when do you call the USCG?

B

B~C

New member
This topic was discussed in Elfin Cove this summer. In the Cove there is no medical care and the only quick route to medical care was via the USCG chopper which can take considerable time....The concern was when do you call in the chopper, specifically, with some of these new medications that warn of side effects concerning issues that, if lasting over four hours you should seek medical care. Do you call the chopper at the three hour mark, if you wait and call at the four hour mark do you risk exploding in route to medical care?

with winter coming my mind is slowly twisting...need light, must have light, I think I'll do some welding tomorrow without a helmet
 
Go ahead and weld without the hood--- you'll get a good tan--- if you still have eyes to see it.
Heck, that may be the only way you can get a tan----- as the saying goes---"Ya don't tan in WA, ya rust" :lol:
 
Not that I have any personal experience with this, but I would consider calling Orange County Choppers rather than the CG choppers. OCC would most likely be able to point you to someone that could handle the situation, and standard protection would be advised as with any such emergency.
From what I can gather online, OCC nurses are quite a bit less stressfull for the patient, as the CG will generally treat the condition with anti-inflamitory treatments that are crude in comparison.
Due to outstanding lawsuits, the emergency instructions on such medications have now been changed from "seek a doctor's advice" to "seek a nurses guidance".
 
I live in a remote area of Northern California, we have a hospital but all they can do is stabilize a patient and fly em out....
Almost standard practice for our fire dept. on any sort of serious automotive accident is order up a chopper.... 15 minutes to a real hospital... in a pinch we can call for the CHP helicopter. I would never hesitate to call for a chopper... it's expensive but some insurance pays for it....and in the mountains most of us subscribe to a helicopter service... I think it is a $25 year subscription...

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Ken

Areas like Elfin Cove and beyond are why we carry a Sat Phone, but with our reluctance to ask for help in most any condition it would probably be to late if we ever did make the call. I hope if it ever becomes necessary we'll know it when we see or feel it. Kinda like that Potter Stewart (think thats the name) decision discussed on one of those controversial threads.

Jay
 
I put the Coast Guard's phone number in my cell phone book. Several times this year, while tied up at my slip in Everett, I heard call on the radio for things like " I'm just outside of Mukelteo and my motor went dead!" with no response. I called the CG on the cell phone and they handled it.
 
Hunkydory":hnlc639u said:
Ken

<stuff clipped> I hope if it ever becomes necessary we'll know it when we see or feel it. <stuff clipped>
Click to expand...
Ken, this is funny stuff.... When you do call, the appropriate language is "Help, I'm up and I can't get down"...
 
B~C, if you are going to the Pacific Marine Expo. in Seattle next week, I'm guessing that they will have a medical seminar on one of those days. I'd sure like to be in the audience when you pose the same question to the medical expert, so that I could hear his/her reply.... :mrgreen:

Sure is good to have you back from Alaska..... :roll:
 
The use of a Medical Helicopter is for a true, life threatening emergency. The generally must be called by EMS personnel for helping where an ambulance isn't enough. Or to take a patient from one hospital to another.

Even the "subscription" services, i.e. Mercy Air in Redding generally require and EMS cal first if at the accident scene or a physician if from a little hospital to a big hospital.

The Coast Guard would certainly have some type of triage system to sort out.

The type of "seek medical care after 4 hours" sounds like a sustained effect of Viagra, probably not the same class of emergency as a heart attack or major trauma. It's usually not that big of a deal!!

I've done several hundred flights as a doc, never on a call placed by an individual.
 
B~C

As I explained in a PM, I was going to investigate the humorous possibilities of the Viagra crisis, but had sworn off personally to not dragging the conversation down on such an apparently upstanding topic. Specifically...

"I was going to reply to your question about calling in the chopper when involving a 4-hour medical alert by saying that despite the Viagra warning to its users, it would largely depend on whether or not I was still enjoying myself as hour three started to beome hour number four."

To which your responded...

"boy, that would be a hard decision to make, I would think approaching the four hour mark things would be more work like than recreational....I wonder if the USCG would air lift a hooker in? it would be good to have a trained professional check over the situation."

Then reality set in and I remembered that I am 65 and not only would this be a pharmacological crisis but one of a coronary nature as well.

But it might be a blessing to die a happier death than most.

See ya' in Seattle!

Joe.:smileo
 
I've been a helo crewman for over 16 of my 19 years in the USCG. If you think you have a life threatening emergency, call us. The folks taking the call usually consult with the flight surgeon if there is any doubt about the medical condition and he makes a determination as to the severity of the situation. If immediate medevac is needed, we'll launch a helo. Sometimes getting the person by boat is a better way...less risk...if the situation is not dire enough to warrant helo medevac.


You pay your taxes...if you need us, we're there.

Rick
 
I could see where a Sat phone would be a must when you're out bushwacking and chasing bears away from their hard earned kayaker snacks...nice thing about E. Cove is they have pretty good Verizion coverage.

There was a drunk gal that fell off the catwalk and got busted up and they did have to hunt down the semi-retired commercial fishing doctor to make the call to the CG. You could bet that if a person was bobing around out in the blue and had an emergency they would come.......reminds me of a story....we had a couple and their friend fishing for four days, all of them in their late 80's. He was going back after the trip for more Chemo and she for catarac surgery, great folks, we had a good time but I was always worried about health issues, especially when they would get all worked up and bickering about who's turn it was next. They booked another trip for next year.

Orange County Choppers- with the dad yelling at you, I'd think the problem would just wilt

Good one Roger, or maybe the call should be may pole rather than may day...but...like RJD said, "it's usually not that big of a deal"

DaveS, hope to run into you at the show

ya'll have a good day
 
Rick-

Just a quick thank you for the fantastic work the Coast Gaurd does. In the PNW we hear them helping boaters all the time on the radio. I hope we never need your services, but it is great to know the CG is out there.

Nancy
 
The comedian Tim Conway was talking about :wink "the little blue pill" to Harvey Corman, where in Harvey pondered a bit and said, "Why would you want to put a new flagpole on a condemed building?" :embarrased
Guys that's all I got its late :moon :clock here on the other coast... :peace:
 
My next door neighbor died because he was too stubborn to go to the hospital and when his wife finally called the ambulance it was to late...
Yes...I sure agree that people use 911 to often for silly things... at the firehouse one day I got a call saying "there are cows on the golfcourse" ....I asked if they were on Fire.... and the very insulted person actually thought it was our job to chase them off.... I laughed...they hung up.

But like Rick said...when in doubt, CALL... they will sort it out....a simple allergic reaction can be life threating... Yes..even yer 4hr. woodie..I did know of someone who blew their heart up with those blue pills.

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Hunkydory":18iq8t49 said:
Ken

Areas like Elfin Cove and beyond are why we carry a Sat Phone, but with our reluctance to ask for help in most any condition it would probably be to late if we ever did make the call. I hope if it ever becomes necessary we'll know it when we see or feel it. Kinda like that Potter Stewart (think thats the name) decision discussed on one of those controversial threads.

Jay
Click to expand...
Jay - I tend to be like you, if it is for me, you do not make the call as long as I am able to speak or am conscious.
________
Dave dlt.gif
 
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