THURSDAY, 02.12.09

0955: From Pat Sullivan, How’s It Going Dess?
Is all going well? How’s the food? Dess, question: if anyone has a serious medical condition, is there a paramedic or a highly trained person onboard your ship? Tom Sharp is an EMT, so he is certainly very competent, but just wondering if there’s someone with even more experience?

1000: To Pat Sullivan
The captain of the ship and the first mate both are trained to work with the MedAire Team and are qualified to provide medications and cut if necessary. That’s all we have out here. Joe Lepore’s got EMT training too, but no doctor this time around.

Food’s okay, all is going well

1038: Emergency Evac, From Pat Sullivan To Ted Waitt’s Crew
Hey Tom/Dave, hope all’s well aboard the ship. What are the plans if anyone needs emergency medical treatment? This is what MedAire has to say about medical care in Kiribati:

‘Standard of Health Care: Medical care in Kiribati is very basic and adequate for the treatment of very minor illnesses and injuries only. Serious cases will need evacuation to Australia or New Zealand. Dental Care: Avoid dental care in Kiribati. The standards are very low and many facilities may not adequately sterilize their equipment between patients.’

When I was in that region a few years ago, we sought medical care for a couple of people on the ship. I escorted them to a hospital in Tarawa with our onboard doctor. After looking at the condition of the hospital, she refused to allow them to stay and we brought them back to the ship. They were later evacuated to Hawaii via a medical jet.

So, based upon where you will be, what do you think should be the plan in the event someone onboard needs advanced medical care?

1119: From Tom Sharp (Helo Pilot) To Pat Sullivan
Tarawa is indeed an underdeveloped and basic island. Emergency medical treatment from Ted’s ship will not be expeditious or easy. We will be operating 620 nautical miles east of Tarawa. This leaves at least 45 hours of sailing time to be within reasonable helicopter range of Tarawa. During this transit time, we would have the GV re-position to Tarawa with a medical team if necessary and transport then would be to Hawaii for the best care.

Our #1 job here will be to keep things safe. However, should we encounter a medical emergency, we will use all our available resources to stabilize the victim and transport to the next level of higher care. In my past experience at Christmas Island in Kiribati, this required the USCG C130 for transport to Hawaii.

We are in an isolated region of the Pacific that poses many challenges. It will be necessary to exercise caution in all our activities, and be alert to the early onset signs of chronic medical conditions requiring a doctor’s care. In the event we need a medical evacuation, we are faced with a huge time barrier and we will attempt to use it wisely. It is important for us all to be aware of these constraints and to ensure everyone is in good health with no lingering symptoms of medical problems when we start.

1125: From Pat Sullivan To Tom Sharp
Tom/Dave, when you guys get out toward your destination, would you please put a proactive test call into MedAire to assure connectivity, coordination, etc? I’ve also put Dess on the router so we are all coordinated as a team. Dess said there are a couple experienced first aid providers aboard the ship as well.

1426: To Pat Sullivan & Tom Sharp
Thanks, Pat. I would add to Tom’s comments that the only way we’ll get the USCG to come out and medivac anyone is if the case is most dire. They will not come out to grab anyone up unless the failure to do so will result in a fatality. The hospital on American Samoa (LBJ Hospital) is in much better condition than anything else we’ve seen in the region, but you’re still talking about a four-day run (say two and a half to three) with the helo range factored in. The locals say it’s no place you’d want to go into with a closed head wound (i.e. better than most in the region, but still probably a good place to pick up a staph infection).

1549: From Ted Waitt
Yep, maybe find a time that works best for the meeting, and then best time for me to come aboard every day. Maybe we can do it before or after lunchtime to catch the crew change?

1550: To Ted Waitt
Agreed, changeover is noon, we’ll hold a quick 20-minute meet every day and we can show you targets that way.

FRIDAY, 02.13.09

1238: Moving Along Nicely
Nothing much to report. We’re due in at 3 a.m. Sunday morning as of this afternoon. Big thrill will be to pass Gardner Atoll tomorrow. The day deckhands made up some descent weights today and Andy Sherrell is working on the big chart of the search grid. Tomorrow the AUV teams meet at noon. Weather is up a tad, but nothing like what we saw off Florida — just a bit of rain and maybe four-foot seas. Everyone is trying to sync to their schedule. Pretty typical transit. I’ll call in tomorrow at 11 a.m. Cheers.

1802: From Tom Sharp
Mike, hope all is well with you. I guess we’ll be seeing you soon. I got an e-mail from Ted Waitt today regarding some helicopter film work on site. Are you aware of this? If so, do you have a photographer with you? Maybe you could send me some more detail. Thanks.

1830: To Tom Sharp
Yes, we have a film crew aboard, a professional photographer and sound guy, along with a production assistant. My guess is we would only need one of these at any given time up in the air-the photographer (can’t imagine there is much use for sound up there). He’s a good guy with a real ‘go get ‘em’ attitude, name’s Ian Kellett. I would imagine we’ll wait for a nice day, sort of pull this off ad hoc when the conditions are good for it, get them over to the your ship and up in the air.

Ted Waitt has mentioned trying to recreate approaches to the island under similar conditions of the original flight, so best guess is that Ted will want that on film as well. I’m thinking sooner is always better than later when it comes to something like this, get it done in case conditions deteriorate. How long are they telling you guys you are gonna be out here? Where are you now, Tarawa? Isn’t that a lovely island?