Sea to Air Rescue
I’ve seen the air-sea rescue people in action a couple of times at shows where they give demonstrations of their skills. They’ve always looked impressive, but nothing that amazing. Tonight, however, I got to see them work for real, and I have to say that these people are some of the most incredible I’ve ever seen.
One of the men on board had an accident which required proper medical treatment and the decision was made to have him helicoptered to Stanley. The helicopter arrived around 7.30 pm by which time it was already pitch black. The helicopter took quite a while to come in and seemed to take stock of the bow before moving off a bit. Once we’d got on the required heading (you forget when you see the demonstrations that the ship the person is being rescued from is moving) the helicopter came back and started to lower a rope with which to guide the winch. Although this sounds easy it isn’t because not only is the ship moving forward, but its moving up and down and from side to side. So one minute the rope looks really close and the next it’s 20 ft above the deck. Eventually the rope reaches the deck and the winch, with the winchman, is lowered. Again, this sounds easy as he’s following the rope, but that rope is still moving and there’s a wind of about beaufort 4 or 5, plus the ship is moving. So he’s dangling at the end of this winch and he’s nearly reached the deck but then he’s missed it and looks like he’s gone overboard and then he’s high in the air again. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. At least at the circus they have a safety net. Here there’s just the South Atlantic at a cool 5 degrees C.
He’s down, and the helicopter flies off. The other thing the demonstrations don’t get across is the time involved in these operations. Even with the relatively calm seas and calm skies we had it still took probably 20 minutes from the helicopter first reaching us ‘til the man landed on deck. And then he spent a good hour or so looking at the guy who was somewhere below deck and getting him harnessed up. Once everything was ready the poor guy was brought up from the stern to the top deck and then down to the bow.
Suddenly everything picked up speed. Whereas everything else had taken tens of minutes to do, the final part was over incredibly quickly. The helicopter came back, the rope was lowered which was a lot quicker the second time (probably because the winchman was guiding the pilot) and then the injured guy and the winchman suddenly disappeared up into the night sky. Before they had even got inside the helicopter was flying off. And then it was gone.
The main reason I’m writing about this is because for the first time I really appreciate the risks and the costs involved in air-sea rescue. It’s no longer abstract. We had the best possible conditions for rescue (except for the fact it was night) and even so it seemed very scary. When I get back to land I intend to donate money to the air-sea rescue charities and I urge you all to do the same. The things they do to save people’s lives are unbelievable unless seen and they deserve all the help they can get.
One of the men on board had an accident which required proper medical treatment and the decision was made to have him helicoptered to Stanley. The helicopter arrived around 7.30 pm by which time it was already pitch black. The helicopter took quite a while to come in and seemed to take stock of the bow before moving off a bit. Once we’d got on the required heading (you forget when you see the demonstrations that the ship the person is being rescued from is moving) the helicopter came back and started to lower a rope with which to guide the winch. Although this sounds easy it isn’t because not only is the ship moving forward, but its moving up and down and from side to side. So one minute the rope looks really close and the next it’s 20 ft above the deck. Eventually the rope reaches the deck and the winch, with the winchman, is lowered. Again, this sounds easy as he’s following the rope, but that rope is still moving and there’s a wind of about beaufort 4 or 5, plus the ship is moving. So he’s dangling at the end of this winch and he’s nearly reached the deck but then he’s missed it and looks like he’s gone overboard and then he’s high in the air again. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. At least at the circus they have a safety net. Here there’s just the South Atlantic at a cool 5 degrees C.
He’s down, and the helicopter flies off. The other thing the demonstrations don’t get across is the time involved in these operations. Even with the relatively calm seas and calm skies we had it still took probably 20 minutes from the helicopter first reaching us ‘til the man landed on deck. And then he spent a good hour or so looking at the guy who was somewhere below deck and getting him harnessed up. Once everything was ready the poor guy was brought up from the stern to the top deck and then down to the bow.
Suddenly everything picked up speed. Whereas everything else had taken tens of minutes to do, the final part was over incredibly quickly. The helicopter came back, the rope was lowered which was a lot quicker the second time (probably because the winchman was guiding the pilot) and then the injured guy and the winchman suddenly disappeared up into the night sky. Before they had even got inside the helicopter was flying off. And then it was gone.
The main reason I’m writing about this is because for the first time I really appreciate the risks and the costs involved in air-sea rescue. It’s no longer abstract. We had the best possible conditions for rescue (except for the fact it was night) and even so it seemed very scary. When I get back to land I intend to donate money to the air-sea rescue charities and I urge you all to do the same. The things they do to save people’s lives are unbelievable unless seen and they deserve all the help they can get.
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