Posted by Chuck Tribolet on June 17, 2005 at 20:46:53:
In Reply to: Max is right posted by North Coast Diver on June 17, 2005 at 19:31:09:
The first thing you do is get them on O2.
Then you call DAN or 911 as appropriate. Or maybe
just GO. Or maybe something else.
What you do after you get them on O2 is a function
of where you are and the victim's situation. It's
a question of priorities. Sequence counts.
If you are in south of Lobos on a boat and 45 minutes
from some place you can transfer the victim to
EMS, you call DAN first because there's plenty of
time for EMS to get to the dock, and you'll be at
the dock before the CG can get a boat or helo
there.
If you are at the Barge off the Monterey
Breakwater, and it's clear the diver is bent,
(but way less than unconscious or bleeding), you call
911. They will get to the CG Pier ramp just about
the same as EMS.
If you are Monastery, and the victim is out of the
water at the car, you just go to CHOMP ER. It's
4.2 miles from Monastery to CHOMP. Odds are
you'll be at CHOMP before the ambulance gets from
Monterey to Monastery.
If you are at the Farallones (2+ hours by boat
from EMS), with a clearly bent (but maybe less
than bleeding or unconscious) victim, you don't
call 911 or DAN first, you call the CG on Ch 16
and see if they can get a chopper airborne out
of CG Air Station San Francisco (aka SFO).
It's a judgment call. As my late wife was fond
of saying: "One size fits none." And it helps to
have thought the options through ahead of time.
Note for the SoCal folks: CHOMP is Community
Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. You gotta
get checked out at the CHOMP ER before they'll
put you in the PG chamber.
And the best way to keep Murphy away is to be
prepared for his arrival. If you are prepared,
somehow he just never seems to show up.
Chuck