Rescuing a Woman in Labor! | Coast Guard Alaska | Full Episode

it's the heart of winter and air station sitka is the lifeline for people across southeastern Alaska the Coast Guard strains to hear a hunters call for help and the crew races to medevac a woman in labor before she gives birth [Applause] [Music] the vast Alaskan wilderness a place where beauty is cloaked by danger here every day 350 highly trained men and women risk their lives to save others America's deadliest waters are protected by Coast Guard Alaska good copy that's something that we all try we had just taken off for a for a local area trainer actually we were just gonna fly around and do some pattern work shortly after takeoff we heard from a sector Juneau that there was a hunter who was stranded over by Rodman Bay and unable to get to his boat husband's approach Rodman Bay we tried to contact the hunter on channel 16 first call on Coast Guard we are channel 1 6 over we can hear a little bit of static and we could tell that he was trying to contact us but his Rita radio was just so weak that he couldn't reach the helicopter I'll just speak up really loud and do it [Music] person calling you know star we have you very faint over the radio request I can speak louder right into the radio all right I'm going to come down to the left her descending and then start the pitch line in courts Rodman Roger a couple pictures boats down here he came up on the radio and said that he had us in sight and I spoke to us on the radio and essentially vectored us into his position I think I got a mine site 12:30 now by a behind of log maybe yeah there he is okay yeah why don't we do this we could go talk to him see how he's doing when I first saw him down on the beach he was down by a log and I just thought no tent no nothing this guy's cold this guy's what I just felt really really sorry for us when I saw no man I didn't know how long you'd been out there's clear booties you know on deck her own deck so we land it on the beach and I got out of the helicopter and I made my way over towards him and I could tell right away that he was pretty cold looking a little miserable so I could tell he kind of wanted off the island and want to get back home [Music] [Applause] [Applause] I don't like calling for help but I felt this with the time I need when you can start bringing patient to the aircraft just saw cam holding him by the arm helping him navigate his way through the rocks guy was obviously to me he's very cold he couldn't move - well I surprised he was out there by himself when I brought TJ in the helicopter my main concern was just rewarming him because he was just really really cold and you could just see on his facial expression that he wasn't very comfortable so he turned on the heater and then gave him some blankets so the survivor TJ he stayed out there with no shelter or anything which is pretty crazy because the weather of the night before it was just absolutely insane with the winds and all the snow coming down [Music] I just checked his vitals just to make sure that you know his heart was working properly and that sort of thing my name is David troubling people like Nomi call me TJ and I am from Sitka Alaska be real honest with you I don't know what the outcome would it would been had they not come pick me up the tide was out and there's no way activity got the boat to the water i sat on my seat cushion under my space blanket for that night you know I like to think I'm tough and a survivor but for me to call for help takes a lot for me to do that and I called and they came and they treated me with respect and I appreciate that willing to give up camera dude wants to it alright it always call thanks camper dude [Applause] report ready for approach as ready ready for approach oftentimes when we get called out it's when the situation's really really critical it's nice that at this point you know we've got a tough gentleman out there he's able to take care of himself but he also knows when it's time to call for help we weren't surprised to find him out there hunting the people in southeast Alaska are pretty tough people and uh aren't really wants to sit around on the couch TJ was a little embarrassed at first get rescued you could tell as most people are you know you don't want to have to rely on somebody else to pull you out of the situation but we don't judge anybody that's what we're here for we're here to help you out you know when you're in need [Music] Govs names lieutenant Brooks Crawford off-duty today that's my wife keel and we're gonna take our pups for a walk here and then shortly after that we're gonna load up the boats and go for a paddle okay the way it was actually really really nice today kind of unexpected and we often say that since it rains here a lot in Sitka if you don't get out and take advantage of the really nice days then you don't have any reason to complain on the on the rainy days [Music] you think right about here all right as a pilot at Air Station Sitka you know we do a lot of different missions everything from aids to navigation medevacs long-range search-and-rescue it can be a little stressful what time so it's pretty important I think on days like this just get out battle around why don't we try going down there mostly when I'm out packing with Brooks I'm looking for whales and sea lions and all sorts of cool animals and I enjoy in the mountains there's snow-capped right now so it's really cool inseam on edge come the volcano and just enjoy being in Alaska we were also testing out a potential rescue swimmer airman and that's somebody that wants to become a rescue swimmer I just want to advise you guys fact that we are gonna divert you for star when we heard that there was somebody in trouble a definite mission in a place to be we definitely turned it up and away we go [Music] [Music] okay push us you've done this before do it again right just go do it alright push-ups today we have our monthly PT tests and every month we have to do a certain set of push-ups sit-ups pull-ups when we do a swim and then we do somebody toes while we're doing our PT test we were also testing out a potential rescue swimmer airman and that's somebody that wants to become a rescue swimmer so she has to do the same PT means that we did earlier and she's just kind of getting yourself a base level to see where she at and how physically fit she is for her jobs there have been a handful of women to do this job as rescue swimmers I can count four right now that are out there doing the job what's unique about this job there's no special consideration the job has no gender has no color has nothing it's can you do it or can't you do it my name is Katrina Hetrick and I'm a seaman I Air Station Sitka to me it's important to become a rescue swimmer because it's been my lifelong goal this is my first test for physical preparedness to be a rescue swimmer the purpose of me taking the PT test was to see if I was ready to go to Airmen program and the first week you're there you're going to take that same test if you fail out you go back into the fleet and then you're on that list again so they want to make sure I can do it before I leave and I'll be testing out from now every two weeks until I leave 59 get it get it listen up we're pretty bad I made it through the 60 but barely struggled way too much for my own good [Music] don't hang just go my [ __ ] mind okay [Music] good this isn't an internet thing this is for you to figure out what you need to do right yeah don't get discouraged you're doing really really well it's really critical for us to stay physically fit cuz our job basically boils down to 20 minutes in the ocean trying to save as many people as possible it's hard work it's tough work it's fast work and you need to be physically fit for that at the end of the workout she was talking to me and he was this to give me pointers he was giving me like this is what you need to work on core is the biggest thing and just he was you wanted to be as motivating as possible after I really had to think it through it's like okay all you could do is get better from this and just take their words and use them [Music] [Music] just got six zero three zero miss sector requested edition of sexiness with zero three zero on approach keep decision lighthouse over-30 that disc is that the container I thought one approach to keep this is lighthouse I said want to advise you guys that we are going to burn human force on the a plan the spirit of birth to a cure for medevac now on that open that's a good stop down that Anna leave ago I haven't had a better back in a while we were actually had on a routine patrol we were down in that Cape decision my house to go look for a piece of equipment that somebody left there and sector Juneau called us and let us know that there was a seven-year-old man in the town of Angoon who had abdominal pains and some body swelling the dynamic definitely changes when you hear that you have a medevac or a search and rescue case most of the small villages here in southeast Alaska only have a small clinic so but someone's life is on the line the Coast Guard is their only means of transport tire care when we heard that there was somebody in trouble a definite mission in a place to be yeah we definitely turned it up oh dear companists no we'll beat Plato doesn't be easy doc yep the weather changes a lot when you're flying around in southeast Alaska it could be really beautiful weather here and then you turn around the corner and you could hit a wall of fog or just a really intense snow band and then beyond that on the other side it could be really nice [Music] hey John next time you talk to a district can you ask them to make sure that Angoon is allowed their ball field Roger and you doesn't have an airfield it's just a small community we actually have to land in a football field there it's the only place they have to land so the Coast Guard is their only means of transport tire care again you laid off the foes here over once we'll take a look at it make a right turn out in the wall set up early yeah they plowed it once we got the news the weather was really nice and we were also lucky that they plowed the field before we landed looks good [Music] playing off that wheel and in a goon the patient wasn't actually at the ball field of time so we had a center swimmer out there was man and Angoon who had abdominal pains and some body swelling paying off that wheel and and goon the patient wasn't actually at the ball field of time so we had a center swimmer out with Dan blunts to go pick him up with their clinic [Music] there is a UN ambulance truck is basically a pickup truck they had converted with a cell on the back they have room for a gurney back there picking up a 70 year old male see what condition easy never gonna transfer back to see thank you it's good to have as much information you know on the ground and get a good set of vitals you know and it's really helpful if we have a small clinic or something or taking the patient out of to get that baseline you know before we take them away unfortunately the patient was stable at good vitals he was calm and sedated it shouldn't be too long before we get to see it's about a half hour transit okay pretty quick there was a really large community turnout once we landed a lot of them actually got out he helped move the guy to our plane it was really cool like you can tell they truly take care of each other right as we were getting a patient in the weather got really crappy again and tried to go there as fast as possible Hey all right you guys ready yes sir Coast Guard Sector Juneau from Coast Guard rescue 6:03 zero we have supported a code and anticipate being contacted second and approximately 30 minutes Coast Guard helo a new vpso I like to spend a yacht like you you for the medevac we really appreciate it considering the weather conditions you guys or great we really appreciated again thank you like a particular reason 11 can help sir and thanks a lot for plowing the ball field we appreciate it and you take care guys fly safe we'll talk to you later Thank You PBSO out it doesn't mix it's still good to know that all these small communities here in southeast Alaska rely on us you know we're really happy to be here this is an awesome town we love love sick head of Southeast Alaska how's the patient doing [Music] crew report ready for approach any preference Roger it was a night when we land in sicko so there was quite a quite a bit of snow still in our runway so we were blowing that around but we shut down and they transferred the patient to the Hamptons [Music] I'm Joan Jett I'm seven years old and I'm from Rangoon I was really suffering really bad I tried everything you know to get rid of the pain but I couldn't she might kept getting worse I'm sure glad about the Coast Guard today and well then when I save my wife I'm gonna go with them [Music] it's definitely a good feeling to know that we picked somebody up who couldn't get here otherwise got him to higher level medical care and that he's gonna be in good good shape tonight because of our flight [Music] we received a phone call to pick up a man that's having heart problems we have limited care in a helicopter so the scariest part for me is if something was to go terribly wrong with the patient I'm pretty nervous for tomorrow's PT test because so much rides on it you definitely don't want to cut a deck Louis okay [Music] we received a phone call in the operation center here at Air Station Sitka to launch our ready helicopter to Hoonah to pick up a man that's having heart problems so we're gonna go from here to who know what the ready helicopter with the corpsman aboard pick up the patient and then get him to higher health care confirm destination of the patient what hospital going to if he needs to go to the closest hospital window for treatment is six hours or less he can't wait for first light to go it's a night air stations thick and we got a call for a medevac out of the village of Hoonah for a cardiac patient who is the provider on the ground in Hoonah was worried the patient could be having unstable angina and we are sending HS to Christina McRoberts who in addition to her corpsman training in her AMS training has been through the army flight medic course and his advanced cardiac life support level of training I just heard your old bail to art at that let me grab the HLS here we have limited care in a helicopter so the scariest part for me is if something was to go terribly wrong with the patient they're seasoned how far but transited prepare ports as a clinic there so for Southeast Alaska there's really three communities that have hospitals those being Sitka Juneau and Ketchikan so our typical profile is to go to a smaller towns get a patient that's in trouble and bring it to that intermediate level of care one of those three places Ana has a clinic they cannot handle the heart attack with the care he needs to the hospital I think that's because we got close to the airport we knew that still had some snow on the actual runway and that's always an issue for us because with snow comes the possibility of a whiteout landing and you lose all your visibility you know you're close to things that could contact the aircraft so it's something that all helicopter pilots are concerned about but sectors know that we're going to be crew part ready for Prince right I think I see the gamble into the building over to the left there we go now we got a clear way all the way once we arrived in nine who know we got the helicopter stopped the middle of the ramp and the ambulance was standing by at the gate to the ramp area the rescue swimmer in the corpsman left the helicopter and walked over the ambulance to meet with the EMS personnel when we got there the guy was in a lot better shape than I had hoped he could be he was in no pain and he'd been given the proper medications as a general condition of the face [Music] okay so we're gonna go to blue light back there for you is that cool can't hear each other on the helicopter so I gave specific instructions of numbers to tell me about it any pain if he was having any to point to where it was or it just thumbs up if he was still doing good well expect to be a city at ten hundred Zulu we got an airborne coming back here to sick it the weather was had actually improved visibility was great little bumpy though I know that Rob and Christina probably got jostle around a little bit in the back taking care of the patient but they were all pretty happy they're getting the it's a big team effort to get it accomplished everybody knows their job very well everybody's very good at their job and it just usually it goes pretty well I had a very short time to build a solid relationship but you get in there you introduce yourself let him know what you're there for and hope that it all goes well doing medevacs in southeast Alaska is fairly satisfying mission in that it's very concrete we go we get someone we help them knowing that these villages don't necessary have a lot of resources and these people are in need of transport it's pretty it's pretty satisfying to get somebody back and get them to the care that they need [Music] I think Alaska in general you find lots of close-knit people out in the villages who very willing to help their community member neighbor relative in an emergency it makes it very rewarding to support people like that who are willing to step forward for their community members [Music] today we're just gonna do a little training as all of us who've been in the back of the helicopter can attest success in the back and the dark means knowing where your gear is and how to find it I'm commander Leslie with the unit flight surgeon at Air Station Sitka and we're doing IV training in the swimmer shop today we're gonna give you a patient scenario and some equipment to find and you have to find it quickly sort yourself into two groups I'd love a mix of swimmers and corpsman in each group since you're naturally gonna be a team that would work together we'll have Chris Belisle running stations and Christina McRoberts the training today is for the rescue swimmers and the corpsman we try to have two sets of medical hands on medevac missions and that would generally be a swimmer who's part of the base crew and then augment it with a corpsman so those folks are training together getting used to working as parish Assunta server is too I rely on the rescue swimmers a lot they're very good at what they do we kind of depend on each other in the helicopter we feed off of each other so we kind of work together very well in it typically works up great this is also really nice because when you're writing up you can write down you can just say see written report overall with other Carmen there's something that could have been done better or differently usually we'll bring it up and you use it as a learning experience all right 42 year old male with asthma exacerbation wheezing and shortness of breath go a stick wrong with a glucose purse and then we'll start an IV yeah did you want to take him Nicole with the comet yes ma'am what we try to do to make this as real as possible make it a type configuration especially when we start turning out the lights that's most of our transports are late at night no lights in the plane so most of this stuff is usually done by chem lights or little flashlights that have a green bulb in oh look at that mm that was I got your butter John that was the best idea ever felt my personal philosophy and training for this job whether it's just working out or swimming or starting IVs at night is you just you got to do it I mean our job is to remain calm in a world of chaos if you're confident you're cool you're collected you got the job done any other thoughts anybody figure anything out that might help us all function better we might discover how much of a mess yes the rescue swimmer and the corpsman bring different skills to the table so it is especially important to have them training together we will save more lives using the combined skills of the rescue swimmer in the car when I hear that woman's water has already broken so yeah I did clocks counting so that I think everybody was a little intimidation step yeah that might be a baby in the back of our aircraft you ever delivered a baby before [Applause] [Music] back straight if three points of contact right filled your hips forward we're training for the airman program the airman program is like pre a school for the highest T's and any aviation rating just something get you ready for the rescue so my school just work tetrax is training to be a Coast Guard rescue swimmer she starts the program in another month or so and this is kind of like a build-up face for her something that we're doing for her to help her along I'm pretty nervous for tomorrow's PT test because so much rides on it but I feel prepared I've been working out and I've been taking all the estie's advice so I know I'm ready I just got a buckle man do it myself and the guys in the shop we all worked with Katrina today we're doing a final test if she passes she'll be able to proceed on to losing the city for the airman program mendon rescue swimmer a school ready [Music] for test today is going to start with 50 pushups go right into 60 sit-ups and 5 pull-ups 5 chin-ups nice well the training you have paid off so far with all the help that they excuse have given me I've improved tremendously so there's always more room for improvement then off to the track she's got to run a mile and a half under 12 minutes ready yeah begin so the first time she did her PT screen kind of caught her off-guard it's a new program to pre-screening the Airmen to go the airman program and just better ensure that their when they get to the errand program that they'll be able to perform at their best you know and have a better chance of getting it through go go go [Music] fifteen seconds to spare you definitely don't want to cut it that close okay yeah it being a male dominant feel there's always gonna be that stress but at the same time there's a reason it's opened at the females to you know if you can do it go for it just go some full dozen 500 yards under 12 minutes Catrina good well said well we're happy to see her going on to that next step but she'd be going to lose the cities start the airman program job Macedon they've given it chief has installed his confidence in me and he is written into the Chiefs over there that hey this girl is ready to go so if I weren't ready to go and wouldn't look just bad for me and look bad for him I'd love to come back to Alaska once I make summer you gotta have that confidence so one day I'm sure I'll return [Music] [Music] now put the ready helo online now put the ready helo online medivac Haines to Juneau now put the ready helo online my name is Tiffany we just got a call from district day 27 year-old female going into labor water has broken in Haines we're gonna need to pick her up and go to Juneau to a hospital that is able to deliver her baby pains is a town about a hundred and thirty miles north of here so we quickly got changed out and went down we got the aircraft going when I hear that woman's water has already broken we weren't sure no one was sure how far along and her pregnancy she was but when the water breaks you basically have 12 hours for the kid to come out so yeah the amount of time it's gonna take us to start getting everyone get over their clocks counting so that I think everybody was all on top addition step yeah there might be a baby in the back of our aircraft eta is 2,200 local over Roger 2,200 local touch in one five sector [Music] you ever delivered a baby before I have not delivered a couple have you for this case we are taking a corpsman I just provides a higher level of medical care in the back more opinions it just makes it safer for the patient during the transfer to have a medical appointment with us when I hear a woman in labor I'm worried about any sort of complications that the pregnancy could be having is the child coming out the wrong way or is there a problem with the mother was there some sort of internal bleeding and you're also worried about not only life of the mother but the well-being of the child we got a call from district day 27 year old female going into labor water has broken in Haines you're gonna need to pick her up and go did you know to a hospital that is able to deliver her baby [Music] GCA is 2200 local over Roger 2200 local when I hear a woman in labor I'm worried about any sort of complications that the pregnancy could be having is the child coming out the wrong way or is there a problem with the mother was there some sort of internal bleeding and you're also worried about not only life of the mother but the well-being of the child [Music] the only issue with weather tonight is gonna be snowed recently in Haines and it's just a matter of whether the runway has been plowed or not so coming in if it hasn't been pot even if it has been plowed with light area of snow as we come in we kick up a lot of wind [Music] here the quite possibly the ambulance here we get to Haynes wheel and we did circle weight out a little bit which made the landing a little bit more difficult with taxi in the ambulance was there waiting for us our medical personnel got out went over to the ambulance okay what side gets got here you got the patient loader up and we were off are you doing okay okay there was already an IV connected to her so we just kept that going and one of the main things is we just wanted to keep her comfortable and warm [Music] when I got assigned to Alaska I didn't think I'd be doing all these medevacs out of the villages thought bad weather big waves thought we'd be doing a lot of stuff out to sea here in Southeast though the bulk of what we do is medevac south of these villages and it is a pretty big responsibility for the air station to be sometimes the only provider to get patients from the villages to a higher level of care that they do [Music] are you gonna be able to hospital I think I'm gonna shop in yeah when we got to Juno email us was waiting fire department was there to help out we sat down the aircraft as quick as we could and handed the patient off to local EMS I love being a rescue swimmer because you just never know what you're gonna get any given day whether it's gonna be delivering a baby in the back of the helicopter or picking somebody up off a boat that's a fun job after we gave the patient off to the EMS we definitely did talk about it we're like home and that was pretty close like the lady could have gave birth and back of the helicopter [Music] [Music] my name is Lisa Seeley and I live in Haynes I've lived in Haynes most of my life I ended up delivering George at 7:06 in the morning yeah I couldn't have asked for a healthier baby a better labor everything really really well my fiancee and I are very very grateful to Coast Guard came and got me [Music] Alaska is a great place to work you get to get out into these communities and see folks who give it their all for each other and are willing to step out and help each other in event of emergency I think getting to interact with those people and come in when it's dark or the weather is bad you know you're gonna be the only option to get that patient it's a higher level of care and potentially say in our life is extremely rewarding [Music]

Channel: DANGER TV

Views: 83,481

Rating: 4.9211526 out of 5

Keywords: Coast Guard Alaska, US Coast Guard, United States Coast Guard, Air Station Sitka, Sitka Alaska, Alaska, Alaska USA, full episodes of Coast Guard Alaska, full episodes of tv show Coast Guard Alaska, danger, dangertv, danger tv, Danger, DangerTV, Danger TV, tv show coast guard alaska, reality tv show coast guard alaska, full episodes of reality tv, reality tv, coast guard rescue, coast guard helicopter rescue, helicopter rescues, rescue, search & rescue, search, ship rescue, ocean

Id: EtrRZ-ZehzQ

Length: 42min 33sec (2553 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 13 2020