The White Falcon - 05.08.1994, Page 4

56 RQS saves Ukrainian sailor
By JOl David W. Crenshaw
For the third time in two months, the 56th
Rescue Squadron has rescued a crewmember
on a ship from a former Soviet republic. This
time, it was a Ukrainian with appendicitis
aboard the Russian trawler Vysokovsk, 336
miles southwest of NAS Keflavik.
For Lt. Col. Jim Sills and the 56th, it was a
familiar scenario, but the hazards of this type
of mission are still prevalent. “It’s not routine
when you’re 350 miles from land and flying
over the Atlantic Ocean, because if anything
goes wrong, it’s a big problem,” says the 20-
year Air Force veteran. Sills still flies on alert
status with the squadron, even after turning
over the commander’s job to Lt. Col. Gary
Copsey last month.
The Icelandic coast guard requested assis-
tance from the Iceland Defense Force joint
command post Sunday at 11:20 a.m. After
assessing the situation, the squadron launched
two HH-60G Pavehawk helicopters at 3:25
p.m., with Sills at the controls of the lead heli-
copter as mission commander, and Capt. John
Blumentritt piloting the second aircraft.
Mechanical problems delayed the launch of an
HC-130 Hercules refueling tanker from the
35th Tanker Support Flight until 4:15 p.m.
According to Sills, once the tanker caught up
to them, the Pavehawks took on enough fuel to
get them the rest of the way to the ship.
“The patient was experiencing right-lower-
quadrant pain for about 24-hours,” said Navy
Lt. Joe Costa, NAS Keflavik’s flight surgeon
who accompanied the 56th on this mission.
“The people on the boat thought he had
appendicitis, and with that much time having
gone by, the best thing to do is pick him up as
soon as possible.”
“The boat had junk everywhere,” Sills noted,
“worse than most fishing vessels I’ve seen.
There were big antennas on both sides, a big
mast right behind us, and the main antenna
farm was on the bridge, which was right in
front of us. We wound up working directly in
front of the wheelhouse.
“We put the pararescueman on the deck,
straight down, with no problem. It took him 15
minutes or so to take his vitals and see if he
was ambulatory,” he continued.
“The fisherman had a rigid abdomen and
pretty high temperature,” said Sgt. Larry
Dumlao, the pararescueman on deck, confirm-
ing the earlier appendicitis reports. “He was in
pretty severe pain and screaming at the top of
his lungs.” Dumlao explained that he took
baseline vital statistics while still on the ship
since the environment was quieter than inside
the helicopter. Then the patient was hoisted
up to the waiting Pavehawk, where he received
antibiotics. Dumlao was hoisted up afterwards.
“He was in pretty severe pain the whole way
back,” Dumlao said about the Ukrainian.
“The unfortunate thing is that we couldn’t give
him any painkillers because they would mask
the symptoms.”
According to Costa, they monitored the
patient’s progress during the trip back to
Reykjavik Hospital, where it would be decided
if it was necessary to operate and when. “Our
job was to get him back,” Costa said.
“When we returned, we did our standard fly-
over of the wing commander’s house,” Sills
said. “He was nice enough to greet us when we
landed.”
Mad Foxes bound for the Sunshine State
By Lt. j.g. Chuck Taylor
VP-5 Public Affairs Officer
Early next week, the “Mad
Foxes” of Patrol Squadron
Five (VP-5) depart NAS
Keflavik for their winter
home in Jacksonville, Fla.
However, the move isn’t with-
out at least a few goodbyes.
“I was surprised,” said Lt.
j.g. Brian Bowles. “My expec-
tations were of a grim, gray
island in the middle of the
north Atlantic. However, the
base facilities, programs
offered, and the historical
and cultural attractions of
Iceland made this a pretty
cool she months.”
“This is the first time that
I’ve left the United States,”
stated AZ2(AW) Amy
Cangelosi. “I think Iceland
was everything I expected and
more, making for a very
enjoyable experience. Now I
can’t wait to get home to my
daughter.”
With the break-up of the
Soviet Union, Patron
Keflavfk’s tradiotional anti-
submarine warfare (ASW)
mission has expanded to
encompass shallow-water
dielsel
VP-5 leaves many friends
behind as it returns to the
United States to be with their
loved ones. Patrol Squadron
24 will assumes the duties of
PATRON Keflavik early next
week.
The Human Resources
Department needs Equal
Employment Opportunity
Program counselors. They
will provide training for applicants.
For more information, call Bill
Jamison at ext. 4210.
The base pool has new
hours. Hours of operation are
now 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., seven days a
week.
The USO has a long-dis-
tance pay-telephone booth.
You can buy credits at the snack bar
cashier. Phone home without using
your phone card. For more infor-
mation, call the USO at ext. 7980.
Massage services are now
available at the Base Gym.
Initial appointments are 90 minutes,
and both male masseurs and female
masseuses are available. Call ext.
6491 for details or an appointment.
The USO has children’s
matinees. Kids movies air every
Tuesday and Thursday at 2 p.m.
Come see Family Child
Care in action. The Family
Child Care (FCC) program is in
need of providers. If you’re consid-
ering becoming an FCC provider,
Christina Daley invites you to visit
her and see the program first-hand.
Call Christina at ext. 7349.
NAS Legal has new hours.
The office closes at 4 p.m. on
Mondays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays for command physical
training.
The NATO Base First
Class Association is spon-
soring free bowling for all
school-age kids. The bowling
takes place Aug. 20 from 2-5 p.m. at
the Arctic Bowl.
The Ice & Fire Theatre
Group announces its month-
ly meeting. The meeting is
Sunday at 2 p.m. in the USO class-
room. Anyone interested in the
group is invited to attend.
The Base Gym offers a
basic lifeguarding course.
The course will run Aug. 15 - 26, for
a total of 32 hours of instruction.
For full details and prices, call the
gym at ext. 6491.
4
The White Falcon