JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Aboard a vessel various adversities can occur, from a fire in the engine room to injuries sustained by crew members.
To prepare for disasters at sea, the crew of the 73rd Transportation Company's only sea vessel, the U.S. Army tugboat MG Winfield Scott, practices drills regularly.
On Oct. 21, the crew went through their weekly fire, man-over-broad and abandon ship drills, before teaming up with the Elizabeth City, North Carolina, U.S. Coast Guard for the vessel's joint exercise involving casualty evacuation at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
The joint exercise provided a means for newer crew members to learn skills in working with joint partners and gave all involved a better operating picture of how to communicate and act in a real-world scenario.
"Out to sea or off the coast we would use this practice to call the Coast Guard and work with them to get a patient to a medical facility," said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 William Sherman, 73rd Trans. Co. MG Winfield Scott skipper. "Most of the crew has never done training like this before, so it will be good for them. In the event of a real emergency they'll know what to do."
After the crew completed their weekly exercises, they called the Coast Guard, reporting an injured member on their vessel. Within an hour, the patter of the helicopter's rotor blades slicing through the air alerted the Scott crew to head to the back stern of the vessel. The crew met the rushing wind and mist from the James River caused by the helicopter, as it lowered a cable to them.
The crew members held the cable steadily to allow Coast Guard diver Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle McCollum to rappel down. After a thumbs-up from McCollum, indicating to the pilot that he landed safely, the helicopter backed away giving him a chance go over Coast Guard patient loading tactics with the vessel crew. McCollum also met with the Scott's medic, Spc. Chelsea Kline, 7th Sustainment Brigade Headquarters Company, to go over the patient's condition.
With the conditions and techniques set, it was time to send the patient, a training mannequin, to safety using a rescue basket to hoist the mannequin to the helicopter crew. The helicopter and vessel crews repeated the maneuver for several rotations allowing each member to get hands-on experience with the Coast Guard team.
For Spc. Jared Yaroschuk, 73rd Trans. Co. watercraft engineer, the training, which was the first he had experienced with the Coast Guard, was seamless.
"We were briefed on the scenario yesterday and everything played out exactly how the [Coast Guard] described," said Yaroschuk. "They were relaxed, calm and collective throughout the exercise and taught us the reason behind their methods."