sfc_darrel
08-01-2002, 07:48 PM
By Jan Davis, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
SOMERSET, Pa. (NNS) -- If there is a moral to the story of the recent rescue of nine miners trapped 240 feet underground in Pennslyvania, Capt. Dale Mole' says it's that Navy Medicine is "steaming to assist."
Last Thursday morning, Mole', the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery's director of undersea medicine, had been following the drama of the trapped miners when a high-priority e-mail flashed on his computer.
It was from Lt. Cmdr. Raul A. Velez, a Naval Reservist assigned to the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center Pittsburgh, near Somerset. Velez had been contacted by Lt. Cmdr. Nick Colovos, Medical Corps, a Naval Reservist who was also a member of the civilian Special Medical Response Team (SMRT) at the mine site.
His question: Does the Navy have a mobile decompression chamber that might be transported to the site to treat the miners once they were rescued?
Several telephone calls and a few hours later, nine Navy portable hyperbaric chambers from eight different commands were on the road, arriving in the open field with trucks and equipment at 10 p.m. With them were two Navy diving medical officers, Mole' and Capt. Henry Schwartz, Medical Corps, and 57 hospital corpsmen and divers, all with diving medicine skills.
"The SG (Navy Surgeon General) recognized that there was no other organization that could do what needed to be done," said Mole'. "Like our motto says, we were 'steaming to assist,' moving out to provide the expertise needed. In this case, we were going to decompress miners in a cow pasture in Pennsylvania."
The chambers and Navy Medicine know-how were needed to help prevent the miners from getting decompression sickness, or "the bends," a very painful and sometimes fatal condition that is caused by a too-rapid ascent. When water flooded into the mine at about 200,000 gallons a minute, a wall of water compressed the air to about twice normal atmospheric pressure, enough to cause the bends.
Mole' said that fortunately, with the exception of one miner, there wasn't much need for their hyperbaric chambers because so much water had been pumped out of the mine. But Navy Medicine was still able to provide assistance.
There were hundreds of rescue, medical and mining experts participating in the rescue, but few had the experience of setting up for what might be a long term effort. Navy Medicine, however, did. They were able to make valuable recommendations on everything from sanitation to privacy protection.
"We know how to work in the field," said Mole'. Navy Medicine's efforts didn't go unnoticed. Mole' overheard
Sipesville (Pa.) Fire Chief Mark mbanini tell a reporter that he wanted to "thank President Bush for sending in the military."
"He didn't know it was the Navy Surgeon General who sent us," said Mole'. "But I think we all appreciated the spirit of his words."
SOMERSET, Pa. (NNS) -- If there is a moral to the story of the recent rescue of nine miners trapped 240 feet underground in Pennslyvania, Capt. Dale Mole' says it's that Navy Medicine is "steaming to assist."
Last Thursday morning, Mole', the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery's director of undersea medicine, had been following the drama of the trapped miners when a high-priority e-mail flashed on his computer.
It was from Lt. Cmdr. Raul A. Velez, a Naval Reservist assigned to the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center Pittsburgh, near Somerset. Velez had been contacted by Lt. Cmdr. Nick Colovos, Medical Corps, a Naval Reservist who was also a member of the civilian Special Medical Response Team (SMRT) at the mine site.
His question: Does the Navy have a mobile decompression chamber that might be transported to the site to treat the miners once they were rescued?
Several telephone calls and a few hours later, nine Navy portable hyperbaric chambers from eight different commands were on the road, arriving in the open field with trucks and equipment at 10 p.m. With them were two Navy diving medical officers, Mole' and Capt. Henry Schwartz, Medical Corps, and 57 hospital corpsmen and divers, all with diving medicine skills.
"The SG (Navy Surgeon General) recognized that there was no other organization that could do what needed to be done," said Mole'. "Like our motto says, we were 'steaming to assist,' moving out to provide the expertise needed. In this case, we were going to decompress miners in a cow pasture in Pennsylvania."
The chambers and Navy Medicine know-how were needed to help prevent the miners from getting decompression sickness, or "the bends," a very painful and sometimes fatal condition that is caused by a too-rapid ascent. When water flooded into the mine at about 200,000 gallons a minute, a wall of water compressed the air to about twice normal atmospheric pressure, enough to cause the bends.
Mole' said that fortunately, with the exception of one miner, there wasn't much need for their hyperbaric chambers because so much water had been pumped out of the mine. But Navy Medicine was still able to provide assistance.
There were hundreds of rescue, medical and mining experts participating in the rescue, but few had the experience of setting up for what might be a long term effort. Navy Medicine, however, did. They were able to make valuable recommendations on everything from sanitation to privacy protection.
"We know how to work in the field," said Mole'. Navy Medicine's efforts didn't go unnoticed. Mole' overheard
Sipesville (Pa.) Fire Chief Mark mbanini tell a reporter that he wanted to "thank President Bush for sending in the military."
"He didn't know it was the Navy Surgeon General who sent us," said Mole'. "But I think we all appreciated the spirit of his words."