baptism by fire, part 1

Okay, so this is supposed to be about my experiences in the Coast Guard, but I've held off a while on telling any specific stories about Search and Rescue (SAR) cases that I've been on. I'm the proudest of the ones I worked as a coxswain (boat driver) so I'll start there.

I earned my coxswain qualification in the late summer if 2005. The first boat type I became a coxswain on was the 25 foot Response Boat Small (RB-S). It was a great platform for conducting Law Enforcement and a valuable asset for quick response during SAR cases. She could nearly double the top speed of our other two boats (the 41' UTB and 47' MLB) and was therefore good for responding to cases with a person in water (PIW) or she could rapidly deliver a dewatering pump to a vessel taking on water.

It was my duty weekend at Station Gloucester and was going to be my first rotation as the duty coxswain. I arrived Friday morning and was posted as the coxswain if the 25' had to launch and another coxswain was assigned to the 41'.

My first SAR case came just before sunset on Friday evening. The watchstander sounded the SAR alarm and added "MEDEVAC Essex River, 25' boat crew!" As we grabbed our gear, we knew what to expect when we arrived at the scene, so we also grabbed the back board in case we had to immobilize the patient.

We were underway within minutes of being alerted. I climbed in behind the helm, started both engines, turned on the electronics, energized the blue light, and had my crew clear the mooring lines and we were en route. It was myself, two crewmembers, and another coxswain who we had decided should come along to assist. The Essex area was at the northern extreme of our Area of Responsibility (AOR) and had a sandy bottom known to shift often, creating shallow water. Having two coxswains on board would help to mitigate some of the risks posed by operating in that particular area.

I brought the 25' up on a plane and maneuvered up the Annisquam River towards our destination. As we transited the river, the crew kept the station informed of our ETA and we were told that Air Station Cape Cod had launched a helicopter to assist. We cleared the Annisquam River and shot across Essex Bay, into the mouth of the Essex River.

As we entered the river, we could see a large gathering of vessels to our right. We hadn't received a precise location of the person so we headed towards the vessels. As we got closer, we could see that there were over a dozen people wading in the water around something. They were only up to their knees in the water, so I slowed my speed and trimmed my engines up to prevent them from touching bottom. We lightly ran the bow onto the sandbar and could see that the people were all standing around an injured person.

As we ran up on the sandbar, we saw Merrimack River's (the CG station to our north) 25' arrive at the mouth of the river. We decided that they would transport the patient to a nearby dock in our AOR and we would drive in front of them to lead the way and clear any traffic in their path. I came alongside Merrimack's RB-S and transferred the other coxswain to their boat since he was more familiar with the area we were heading to.

The civilians helped to get the patient on board the other boat while we called Station Gloucester and told them to have EMS meet us at the dock we were heading to. We gave them all the information we had about the person's condition, including that he wasn't breathing and had no pulse. As soon as the other boat was ready, we began making the best possible speed to meet with EMS. During the entire transit, the other boat's crew were kneeling over the patient and performing CPR.

The patient didn't make it. We later found out that he had been riding on a jet ski when he hit a sandbar, flew forwards, and broke his neck. The crew took it well because we all knew that we did the best we could and we were told by the ambulance crew that death had most likely been instantaneous.

This was just the start of that weekend, I'll continue with more later...