On Saturday, September 30, the Madera County Sheriff’s Workplace acquired a name a couple of medical emergency close to Garnet Lake and Thousand Island Lake alongside the Pacific Crest Path (PCT), a treacherous mountaineering path that stretches a number of thousand miles by way of the Jap Sierras throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountain vary.
Whereas trying to rescue the injured hiker, a NAS Lemoore SAR helicopter skilled difficulties and made a tough touchdown at a excessive elevation. The 4 service members onboard suffered minor accidents and had been extracted by one other company’s SAR unit.
Chief Hospital Corpsman John R. Tugman, Chief Hospital Corpsman Michael C. Carter and Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Ildegar J. Mora had been part of the healthcare group from NMRTC Lemoore who offered medical protection to help the NAS Lemoore safety group within the forest. Hospital Corpsman 1st class Jeremy D. Williams and Hospital Corpsman 2nd class Paul C. Cavanaugh from Navy Medication Readiness and Coaching Unit (NMRTU) Fallon additionally offered medical protection through the nearly one-month lengthy task. NMRTU Fallon is a unit of NMRTC Lemoore.
“I used to be part of the preliminary response group that went in to recuperate and safe gadgets from the plane equivalent to radios and the black field,” mentioned Tugman. “The climate, terrain and elevation made for a difficult atmosphere. Many of the group had little to no expertise working in these situations. We had been hit on the primary evening with an excellent snowstorm with temperatures dipping into the 20s. We began with a group of eight and by day three we had been left with simply three (individuals) as a consequence of altitude illness.”
Mora, a fleet Marine pressure (FMF) hospital corpsman, with prior deployment expertise with the U.S. Marine Corps and is nicely versed in chilly climate survival as a mountain drugs teacher.
“The largest medical concern related to this mission was the potential for somebody going by way of altitude mountain illness (AMS), high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE),” mentioned Mora. “My background as an teacher helped me take care of these sicknesses and the right way to finest deal with sufferers.”
The topography the place the helicopter was situated was rugged and tough to maneuver. The group from Lemoore and Fallon wanted to hike every day by way of difficult terrain alongside the PCT to get to the helicopter web site.
“I carried out every day medical security briefs previous to the safety group’s 12-mile spherical journey hike to the helicopter web site,” mentioned Mora. “Upon their return I might test the group for any accidents or well being considerations.”
The chilly climate and panorama offered challenges, in addition to the altitude.
“We needed to devise a CASEVAC (casualty evacuation) plan which makes use of non-standardized and non-dedicated automobiles for a doubtlessly injured Sailor. We additionally skilled the group on correct clothes to put on throughout hikes. This was instrumental in stopping warmth associated accidents in addition to chilly climate accidents,” mentioned Mora.
The 5 hospital corpsmen from Lemoore and Fallon rotated offering care and had been embedded with the safety group from NAS Lemoore. Throughout their down time within the Jap Sierras from Sept. 30 to Oct. 20, 2023, they had been in a position to spend time with the MAs or master-at-arms and find out about one another’s Navy charges or jobs.
Each Tugman and Mora are desperate to get again to the mountains.
“It was actually an fascinating expertise,” mentioned Tugman. “We bumped into individuals mountaineering the PCT. One man I talked to was mountaineering from the U.S. and Mexico border again to his house in Portland, Oregon.”
In response to the USDA Forest Service web site, the PCT is 2,650 miles lengthy and it begins close to Campo, California close to the U.S. and Mexico border. It ends on the U.S. and Canada border at Manning Provincial Park in British Columbia. The PCT was one of many first Nationwide Scenic Trails established by Congress in 1968 with the Nationwide Trails System Act, together with the Appalachian Path. The PCT crosses 26 nationwide forests, seven nationwide parks, 5 state parks and 4 nationwide monuments.
“The Jap Sierras are superb,” mentioned Tugman. “I shall be spending plenty of time sooner or later exploring this space.”
Navy Medication Readiness and Coaching Command Lemoore is co-located with Naval Well being Clinic Lemoore. The command and clinic make sure the readiness of its active-duty service members and improves the lives of navy households by way of the supply of high-quality healthcare to over 14,000 eligible beneficiaries at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California and NAS Fallon, Nevada.
The command additionally supplies dental care and medical administrative help to Navy, Marine Corps, and worldwide college students on the Naval Postgraduate College (NPS), Protection Language Institute and the Middle for Info Dominance in Monterey, California. Its mission is to advance the readiness and well being of our warfighters and beneficiaries and to put money into our individuals and partnerships.
Navy Medication Readiness and Coaching Unit Fallon/Naval Department Well being Clinic Fallon, Nevada is a unit of Navy Medication Readiness and Coaching Command Lemoore/Naval Well being Clinic Lemoore, California. The medical unit in Fallon supplies outpatient medical care to active-duty service members and its
dependents assigned to, and inside a 30-mile radius of, Naval Air Station Fallon.
