Three-storey-high vertical evacuation of severely injured sailor trapped in the depths of a massive bulk container ship
- Captain overrides massive ship’s design limitations to get severely injured sailor to port
- NSRI, EMS 64km race against time in huge swells
- Narrow passageways and slippery staircases lead rescuers to ship’s depths
The National Sea Rescue Institute’s Gqeberha Station 6 crew and Department of Health’s paramedics demonstrated their extraordinary skill and commitment to saving lives when they rescued a critically injured sailor from a bulk carrier ship late on Wednesday.
On Wednesday March 19, a bulk carrier vessel was heading towards Gqeberha as fast as it could, with a severely injured sailor on board, NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said. The ship’s medical crew were fighting to save the life of their fellow crewman who had been critically injured in a fall on board the ship. He was wasn’t breathing.
Ian Gray, NSRI Gqeberha coxswain, giving an account later, said that around 3.30pm, their duty crew were activated by the NSRI Emergency Operations Centre following reports from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of an urgent medical evacuation operation from the bulk carrier.
Telkom Maritime Radio Services had intercepted Marine VHF radio communications just after midday: the captain of the 300 metre bulk carrier had requested urgent medical assistance.
VHF is a worldwide system of two-way radio transceivers on ships and watercraft used for communicating between ships, from ship-to-shore (for example with harbourmasters), and even sometimes ship-to-aircraft.
“The motor vessel, restricted to a speed of 7 knots, had reportedly been able to increase speed to 10 knots – heading towards Gqeberha … at best speed,” Gray said.
Ships are designed with limitations imposed on how they operate to ensure that their structural integrity is maintained, explains bulkcarrierguide.com. Overloading, or going faster than allowed with a particular load, can overstress the ship’s structure “which may lead to catastrophic failure”.
“On being activated at 15h23, and quickly realising the gravity and the urgency of the situation, NSRI Gqeberha duty controllers requested our volunteer NSRI duty crew, our volunteer NSRI Gqeberha MEX (Maritime Extrication) crew and EC Government Health EMS ALS (Advanced Life Support) rescue paramedics, to respond priority one – expeditiously – to our NSRI Gqeberha station 6 rescue base to prepare to launch our rescue craft Rescue 6 to respond to this urgent medical evacuation operation,” Gray said.
“Racing against time – as much information about the patient’s medical condition and the size and structural configuration of the ship was collected by our NSRI Gqeberha duty controllers in order for there to be no further delays to deliver urgent advanced life support medical intervention, by NSRI and EMS, to the critically injured man.”
By that stage, the message was relayed to the NSRI team that the ship’s medical crew had managed to restore spontaneous breathing to the patient, a 32-year-old Burmese seaman – “but confirming that the patient remained in a critical condition, with the ships medical crew fighting to save his life.”
At that stage the giant vessel was 46 nautical miles (about 85km) south-south-west (SSW) of Cape Recife.
“It quickly became obvious that this would be a challenging emergency operation based on the size of the motor vessel and the critical nature of the injuries sustained to the casualty,” Gray said. “At 16h16 the NSRI rescue craft Rescue 6 was launched, accompanied by 2 EMS ALS (Advanced Life Support) rescue paramedics and 2 NSRI MEX (Maritime Extrication) technicians.
“Our NSRI Gqeberha volunteers and the EMS ALS rescue paramedics are commended for reaching our rescue base as quickly as they did, against heavy motor traffic, and preparing and launching the NSRI rescue craft, Rescue 6, in record time.”
While racing towards the ship, and now in direct communications with the captain, the NSRI learned that the patient had fallen 6 metres down a flight of stairs, at 11.30am, landing on a hard surface, sustaining multiple life threatening injuries. While he had initially stopped breathing, the ship’s medical crew had restored spontaneous breathing through cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The ship’s captain had immediately raised the alarm.
“The ships medical crew were fighting to save his life and they had not moved him, treating him where he had landed, despite challenging confined spaces,” Gray said.
They rendezvoused with the vessel at 17h45, 35 nautical miles (about 65km) offshore, in Algoa Bay, in 2.5-metre sea swells. There, the two EMS ALS rescue paramedics and the two NSRI MEX technicians were transferred onto the ship.
“The rescue crew navigated through narrow passage ways, slippery and steep stairs, reaching the steering bulk head where the patient was found lying in a confined space in a critical condition in the care of the ship’s medical crew who showed obvious signs of relief that help had finally arrived.”
The two EMS rescue paramedics began advanced life support medical treatment while the NSRI MEX technicians investigated the best and safest options to extricate the injured man from the confined space.
“Our MEX technicians, assisted by the ship’s crew, located a hatch with a derrick above the hatch and a straight-line passage to the bulkhead.”
A high-angle technical rope extrication was established by the NSRI MEX crew, willingly assisted by the ship’s crew who helped to quickly and safely establish the best pathway to get the patient off the ship. The crew also helped with the configuration of the technical rope work.
The patient was secured onto a spinal trauma board and into a Stokes basket stretcher (a “rescue basket”, while intense and extensive medical treatment continued, in the confined space.
The two paramedics and the ship’s crew were briefed by the NSRI MEX crew on the plan for extricating the severely injured man.
“In a challenging high-angle technical configured rope extrication method, the patient was quickly but gently extricated from the confined space, hauling him almost three stories vertically to the above decks.”
A language barrier with the ship’s crew, who were from Myanmar, had proved challenging but they were commended for their excellent assistance in the urgent but safe extrication of their critically injured fellow crewman.
“Once the patient was safely on deck, our NSRI MEX crew disassembled the technical high-angle rope configuration and then reassembled a high-angle technical rope system where a high point was established, and the patient, in the care of one of the rescue paramedics, was transferred and gently lowered onto our NSRI rescue craft.”
Once the patient was safely on board the NSRI rescue craft, the two NSRI MEX crew and the remaining paramedic were transferred on to the rescue craft along with all of the medical equipment and all of the high-angle extrication equipment.
“From the time of launching our NSRI rescue craft to getting the patient stabilised and transferred onto our NSRI rescue craft the operation had taken just under two hours,” Gray said.
“Extensive medical treatment was then continued on our NSRI rescue craft to further stabilise the patient. The paramedics requested that we delay at sea, stabilising the rescue craft as best as possible in the heavy sea swells, while they worked tirelessly for quite some time before they were satisfied that we could commence on the trip back to our rescue base.”
They continued to provide extensive medical treatment to the patient the bumpy ride through the fair seas but with 2.5 meter swells, began and the patient was brought safely to the NSRI rescue base – arriving there well after dark, at 12 minutes past 9.
The patient was transported to hospital by EMS ambulance, in a serious but stable condition, where he remained in the care of doctors and nurses in ICU.
“The efforts of our NSRI crew, the EMS rescue paramedics and the ship’s crew, in challenging conditions, to save the life of the casualty, are commended,” Lambinon said.
The Captain of the vessel, and his crew, had expressed deep appreciation to the NSRI and EMS, Lambinon said.
“The patient is reportedly recovering well in the care of doctors and nurses and he is expected to make a full recovery.”
