USS Abraham Lincoln Assists in Medevac At Sea
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS081218-07
Release Date: 12/18/2008 12:41:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kat Corona, USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs
USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) assisted in a medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) from a Liberian-flagged merchant ship Dec. 13, nearly 300 miles off the coast of Southern California.
At approximately 9 p.m., Lincoln received word from the U.S. Coast Guard that a cargo ship, Marie Rickmers, issued a distress call of an injured Sailor on board who needed emergency medical attention.
"We were told the [cargo] ship had an injured sailor and was over 600 miles off the coast," said Coast Guard Cmdr. Sean Cross, the helicopter pilot who performed the MEDEVAC.
"We didn't think it would be able to happen because they were just too far away. Then we were told Lincoln was out there and we'd be able to use the ship."
Lincoln was on its transit home to Naval Station Everett, Wash., after completing squadron carrier qualifications off the coast of southern California when the call came in.
Through coordination with Lincoln, Marie Rickmers and the U.S. Coast Guard, Lincoln was positioned between the San Diego Coast Guard station and the cargo ship to act as a lily pad for the San Diego-based helicopter to refuel and expedite the MEDEVAC of the injured sailor.
"We were told someone was down on the other ship and needed help," said Lincoln's Senior Medical Officer Cmdr. Benjamin Lee. "We contacted the ship's captain to find out the status of the patient."
The Coast Guard helicopter landed on Lincoln's flight deck at about 1:30 a.m. to pick up a doctor and a hospital corpsman and to be refueled before heading to the cargo ship for the rescue.
"I was really impressed with Lincoln's crew on the [flight] deck," Cross said. "They had everything tied down and fueled quickly. There were some frustrations at first, with different hand signals and getting everything coordinated, but once everyone got on the phones and were able to talk it all came together quickly."
At the cargo ship, the helicopter crew realized there was very little space for them to perform their hoists.
"There were a lot of cranes and things on the deck that made dropping the hoists more difficult," Cross said.
In all, the helicopter crew performed four total hoists. The rescue swimmer went first, followed by the litter, which held the injured sailor as he was lifted into the helicopter.
After the patient was packaged onto the back board and brought up to the deck of the cargo ship, Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician 3rd Class Robyn Hamilton, the rescue swimmer on the helicopter, attached the back board to the hoist and the injured sailor was brought up into the helicopter where Lincoln's corpsman and doctor took over care.
Hamilton was hoisted back into the helicopter and the crew began their journey back to Lincoln.
After landing on Lincoln's flight deck, Health Services Department took over care of the patient, but had help from many different departments on the ship to get the patient down to main medical.
With the help of Abe's Weapons Department, the patient transited from the flight deck to main medical through various weapons elevators.
"It was great to see all the cooperation with the different departments on the ship," Lee said. "Everyone played a small role in the bigger picture. From Weapons [Department] to the flight deck crew, everyone knew their part."
Once with in main medical, Lincoln's doctors and corpsman stabilized the patient and prepared him for the next leg of his journey to shore.
The members of the helicopter crew perform three to four MEDEVACs each month, but never as far from shore as this one. For Lincoln, MEDEVACs aren't a common occurrence, but aren't a complete rarity.
"We're not specifically designed for this, like [an amphibious ship] but the corpsman are trained for emergency care," said Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Donald Singleton, Lincoln's Health Services Department leading chief petty officer.
"It wasn't out of the realm for us," Lee said. "We do patient transports and MEDEVACs with other ships in our strike group. This MEDEVAC went very well. In all levels of involvement and coordination, it went very seamlessly. It was just one example of how the Navy is willing to help out an injured sailor anywhere in the world. We changed our course to help the sailor get the medical treatment he needed. This is a great example of how the Navy isn't afraid to help someone who needs us."
The patient was transported via Coast Guard C-130 cargo plane to a medical facility in San Diego the following afternoon to receive follow-on care as Lincoln and its crew set sail back toward home.
For more news from USS Abraham Lincoln, visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn72/.
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