a back-board.

12/17/2010 5:15 AM

 
Blogger Ret ANAV said...

Gulf of Alaska, February, 1991. I was an EMT (along with a few others) on EMAT. Nuc Mechanic tried his damndest to put his head up thru a torpedo pivot tray during field day. Epic Fail. Doc correctly diagnosed a Subdural Hematoma and we spent the next four days pushing fluids and diuretics watching him go in and out of seizure activity while transiting to Kodiak. Helo Transfer was in S/S 3-4 with winds gusting in the high 30's. Say what ya want about the Coast Guard...those cats driving the -60's got it in one sock, and I have the highest respect for them. Got the kid to Kodiak where he was airlifted to (IIRC) Harborview in Seattle. Turned out fine.

12/17/2010 5:22 AM

 
Anonymous News Reader said...

Navy Times is reporting the submariner has been safely transported to Charleston, SC medical school hospital for treatment to it seems all's well.

12/17/2010 5:51 AM

 
Anonymous MentalJim said...

@STSC, Did your story of the MT1 and LET painting take place on HMJ?

12/17/2010 6:55 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was on the USS Wyoming for my midshipman cruise in 2003. My "running mate" was the TM1, so I ended up spending most of my time in the torpedo room. Anyway, I was down there one day, and the boat had just done a BSP, so the other TMs were busily cleaning weapons. The TM2 next to me was breaking down the machine gun, when (somehow) the charging spring assembly shot out of the reciever and caught me right above my left eye. Made me see stars and gave me a nice little cut!

12/17/2010 7:02 AM

 
Blogger John said...

@Vigilis 12/16 1626 - The link in your comment works fine; the link in your article there is broken. As you pointed out, these occurances will only increase in the future.

12/17/2010 7:06 AM

 
Blogger Vigilis said...

@ ETCS (SS/SW)
Thank you very much; fixed.

Vigilis

12/17/2010 7:36 AM

 
Blogger tennvol said...

@stsc: That medevac in the North Atlantic was the first thing I thought of when I read bubblehead's post, if I am thinking of the same incident you described. I seem to recall the sea state was wicked and half the crew was green.

12/17/2010 8:40 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mid 80's we were on patrol somewhere in the N Atlantic. We were shadowing a Russian missile boat when we received orders to surface and take on-board some certifiably crazy guy. Whoever he was he was in for one hell of a ride. He must have been pretty important because in order to fly him out to us they had to turn a chopper into a flying gas can. The sea was very choppy and to make things even more challenging, the the rotors were putting out enough static electricity to light up Chicago. Tommy tried to get the hook on his cable, but something went wrong and our guy fell and hit his head. Our future passenger cut loose and fell into the drink. Fortunately, we had a diver in the escape trunk and everything ended up ok. We did eventually relocate the Russian boat, but that's another story.

12/17/2010 9:37 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I heard the same story from a rabbit rancher in Montana.

12/17/2010 10:10 AM

 
Anonymous flem snopes said...

I handled a medevac from the message center at ComSubLant in the '60s.

When the boomer returned we got a sincere letter of thanks from the C.O.

12/17/2010 10:35 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anon @ 9:37 AM

"We were shadowing a Russian missile boat when we received orders to surface and take on-board some certifiably crazy guy. Whoever he was he was in for one hell of a ride."

We all get it, the crazy guy was probably John Patrick "Jack" Ryan, Ph.D., CPA, USMC (Ret.), practicing for a role in an upcoming submarine movie.

Love it!

R. Northrup

12/17/2010 11:38 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous 7:02 AM said...

"I was on the USS Wyoming for my midshipman cruise in 2003..... caught me right above my left eye. Made me see stars and gave me a nice little cut!"

Hey middie, did you get the Purple Heart?

12/17/2010 11:57 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To Anon:

The Osprey does not have a hoist and therefore could not have effected the MEDEVAC. The HSC bubbas lowered the basket. The Osprey would have been a good option to get the sailor from the carrier to land though, no cat launch on a COD but faster than the 60s.

12/17/2010 12:18 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

R. Northrup? CSG-8 around 1990? What's up Rick?

12/17/2010 1:24 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Could the Osprey not be modified and a winch added? Just trying to think of some ways to keep this hugely expensive baby in service.

If it could take over a lot of the COD duties, then we would still have it around when the Marines needed it.

12/17/2010 1:47 PM

 
Anonymous 3383 said...

V-22 eats money that really could be used elsewhere. Like for an attack plane, maybe.

Was riding one of the MSC crane ships down the Columbia River when a man collapsed in the ER LL, near the burners. Didn't make it there before the crew began their procedure, so stayed out of the way- and that MarAd crew had apparently drilled for this.


Not long after, topside, a CG -60 came up and reconnoitered for a bit- this was a crane ship with a lot of top hamper- then lowered a line, ship's crew had the victim in a stretcher/ basket, and away they went.

Woke up the next morning moored out in Astoria. Due to an injury before leaving Portland (some dumbass tried to board without using the gangway), the Coast Guard wanted to investigate the statistically high accident rate. This is when I learned that the oiler hadn't survived.

RIP, Merchant Mariner.

12/17/2010 3:33 PM

 
Anonymous Mark/MM1(SS) said...

Not on topic; but wanted to share that my son earned his fish today, for a second generation submariner...one round of the submarine cheer, please.

12/17/2010 6:20 PM

 
Anonymous ex-ET nuke said...

Congrats to your son Mark. And good on you for showing him the best way to go in the Navy!

12/17/2010 7:54 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

With respect to the V-22, when I was on my I.A. ( JCCS-1) I worked for an Air Force LTCol who was a program director for V-22. As I waited for a UH-60 to take him back to his FOB (Kalsu) we talked about the airframe. There would be to much down prop wash with exhaust to hang a hoist out the side. The UH -60 puts out a metric butt ton in down draft untill it gets on the deck. It's turbine exhaust goes aft so no one would get cooked.
The V-22's exhaust when in hover gets directed straight down. Which oddly enough has caused a problem with the bird farms. It seems the flight deck will need to be reinforced to prevent buckling due to the big ass hair dryer blowing on it from a V-22.
Also the v-22 wont get a 50 cal due to it's composite make up. Something about the sonic boom coming off the 50 cal causing the skin to delaminate. Helos dont have that issue being they are alum skinned. Medavac story... In the mid to late 80's on the 728G fish we had a MT3 Randall. He got sick and Doc gave him pencillain. Well as I roved past sickbay he seemed to get worse as the days went on, turning gray. Seems Doc missed that he was alergic to P cillian. Anyways due to the weather we couldn't send him to Kodiak, It took us 5 days driving home really fast to medevac him. Weather was so bad we ended up driving past Foulweather Bluff to just about the bridge to xfer him. We had ice hanging from the fairwaters. Never found out what happened to him. Did a few other medevacs using USCG helos. Those guys are animals. God Bless them for what they do!!!

FTB4evr/LCDR.L

12/17/2010 8:12 PM

 
Anonymous NHSparky said...

Congrats to your son, Mark!


First boat, 1990, on op and on station, MS1 had some sort of blood issue where his (I think) hemocrit was so low it was in the, "He gonna die" range. He was actually found passed out in Fwd Crews head crapping blood. Doc put him in the wardroom and kept him under sedation while we beat feet towards Kodiak for 3 days. Small boat transfer came and took him off. He recovered and met the boat when we ended the Pac back in Pearl.

After losing our topside watch earlier in the year (suicide on watch), needless to say we were pretty much on edge for a while after that.

12/17/2010 8:15 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the 60s and 70s I made Polaris and Poseidon patrols when they carried doctors. Later they removed the doctors and began conducting Medivacs when needed. Then in the 80s I made a bunch of patrols on Tridents.

My last ship, the USS Georgia, seemed to have a Medivac each run. One patrol we had an MM1 get caught in the rudder ram, crushing his pelvis. The 2nd comment above to this thread made me recall that incident. We were on Alert, but the CO immediately went to PD and sent a message. Since we didn’t own the water in the direction of Kodiak, where we could hook up with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, we had to surface and run at a flank bell. The MM1 survived and returned to the ship a few patrols later. Even the litter was returned.

On another run (same boat) a weapons guy developed appendicitis. Luckily we were transiting past Wake Island and were able to Medivac him.

Then came my turn on a later patrol when I managed to develop double pneumonia. I didn’t know it was bad until I woke up staring at the overhead lights in the Goat Locker with a big bump on the back of my head. The Senior Chief Corpsman (same one for the above Medivacs) told the CO that I had to be Medivaced. My condition quickly got worse and I could hardly breathe. I had a disturbing vision of coming home in the freezer. The Corpsman got inventive and kept me on oxygen and meds that allowed me to breathe, barely. It took several days to transit back towards Bangor. One of the Nuc MMCs spelled the Corpsman by learning how to give me IVs.

We finally surfaced in the Strait of Juan de Fuca where a transfer boat was waiting to take me ashore. The COB, Big Gary “make a hole, make it wide” G. grabbed me after I was barely able to climb the ladder topside. He grabbed me and my feet never touched the deck until he put me on the boat.

My shipmates kept me alive until I could get to a real hospital in Bremerton. Naturally I’ll never forget them and all the other people who were involved to get me there.

Retired since ’92

12/17/2010 8:53 PM

 
Anonymous The Dr. said...

Not exactly on topic but lost a shipmate at sea after he hung himself in the diesel room, spent hours giving CPR to no avail and finally got an MD on the radio to pronounce him deceased. We couldn't get help fast enough and we were pretty close to Rosie Roads. Not so cool.

12/17/2010 9:48 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with the V-22 Osprey comment above, however, I believe the Air Force CV-22 would be a better choice. Air Force Special Ops has medically trained Pararescue, can easily aerial refuel from a MC-130, all-weather capabilities, and either land on the deck or MEDIVAC direct to a hospital. The V-22 is certainly faster than any -46, -53, or -60 helo.

Costs??? I'm sorry; there was sailor's life potentially at stake.

12/17/2010 10:47 PM

 
Blogger Martan and Kyle said...

Earlier last decade on the 'burgh we were preparing to conduct an EMBT blow. As we do these days, we surfaced for a look around to ensure the area was clear of traffic. The weather was pretty bad and the CO called the blow off and told the WEPS to clear the bridge. As he and the lookout were were attempting to close the clamshells in heavy seas and monster waves, we took one down the bridge hatch and it knocked the WEPS' footing out and the clamshell hit him in the head. He bounced all the way down to control and ended up in a pile. We carried him to the weirdroom where doc gave him a haircut and sewed his scalp back together in a cool zig zag pattern across his scull. As I recall we hauled balls to Norfolk (closest) to medevac him. 6 hour maneuvering watch in 1 hour transfer and 6 hour maneuvering watch back out. I thought we had long surface transits in Groton!

12/17/2010 11:27 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats Mark!

12/17/2010 11:47 PM

 
Blogger John said...

BZ to your son, Mark.

12/17/2010 11:54 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We had to medevac a young MT who’s hand was crushed while closing a watertight door during a drill. We knew immediately he was severely injured and in serious trouble. We surfaced and transited for hours in a storm with sea state 7 conditions. Didn’t take long for all of us to become sea sick. The mess deck all but shut down, food was not on anyone’s mind. Fresh air be damned, we prayed to bring her back down below the storm. I didn’t witness the helivac but those that did were struck by the bravery and skill that it took perform the actual medevac.

12/18/2010 12:09 AM

 
Anonymous Not droppin' the soap said...

News: "High school hazing probe embroils Boise State football"

"Police say the five athletes forcibly penetrated fellow members of the high school basketball team and battered and restrained the victims in a locker room and on a school bus during a three-month period that began last December."


Now that DADT is about to be repealed, is this still so wrong? Maybe this is just how gays 'play'....? Who knows? Is anyone who objects to such things now simply 'discriminating' against reasonable gay play?

Maybe they can just join the submarine force....where they can run silent, run deeeeep.

12/18/2010 12:11 PM

 
Blogger DDM said...

On the 666, our A-Div MMCS got his ear mostly ripped off when a diesel cover blew off and hit him in the head. We pulled in to let him off and fix the diesel. He earned the nickname, Mr. Potato Head, due to his ability to remove body parts and put them back on. Gotta love A-gangers!

12/18/2010 3:02 PM

 
Anonymous TinFoilHat said...

So is the don't ask , don't tell repeal linked to the Wikileaks scandal? Is there more than coincidence in the timing of the two events? Has a deal been reached where the remaining unreleased wikileaks info will not be published if DADT is repealed? Is this whole thing just a big shakedown operation?

12/18/2010 3:10 PM

 
Blogger Thomas said...

On the 657 Blue about 20 years ago we had a Nav ET come down with appendicitis while we were alert. Came off alert to go deep and fast for a few days to medevac him. He really was sick, and our corpsman was radioing back and forth to the docs on shore to confirm appendicitis (so we were told). The sick ET2 lived in between the missile tubes across from Doc's office for those couple of days. I'm not medically trained but he didn't look good, I remember that.

Supposedly the sick ET2 got better immediately after being transferred off, no surgery or anything, and the rest of us spent the remainder of patrol trying to figure out how WE could fake appendicitis. At least we got a bag of mail off with him when we did the transfer.

12/18/2010 3:27 PM

 
Blogger SJV said...

Appendicitis is an infection, sometimes it clears up on its own.

12/18/2010 4:32 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a no sh%#&er:

How bout a MRSA infection that started in the boys, spread to the abdomen and the upper thighs(I have photos someplace but they aren't something the bride would allow me to leave laying on the coffee table for the everyday visitors). What started as a pimple Saturday morning that I knew was "not right" had me using all of the IV fluid, morphine and antibiotics onboard prior to being BSPd Thursday morning.

Best part of the ordeal was being laid out on the wardroom table getting the nuts roto rooted (I had bypassed the vital sign milestones provided by the UMOs ashore Monday afternoon and DOC had to go in and open me up to keep me from becoming too septic to recover) and having an officer mission rider (that secured sign is not applicable to me is it?) opening the aft door to the wardroom and being treated to the sight of my nut sack being opened and cleaned by one of them LOOONNNNNGGGG ASSSSSS q-tips. I was quick enough to come up with some smart comment about him having to have supper in a couple of hours on the same table where my nuts were spewing pus and blood.


Spent ten days at Naval Hospital Okinawa prior to being cleared to fly home and then about a month of having at least a once daily changing of the stuffing and dressing in and on my nut sack. NOT a fun time but I would load up on the pain meds (and a couple of beers once I got home) before each event so I survived. I also had the fortitude to ask if there was any junior corpsman (hoping against hope it would be a young lady that would end up fondling my boys (and with great luck it most often turned out to be a female)) that needed training on something like this. The chief that was supervising my care stated he had about a dozen young corpsmen that could use training on something like this. I had fun with each new trainee that came along until they figured out that I was having too much fun and then they started messing with me.

Word to the wise, weird pimples on your nutsack that you know is not a normal everyday run of the mill zit is not something to take for granted.

12/18/2010 6:29 PM

 
Anonymous Harold said...

On the second ustafish (early '80's) had a nuc MM on his first run medevaced off in the North Atlantic by helo, blindfolded. His eyes were all inflamed. Cleared up, he made the next patrol, it happened again. So, medical got serious about diagnosing his problem.

He was allergic, highly allergic, to 2190 TEP. Don't know if they allowed him to finish his enlistment, but he never got underway on a sub again.

12/18/2010 10:06 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reply to Thomas @ 12/18/2010 3:27 PM

I am the ET2 that was MEDEVACED from the 657 back then.
After 5 days of the 2 different broad spectrum antibiotics given at max doses and minimum intervals that cleared up the infection. When I made it to the hospital where i was dropped off the infection had subsided. I did have an appendectomy a few weeks after the boat returned from sea. It was what the doctors called an elective surgery, but if I had not had it done i would have had appendicitis again since what ever had caused it in the first place was still lodged in there.
Doc Hady did a great job in diagnosing and treating me. He even took my last few packs of smokes since i couldn't smoke and he was about to run out.

12/19/2010 9:34 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

On third hitch. Likely the last. One thing to tolerate and largely ignore a gay or two on the boat, it's another to encourage it by imposing more diversity training and rules. Some will be emboldened knowing that they are protected. It will be difficult to keep bad behavior in check once it begins. I have enough crap to deal with.

12/19/2010 8:14 PM

 
Anonymous Serrano said...

MedVac for Civilians:
We were out to sea near the Bahamas, after a few days of drills we finally got rid of the inspection team (always a good thing). We where heading out getting ready to dive when the Contact Coordinator report a small boat capsized, on the 1MC "small boat handling party lay aft". I wasn't part of the team but I'm all about helping an adrenaline rush. We turn around and there it was, a small fishing boat, about 20ft. There was 4 adults and 1 kid. One of the mens cut his foot(the inside of the ankle) when the boat flipped, he had a hearth condition and also high blood preassure. when we got to the they had been in the water for over two days, the night before we pick them up they said a boat came close to them, pointed a light toward them, then they turned the lights off and left them to die. the guy with the cut was in bad shape, his cut about 8" long was swallen and infected, we clean as much as we could and band him up, gave him some med for preassure. All of them were dehydrated and hungry, we gave them water, gatorade, tea and some of my shipmates got some energy and protein bars so they could get something to eat. We call the coast guard and the boats that picked our team earlier, we made arrangement to transfer them to safety. they were very happy to see us when we rescue them but also excited because it was a Sub.

I remember we let them use the SAT phone, one of them made a phone call to his wife, he said "hey, it is me", not sure what she said but he responded, "it is me woman, your husband" I guess she asked him where he was since he was supposed to be home 2 days before that, he told her the boat capsized and a Navy Sub has picked him up, after that he laugh as she was telling him "why do you have to lie, you expect me to believe that" and she then hang the phone up. he then laugh even harder he said "she doesn't believe me!!" Well my Capt. gave them each a command coin and some pictures so they would have proof and his wife wouldn't kill him. i still remember those guys and how happy the were when we pick them up. Great times!!

12/21/2010 8:59 AM

 
Anonymous STSC said...

@Mentaljim - Yes it was. The Sailor who was taken off shares the name of a major department store.
Sorry for the delay - I'm on vacation and haven't been checking this site as often.
@TENNVOL - I'll never forget seeing him off the day of his departure and shaking his hand letting him know we'd be praying for him. He looked like a frigging zombie.

I was on watch for both of the actual xfers so never got to be topside for them.

Did a different MEDEVAC on the Gville years later where I was topside. But it was very tame w/ a small-boat and involved us basically tossing the guy over to them in calm seas. Had an ET1 snap underway (became extremely paranoid) and as I recall there was a big debate over MEDEVAC'ing his butt off before he hurt someone (he had a wheel book full of people that were on his 'kill' list). We ended up just escorting his crazy butt off in Ketchikan & one of our JO's had to fly w/ him all the way back to go to the rubber room section of Cripler in Pearl.

12/21/2010 10:09 AM

 
Blogger Thomas said...

@ anon 12/19/2010 9:34 AM

Hey Segura!
Glad it all worked out. Obviously the grapevine medical summary of your case I got wasn't quite complete. I benefited from Doc Hady's competent care at least once or twice myself.

12/23/2010 6:01 PM

 
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