More Comfortable with the Underway Life

It has now been about two months and things are shaping up to be a very interesting adventure. Although the first month was spent in San Diego and was mainly drills, we are well on our way to the southern region. Even if the GPS was not available, I could tell you things have changed due to the humidity and heat. It is not too hard to deal with, but I have been well trained by Puerto Rico and Florida. The seas are very smooth down here, and sailing has been relatively easy, I have been able to figure out the routine and feel much more comfortable with the schedule, demands and stressors. I suppose they are all part of the adventure, so I take them as they come. What I can say is that I am grateful for coming to a cutter as a petty officer, It is a very different perspective on medicine.

 The workday is here is not your typical 9-5, the clinic never closes and the trend seem to be that if someone feels sick, they find you. From the routine sea sickness, or common cold to burns, chest pain and emotional breakdowns. I work with an HS Senior Chief, a senior enlisted Health Services Technician for those not in the Coast Guard. It is like being on call 24/7 but fortunately we are not normally called I the middle of the night. There is a sense of respect from being the one of the medical providers for the entire crew. We are able to consult medical officers through email, but are solely responsible for the health and treatment of the crew. There is a mutual respect between us and the crew, that allows us to do our job and them perform theirs.

Approach to Guatamala

Like I said, it is not a 9-5 schedule, but there are some tasks that are done on a regular schedule that take up the time. Some days it seems I am very busy, while at others I am looking for something to do. Much of the work is preventative maintenance or what some would call monitoring the health of the crew. Water testing, galley inspections, heat stress monitoring and maintenance of medical equipment are all done for this purpose. The rest of the work is from seeing patients, administering medical treatments, counseling members, duty and standing by for medical aid for the many evolutions the crew performs. Being temporary party, I do not stand normal duty, but I still have special sea duty when mooring or unmooring the cutter. As you can imagine the details of the work day may vary, which is what keeps its interesting, or sometimes a little aggravating. What I can say is that it takes a lot of work to run a cutter and take care of the crew, if we did not work well as a crew, we would be dead in the water. In the big picture of the CGC Midgett, the medical side is just a very small, but intricate and necessary aspect.

To give you an idea imagine how complex something like a Cutter is. Imagine all the required services that take place in a major city, compacted to a area that is 378 feet long. I had to talk to a few people to figure out the proper analogy, but it is accurate to what is here. Everything we have onboard is either stored or created on the cutter. We are responsible for our own power, water, propulsion, sewage, food, supplies, medical care, intelligence and security. There is an ample amount of work. The reality is that we all play our small part to allow everyone else to do what they need to do. As a temporary member of this crew, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with these individuals and assist in any way I can. I am thoroughly impressed by how well this crew has worked together. They may have not wanted to do all that was asked of them, but they still performed with distinction.

I suppose to state it simply, I never know what to expect when I wake up in the morning. It keeps me on my toes. I have not had a port call other than San Diego, but we are en-route to some very interesting places from what I have heard. We did pull into Guatemala for fuel, but I would not consider a port call just stepping onto the pier and taking some photographs. However, I will say I have officially been to South America though, even if just for an hour. I will keep you updated on the progress of the adventure.