Rescues

0 Comments | Naval Aviation News, Nov-Dec, 2001

A search and rescue team from George Washington (CVN 73) and CVW 17 saved a life after coming to the aid of a heart attack victim on a cruise ship off the Virginia coast. The carrier was underway locally when the crew received a distress call from the Coast Guard that a 71-year-old female passenger had suffered a heart attack. At the time, the cruise ship Zenith was en route to New York from Bermuda. Medical officials on board had initially alerted CGAS Elizabeth City, N.C. The Coast Guard, realizing that time and distance were working against them, contacted the Navy for help.

An SH-60F Seahawk from HS-15 was dispatched from George Washington. The rescue team aboard the aircraft included skipper Cdr. Phil Beachy, pilot; Lt. Joe Zummo, copilot; AWC(AW/NAC) Bart Reabe, crew chief; AW2(NAC) Ty Kreuz, rescue swimmer; and Cdr. Jon Umlauf, flight surgeon and GW's senior medical officer.

An E-2C Hawkeye assigned to VAW-120 was launched to coordinate communications between the carrier, the helicopter and the cruise liner. When the helicopter reached the cruise ship, it hovered above Zenith while Kreuz was hoisted down. After reaching the deck, he quickly secured the elderly victim into the medevac litter. She had an unstable heart rhythm that placed her at risk of another attack. After sedating her, the flight surgeon and crew realized they were low on medical supplies. They stopped at GW before transporting the patient to Norfolk General Hospital.

Cdr. Dana Dervay, George Washington's operations officer, said, "We proved that this was one of those days when if someone were to look in the Yellow Pages for help, they'd dial '1-800-US NAVY.'"