Authors: Nina Hamilton
That assessment was confirmed by Joe’s next words, ‘Andrew, you are a doctor so I’m assuming your memory is good on your underwater escape training. But for my own peace of mind, seeing this is the first time we have flown over water at night, I’m going to give you the truncated version.’
‘OK,’ Andrew verbally confirmed he was listening, even as he quirked his mouth in Kate’s direction.
‘The main thing is that if I tell you we are ditching, you need to get your lifejacket on, headset and glasses off, and keep one hand on your seatbelt and one hand on the exit and hang on to buggery. Wait until the helicopter fills with water and the pressure equalises, and then get the hell out of the cabin. If the helicopter has started to roll, watch the water bubbles for the way up, and let yourself float without trying to swim. Swimming at that point will just get you disorientated. ‘
‘Easy as,’ Andrew said, with a theatrical shrug in Kate’s direction. ‘Hey, I survived my residency by doing a rotation in a notorious prison psych hospital. It would be a tragedy if the sea was to get me.’
Kate moved her long slim legs over and reached under her seat for a heavily fortified box. ‘Night goggles,’ she said. ‘The boys wear them as a matter of course for the whole trip but we can choose our usage, up until we get to the transfer site. You might want to get used to them though, they take some acclimatising.’
Andrew took her at her suggestion and pulled the bulky set of goggles over his head. The world turned shades of green and black. He wasn’t sure whether seeing the height of the waves in new detail was going to make this trip better.
‘We’ll make radio contact again in ten minutes?’ Andrew confirmed with Kate.
‘We’ll have to make sure to give instructions that everything on the carrier is properly stowed,’ Joe interjected. ‘Because, Kate, don’t think you are leaving the helicopter cabin if there are barrels going to be bouncing around on deck.’
Joe’s feistiness told Andrew that tonight’s rescue was more than usually dangerous. Kate raised her eyebrows at the back of his head but didn’t argue. He wasn’t sure that he would have received that courtesy. In fact, Andrew was rather sure that if he had tried to put restrictions on Kate’s actions, they would be currently be blistering the in-flight radios by fighting it through, hammer and tongs.
‘What is the situation with how well the crew speak English?’ Andrew asked, deciding to go with a safe neutral question, which had the advantage of getting him information that he genuinely needed.
‘The first mate has basic command of the language,’ Kate replied. ‘It is a crap shoot with how much the rest of the crew speaks or understands.’
She turned her body further towards him, and explained, ‘It is one of the major problems with doing the occasional medical evacuation off these carrier ships. Most of the time we have trouble getting accurate assessments over the phone or radio because of the language difficulties.’
‘But in this case you are pretty sure he had a fall yesterday,’ Andrew confirmed.
‘Apparently the poor bastard has been doubled over in pain ever since. Because of their tight shipping schedule they didn’t want to stop for a commercial medivac. So the captain’s solution seemed to have been to hope that his crewman’s injuries magically disappeared.’
‘Well, I don’t care how bad the sailor is,’ Joe intoned seriously. ‘If the conditions aren’t right you better get your head around the fact that we are going to be heading back to Cairns.’
To stop Kate defending her plan of action, Andrew stepped in with another question. ‘What would be the alternative option if the mission had to be aborted?’
‘Bulkhead carriers have a free-fall lifeboat at the stern of the deck, but they aren’t designed to be used except in a dire emergency,’ Kate replied. ‘If we couldn’t reach the patient we would probably have to call in the Coast Guard or Navy. With that they would be looking at a ten-hour retrieval, so it is definitely in our patient’s best interests that we try our best to get to him.’
Seeing the fanatical light in Kate’s eyes, Andrew didn’t think she would take an order to abort the mission well. Hell, being so close to a sick patient and being denied the opportunity to help would probably have him leading the charge against the stoic pilot. That wouldn’t be pretty, as Joe’s only perceived crime would have been to be conservative with the safety of his colleagues.
It was an hour’s fight out to the carrier but eventually the unrelenting sameness of the dark horizon had a point of difference. A cargo ship went from toy-sized to full-sized in seconds and the scale surprised him.
‘You guys make things big here in Australia. What the hell does that thing carry?’ he said, as the helicopter swung around to its port side.
‘Forty thousand dead-weight tons of coal destined for China,’ said Ben. ‘Careful with those night-vision goggles, rookie. If they ignore our instructions about turning those landing lights towards the sky you’ll be seeing white dots for weeks.’
Andrew would have protested against the classification as rookie if Ben’s gentle concern wasn’t so unmistakable. So instead, he kept his hand high to shield against any random lights and with the rest of the crew, he surveyed the carrier to their side. Standing six stories above sea level, small figures waved frantically.
‘Twenty-eight knot winds,’ Joe announced. ‘Within the acceptable range.’
‘Seaway Australis Four, Seaway Australis Four,’ said Ben, as he radioed the ship. ‘This is Cairns Rescue Helicopter. Keep clear of the forward hatchway while our rescue personnel descend.’
Switching off the external two-way, Ben said, ‘Let’s hope most of that was understood.’
Kate was busily strapping on her lifejacket, to go under her harness. ‘Slow and steady, Ben,’ she called, remarkably cheerful for a woman about to step into empty air and wind.
‘Always, babe,’ Ben replied. ‘Just remember your landing legs for me.’
The smile that she and Ben shared spoke of the bond between them. That was even more remarkable, considering it would be Ben’s task to release the wire that held her if it was to become entangled. Trust was a commodity that both definitely understood.
‘Twenty minutes. Scrape and go,’ Joe warned them both. ‘Remember this isn’t an ER with an unlimited amount of time for treatment and diagnosis. We are 120 kilometres out to sea here and nowhere to refuel. So bloody hurry up.’
‘I’ll signal for you,’ she said, her eyes serious when she met Andrew’s gaze.
As the whole team held their breath, Kate swung away from the relative safety of the helicopter cabin. In that moment, Andrew realized that no-one in the cabin was entirely comfortable with letting her go. In was probably something primal in their DNA that badly wanted to protest about a woman being the first one into danger while men stood by and watched. Or, at least Andrew and Ben watched, while Joe was wrestling the helicopter and wind, to keep the wire from swinging. However, there were no doubt about Kate’s capabilities as she quickly found her footing on the shifting ship’s deck.
‘Doctor, we are ready for you,’ Kate’s voice came through the radio.
‘Don’t brain yourself on my size ten feet,’ Andrew warned her.
The last thing he needed was for her to feel the need to make sure he had a soft landing. Knowing she was somewhat safe on-board made it easier for Andrew to concentrate on the task before him.
Kate peered up into the night sky and the man heading down towards her. Her own knees hurt from where the ship had leapt to meet her and she knew his larger frame was going to feel the jolt with more pain. Andrew’s expression when he landed only confirmed her prediction.
‘Let’s get our boy,’ were the only words he said, as his mouth hardened and he seemingly dismissed his own discomfort.
Shouldering their med bags, Andrew and Kate turned as one to the concerned faces of the Korean sailors who were signalling them from the entry to below decks. With her legs set widely apart to compensate for the constant movement of the sea’s swell, Kate followed Andrew walking towards the men.
‘Down here, down here,’ the man wearing the Captain’s epaulets called.
Following his frantic hand movements, Kate and Andrew entered the metal hatchway that was being held open for them. The stairwell they descended into was narrow, tight and steep. Kate wondered how any sailors could bear the claustrophobia.
‘He fell there,’ said the Captain’s voice behind them.
Hell, if he fell from this high, Kate was seriously worried about the state of him.
‘Three minutes down,’ said Andrew, turning to smile at her, as he ducked under the low hanging roof. ‘We have seventeen to go before Joe starts screaming. Lucky you’ve had so much practice unpacking and packing those med bags.’
Cheeky bastard. However, Kate had a feeling that they were also going to be grateful for his quick surgeon’s hands. Another waiting sailor gestured to the room where they were holding the patient. He was lying on a single bunk, in a foetal position. Sweaty, shocky and badly bruised, this man certainly wasn’t suffering from a case of misdiagnosed food poisoning.
Andrew jumped ahead of her, pushing his way toward the patient. ‘Those bruises look well over twenty-four hours old.’
Andrew may have been in Rambo mode, moments earlier. However, the demeanour he faced the patient with was gentle and non-threatening. ‘Mate, you’ve been in the wars but we have come to get you feeling better soon.’
Working to the time constraints, Andrew immediately started his examination. Kate imagined he felt the same relief she did, when their patient protested in broken English, ‘I hurts.’
At least they weren’t going to spend the return chopper journey with no method of communication between them and their patient.
Andrew shone a small torch into his patient’s eyes, checking for concussion and called back to her to take notes, ‘No obvious brain injury but significant bruising to the left cheekbone.’
He convinced the man to give up his protective hold on his stomach and began to probe the abdomen. ‘Definitely signs of hardening in the abdominal cavity. I can’t confirm without an ultrasound but I’m positive he’ll be looking at some serious surgery, probably involving his spleen.’
Because of the limited time-period to get their patient to the chopper, they had earlier agreed that unless lifesaving, all treatment intervention would have to be held over until after they had their patient loaded and on the return trip to Cairns. Handing over some loaded pain relief for their patient was all Kate could do at this point.
‘OK. Scope and run it is,’ Andrew confirmed, even as Kate was pulling open the straps on their stretcher.
‘I’ll call the boys and get them to circle back towards us in five,’ Kate replied.
As the captain directed the crew to help with their patient’s removal to the deck, Kate followed them out. She began to climb the stairs when some low angry words caught her attention. Turning back she saw Andrew and the Captain locked in a seriously pissed off discussion. Andrew’s face had hardened to a look of aggression that was beyond anything Kate had ever seen him display.
He bent towards the captain and got close. ‘Next time any of your crew takes a tumble like that, call in the medics. I only hope that I won’t be making a report on your incompetence and your dereliction of duty as captain of this ship to the coroner.’
Without waiting to see how his verdict had been received, Andrew went to where Kate was still supervising their patient’s negotiation of the stairs.
‘They at least look like they are doing their best to help their mate,’ she said, gesturing at the other crewmembers.
Her words were without guile. All the men were making the difficult climb of the tight stairs, with a rigid stretcher, using the upmost care. Their concern for their badly injured crewmate was obvious. Twenty-three men surviving together on a vast ship, she imagined that you couldn’t help building some close bonds. It was just a pity that the captain didn’t seem to have applied that same loyalty in the time he took to call help in.
Out on the deck, the wind again began to become a factor. If anything, it seemed to have increased in speed and Kate’s face started stinging anew.
‘Joe, I’ll be ready to signal for the wire in two minutes,’ she said, into her two-way.
Finding the centre of the hatch, Kate got their patient laid out and started checking the stretcher’s clips and straps. It was always a massive fear that the patient would somehow slip free of your hold. Checking the equipment after each mission was how she kept that screaming nightmare at bay.
‘We’ll radio the ship with the update,’ she could hear Andrew reassuring the team through the Captain. The one thing that could be said for him was that he didn’t put a grudge above his humanity.
‘It’s coming,’ were the words she had been waiting to hear.
The wind concerned her and because of that she changed her plans.
‘Do you mind taking up the bags first?’ She asked Andrew. ‘Then if you are up there you’ll be able to help pull us into the cabin.’
Kate would normally never ask for help from one of their medical staff in such a delicate rescue operation. You never knew what mistakes that someone without intense and specific rescue training could make in an emergency. However, there was something about Andrew’s calmness that she trusted and god knew she’d probably need someone to help her battle the wind.
The wire came down and she let Andrew strap himself in, while she knelt down next the patient. They had earlier worked out that he had understood a good amount of what they were saying and she could only hope shock wasn’t further robbing any language skills.
‘All you have to do is lie still,’ she said to the clearly hurting and panicked man. ‘We are only just over an hour away from the hospital and once we get you on board we’ll be able to do a lot to make you feel better.’
Kate looked up to see how Andrew was doing. He was the consummate professional in the air, looking like he had had more sophisticated rescue training than she knew he had received. He had contracted his large frame down around him. Arms were tightly tucked in, creating as small a surface area to be exposed to the wind as possible. Once at the helicopter, he reached out and used his significant strength to pull his body in. Even from this distance, Kate could see the effort it took to pull himself out of the wind’s grasp.