What started out as just another day at sea turned into a real sea adventure. Even though it happened near the end of the day, I’ll start this entry with what happened.
During dinner, around 6ish, the captain came over the loud speaker with a special announcement. We had a seriously ill patient who needed emergency medical care that the ship could not provide, so we were diverting our direction toward Kodiak, Alaska so that a Coast Guard helicopter could pick him up. He requested everyone to stay off the decks so as not to be in the way.
So, everyone went up to the Crow’s Nest to watch out the big glass windows. Since Doug and I had not been together for dinner (he wasn’t hungry at 5:30), we didn’t know where the other person was. He had a much better location – in the front of the ship, but down one level and looking out the gym windows which meant he had a view of the deck as well.
As a matter of normal procedure, a small plane comes a little before the helicopter and circles the ship – then the helicopter arrives. Well, the helicopter hovered over the back of the ship for a while before it came to the front to send down a medic and stretcher.
Helicopter door open and medic and stretcher have been sent down to the bow of the ship. Our crew was in full fire gear with hoses on the deck above, ready if necessary.
It had gotten that far when the ship came into a squall with high winds and snow flurries. The helicopter had to temporarily fly off and the ship had to try to get to a clear area – which it did about 10 minutes later – so that the procedure could be completed.
As the helicopter hovered over the bow of the ship again, four of our men and their medic
carried the stretcher to the area on the bow where it would be attached to the cable wire again.
The passenger was wrapped in warm blankets, a hat, and a life preserver. After the wires were firmly attached, the stretcher was hoisted up to the helicopter. The medic on the ship held a rope attached to the stretcher to keep it from spinning around in the air.
A close up shot of the stretcher and passenger as he is loaded into the hovering helicopter.
After getting him in the helicopter door, another cable was sent down for the medic.
The whole thing took about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish.
We were surprised to learn that the passenger was a 26 year old young man traveling with his godfather. It seemed a bit ironic that on this ship with so many elderly passengers, it was a young person who needed medical attention. From what we have heard, he had a liver problem and it became serious enough for him to be taken from the ship. Will have to wait to hear what happens next. No medic from the ship, nor his godfather was taken with him. It was risky enough just getting him off with the rolling seas and off and on squalls we’ve seen all day.
Everyone cheered when he was up and the helicopter door closed, but Doug was with some people who made amazingly stupid remarks such as: “Well, I hope they hurry up with this so we can make it to dinner without our steaks overcooking”; “The medic from the helicopter didn’t wave for my picture as he was coming down the wire”, and “They took so long to load the patient, the snow on the window melted and left droplets on the window that messed up my pictures.” Doug said it was just outrageous, and he couldn’t contain himself and told them this was not a ship excursion for their entertainment, but a medical emergency.
Compared to that, the rest of the day seems pretty bland. I played bridge for two hours in the morning, Doug went to a lecture, lunch was another Mongolian beef BBQ poolside, and of course we lost another hour. Doug took a nap, I did some paperwork and went to dinner. It was a Bering Sea special dinner with many seafood offerings. Then the rescue at sea, followed by the evening’s entertainment which turned out to be excellent. An Australian brother and sister team, Adam and Patricia Kent, did ballroom dancing; they are professionals and were amazing to watch. Chris and Cindy would have enjoyed it as they did everything from a waltz and tango to a jive. Now going to bed because I got up really early to take pictures of the sun rising and different places on the ship.
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