Water water everywhere...

J

jnelson

Adept
Things you don't want to hear while on a Naval ship on the Atlantic:

"Attention on ship, attention on ship! Senior electrical engineer report to the engine room ASAP!"

When asking an engineer what he is working on... "Oh, just repairing the lowering hydrolics for the lifeboat system. It didn't kick on when we tested it." (gee, thanks...)

*three wailing blasts* "Fire team report to the galley, fire team report to the galley!"

"It takes this ship a long time to turn around, so if you fall overboard it'll be at least an hour before we can come back to get you." (gee, thanks...)

"In the event you get sprayed with jet fuel, stay away from the electrical systems."
 
"Near miss" is also a term used frequently in hospitals that refers to an incident that could have had catastrophic results...but didn't because it was averted in time. You'll sometimes hear hospital folks use it in other circumstances as well to refer to things that were almost really bad, but fortunately worked out alright.

We're safe where we are. :) As safe as you can be when you're moving around between 15 and 30 miles off coast. Gotta love knowing you're in international waters. :)
 
I'm a medic working in CASREC (Casualty recieving). The mission we are on is part of the Global Medic 2008 exercise. It is a joint service manuver involving Army, Air Force, Navy, and the Marines designed to stress the casualty movement and treatment system in the event of a mass casualty incident. Currently, we are sitting off the east coast, recieving patients via helicopter medevac/casevac from Ft. Gordan. The patients are actors with simulated medical problems ranging from mild to severe traumatic injuries and various other medical issues. They are triaged on the flight deck, or the ramp on the water-line just inside the skin of the ship, then sent up to CASREC, which is essentially the ER for the ship. At CASREC they go through triage again, stabalization treatment is provided, then the patients are processed through and sent to the appropriate place: OR, Radiology, ICU, or the wards. They are tracked throughout the process so that we can figure out where the weak points are and what needs to be changed in the SOP so that we are ready to handle a real-life issue should it arise. There are multiple units taking part in the exercise, which is occuring in different phases on several bases and medical treatment facilities across the United States during this same time-frame. There are approximately 500 of us on the USNS Comfort (this is including both medical staff and ship's crew. The funny part is that the Army currently outnumbers the other service members on board.)
 
No, not at this time. I was a little disappointed at first, but only a little. The downside to not dealing with real patients, is there is a lack of a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day...you didn't actually help anyone. On the other hand, no one died on you and no one really got hurt, which outweighs anything else, in my opinion.
 
Definately. It's a very specialized skill set, and if you don't use it, you loose it quickly. This also lets us figure out where the kinks in the system are, so that hopefully they can be fixed before a real problem occurs. Better to find it out during practice, than when you have actual patients coming through.
 
Between 60 and 100. So far, today has been slow. It's about noon right now, and we've only had 27, and nothing for the last 2 hours, which is a definately change from the last three days. Supposidly, tomorrow is the last day of the exercise, which will be mostly internal, as (from what I understand) tomorrow we are turning around and heading back North to be back in port in Baltimore by the morning of the 19th.
 
Theoretically, I have drill. My unit is supposed to be doing an FTX (field training exercise) out at Camp Dodge. I do not know whether or not we still have drill. With the flooding in Des Moines, the National Guard has been called out, as in Cedar Rapids, and they are currently filling the billeting there, so there is nowhere for us to stay, unless we get authorization to put up tents, which we currently do not have permission for from the post commander.

My Company Commander is on the ship with me, and she is of a mind to cancel drill, or at least postpone it to allow folks to assist their families and put their homes back together, or to join in the effort of cleaning up after the levee break. Unfortunately, she is working from a distance, and can be overruled by the Hospital Commander, who is more worried about her "numbers" and "image" than the needs of her troops. As the Company Training NCO, I have indicated to the Commander and the Colonel that I feel it would be best to postpone drill, and reschedule the FTX. It remains to be seen if that advice is taken by the Colonel.

If I don't have drill, not really sure. There are some movies that I have missed that I would dearly love to see, play with my pup, see my nephew, sleep, do some fishing, sleep some more. I just need some time off.
 
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