Teenage girl medevac'd from cruise ship

Guns Magazine, May, 2008

Sailors from USS Ronald Reagan, and the aircrew of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four (HS-4) rescued a 14 year-old girl from Albion, Illinois, last December 15 who suffered a ruptured appendix while aboard the cruise ship Dawn Princess. The Bermuda-flagged vessel, off the coast of southern Baja California, Mexico, was approximately 550 miles away from Ronald Reagan when they issued the distress call late Saturday evening. USS Ronald Reagan was the closest vessel with a hospital and the ability to transport and stabilize the patient.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"It's a great example of the type of things we are called upon to do, and it's neat we were able to execute it as well as we did," said Capt. Terry B. Kraft, Ronald Reagan's commanding officer. "It was a great coordinated effort between our helicopter squadron, HS-4, our medical folks and the Sailors here on the ship. I'm also very proud of our ship's surgeon, who completed a successful operation."

Ronald Reagan launched two HH-60H helicopters from HS-4 at approximately 5 a.m. to transport the patient from the Princess cruise liner to Ronald Reagan for medical treatment. Because the cruise ship was unable to provide a landing area for the helicopter, a basket was lowered in order to raise the patient into the helicopter for transport. Most cruise ships don't have surgical or advanced medical capabilities and are limited to minor emergencies and some trauma situations.

The HS-4 crew was commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Gregory J. Leland, pilot; Lt. Earl A. Crawford, co-pilot; Chief Aviation Warfare Systems Operator Matthew Shicks; Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Scott A. Heintschel and Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class Aaron McCullough-Sanden.

Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) was commissioned in July 2003, making it the 9th and newest Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The ship is named for the 40th U.S. president; its motto, "Peace through Strength," was a recurring theme during the Reagan presidency.--From USS Ronald Reagan Public Affairs"