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Msis Active
a terminal and printer, while a ^tedium-sized office might receive two r three terminals and a printer. De
ne with suggestions made by the team. Small offices will generally
fending upon the location and size of k e °ffice, a telephone connection will e °rdered. An appropriate interface tv‘te, called a modem, w ill be deliv- rt‘d. Generally, that is all the equip- [tlent that any office will need. The trminal will have a cathode ray tube ar|d a keyboard, much like a type- Wr|ter, while the printer is a separate ^lece °f equipment.
Once the telephone connection is tstaded, the MSIS team will return to Msi"1 C^e °^lce personnel in the use of ea h ^°r *n^Ut an<^ outPut pertinent to k tndividual’s job. Video tapes will ta h*StC^ ^ maiHr training aid in ^ office. In this manner, a copy of t film can be left after the team de- off an<a use<^ later for indoctrination uture incoming personnel. cMSIS will run on two PRIME 750 q Pnters located at the new Coast a|.Uar^ Operational Computer Center Governors Island, New York. Procontrol of the system will re- j^ain with the Office of Merchant loar"H‘ Safety at Headquarters. Fol- Wing )qso Galveston, successive q- ’ Marine Inspection Offices, and £j[^a‘n of the Port offices in the ^‘str‘ct will be brought up 1 rhe entire district is “on-line.” soon as the new Coast Guard
“standard” terminals and communications network are available, the MSIS team will move to other districts. (The system is scheduled to be fully operational in 1982.) The general implementation plan for the nation will be as follows: the Gulf Coast first, followed by the East Coast, then West Coast, and finally the Great Lakes and Rivers offices. This plan is designed so that an upcoming office’s “fleet of responsibility” will complement the existing vessels in the system. Also, the MSIS can initially be used to keep track of U. S. and foreign oceangoing vessels and all barges. These are the most transient types of vessels and, therefore, are usually the most difficult to keep track of. Not all features of the MSIS, such as the documentation section, will be available initially.
Generally, the only information that will have to be seeded into the system by a field office will be information from office tickler files, such as pending vessel deficiency notifications or dates of scheduled inspections or boardings. A large quantity of information will be loaded into MSIS from many sources outside of the field offices. These consist of existing computerized files for: inspected vessels, documented vessels, casualty cases, and vessel information received on computer tapes from the American Bureau of Shipping and Lloyds Register. This will round out vessel characteristic information for foreign vessels, as well as U. S. vessels. As much existing computerized information as possible will be put into MSIS to preclude manual information loading at the field level. Again, one of the main criteria has been to ensure that MSIS imposes no additional workload on the field offices, but rather allows for the dissemination of information and the preparation of routine letters and reports with a tremendous savings in time and effort. It should also greatly increase the accuracy of Coast Guard information and analytical reports.
The future of MSIS in the Coast Guard is open to many possibilities. The system used to create MSIS is a computer package that can write Fortran programs and can therefore offer the Coast Guard the capability to produce similar systems using the state- of-the-art techniques employed by MSIS. These systems may be used in any number of ways, as yet mostly unexplored. It might be used to maintain Coast Guard vessel maintenance records, for example, or something even more removed like clothing locker inventories. If used to its fullest advantage, MSIS may be the greatest thing that ever happened to the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Program, and possibly to the Coast Guard itself.
A 1973 graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. Lieutenant Barker has been overseeing the final design of the MSIS and is now tasked with deploying it.
Th
e Lifesavers
“y Lie,
cutenant Commander John F. Ebersole, U. S. Coast Guard
Jrnanitarian service which is
k
tarth and rescue is undoubtedly f-oast Guard’s best-known mis-
s>On I- i
f0 ’ c nas established a reputation r hur
throughout the maritime ;s ^ 1 what is not so well recognized 8t C^e ^ar&est Part this lifesav- h(>at 'n°rk 'S Perh>rmeti hy its small arij eet—boats of 52 feet in length for tSS’ 1979, these boats per- starch rri()re than twice as much ajranci rescue work as cutters and C0a^a 1 combined.) Of these, the c Guard’s motor life boats (MLBs) are the workhorses. When lives are at stake in surf or heavy seas, it is the tough, dependable MLB which is looked to most often. They and their three- and four-man enlisted crews keep alive the spirit of the Life Saving Service of old.
The 36-Foot MLB: The 36-footer is the oldest of the motor life boats in use today. Its design is based upon that of a self-righting, self-bailing pulling boat of the same size which was used by the U. S. Life Saving Service prior to the turn of the century.
Lieutenant C. H. McLellan, USLSS, conducted the first experiments in mechanically propelling life boats in 1899. Working with engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he developed and improved upon a design which used a two-cylinder gas engine to turn two propellers through a rawhide- and pulley-type transmission.
By 1908, the first motorized 36- footers were in operation. Referred to as the "E” class, these “new” surf boats were of the same wooden con-
struction and general design as the nine-man, pulling, surf boats. The 36-foot MLBs being operated in the 1980s look little different. The most obvious difference between the “E” boat and today’s 36 was in the engine’s location. It was located ift on the “E” class with the midships area open. The “H”-class 36 was introduced in the 1920s. It featured the engine in a compartment amidship.
A refinement of this class was made in the 1940s, and three of this class remain in service. The 36498 is the oldest of the survivors, being built in 1946, and operates from Station Umpqua River on the Oregon coast. The other two, built in the early 1950s, continue to serve as surf rescue units on the treacherous bars at Humboldt Bay, California, and Depoe Bay, Oregon.
The 32-Foot MLB: Probably the least known and yet most capable of the life boat fleet is the 52-foot model. Built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, they are the largest self- righting surf boats ever constructed by the Coast Guard. Like the 36-footer and the ubiquitous 44-foot MLB, these "miniature ships” have extensive com- partmentation and a low center of gravity (in part, because of a very heavy keel). This enables them to roll over and come back right side up.
Expensive to construct (approximately a quarter of a million dollars each in 1950 dollars), only four of this class were built. All are assigned to stations in the Pacific Northwest. Unlike other MLBs, these boats have been officially named: Triumph. Victory. Intrepid. and Invincible.
Equipped with twin diesel engines, radar, Loran-C, automatic pilot, and
—Incident at Ashtabula-
By Senior Chief Dennis L. Noble, U. S. Coast Guard (Retired)
It was 0936 when the watchstander, Seaman Apprentice Campbell, picked ^ the ringing telephone and heard a police officer say that he had a report of a ^ throwing a baby into the Ashtabula River. Campbell slammed down the P111’ and hit the search and rescue (SAR) alarm. j
Thus began a harrowing 20 minutes for the men of the U. S. Coast station at Ashtabula, Ohio, on a cold, drizzly November morning.
At the sound of the alarm, Boatswain’s Mate First Class John P. Job1151 started a crew toward the 44-foot motor lifeboat. About this time, Chief f*oJt swain’s Mate Robert G. Edwards arrived to take over for Johnson. (
"There was the normal amount of confusion,” said Edwards. “1 told the nl‘
' L'Ur
crew to get going and Johnson to take at least two men with him in the plC and head out to the end of the dock. ^
Seaman Apprentice Keith A. Roberts was swabbing decks when the al*1 rang. He ran down the stairs, and started for the boat. ([
Fireman William R. Cooper heard the alarm, ran down the hall, and ^ Edwards waving everybody out. Cooper was boat engineer that day. He 'vaS . first one in the boat and got the engines started. Even though he was off d Seaman Joel Heibel jumped onto the boat. When Alexander, the boat coxs"a arrived on board, the boat fired off. . j,
Johnson, at the same time, told Randy Phillips and Mark Clark to come him in the station’s pickup. }
“We did not know at this time if it was an infant in the water, or a doll-1 false alarm, but we activated every bit of resources we had,” Johnson said- Johnson dropped off Phillips and Clark at the end of a line of railroad about an eighth of a mile from the station. They ran down the dock chec'kmg ( shoreline, while Johnson continued down the dock with the truck for an0c quarter of a mile. J
Alexander recalled that, as he headed the boat toward the pier, the rivet maybe a half a foot of waves in it, rippling pretty good and the weather
chi,!ly-”. . , ^
The first thing I saw was the men on the shore pointing over toward an
we had just passed. 1 began to turn the boat around.” jt
While Alexander was handling the boat, Roberts, with the help of He'
donned a wet suit. Heibel and Roberts then went to the bow to help K
lookout. ,<
"We saw Phillips and Clark on the wall,” recalled Cooper, "waving uS
there. I went to the bow with Roberts. We still didn’t know if it was a doll ()
baby. Roberts took one look, saw it was a baby, and jumped in.”
Roberts said, “I remember it shocked me when I saw the baby, but I
let that stop me. I don’t remember feeling the 39° water, but I do remt‘|fl
U. S. COAST GUARD
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while I was swimming towards the baby.” off , exander put the boat about two feet in front of us so that the boat blocked ... e wind and that helped a lot.”
Stavv, |®rabbed the baby and swam towards shore. I tried to get hold of the han i ^ ken it was slimy and too high for me to grab. So, I grabbed Clark s
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Co ^ koth pulled me up.”
Saw )LPer SaRl> “I took the baby and looked around for a split second. All that I waysat Was handy and flat was a railroad tie. I laid the baby on the tie longer ej e just limped over it, and it scared me even more. That’s when I pro- ‘I k° C'tar h>er throat and started mouth-to-mouth.” the ^ was cry*n8’ but the only thing going through my mind was to save
gcatlta y- I didn’t think whether she was dead or not. I guess I took it for J°hne ^at there was life in her. While I was giving mouth-to-mouth, John
„as<>n arrived.”
As I
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tiadt8rflon8side
, ‘* it was slimy and too high tor me to graD. so, i grauocu atld then passed the baby with my other hand to where Cooper, who had 6 t0 the wall from the boat, could grab the baby. Phillips then grabbed my
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lcin > Carne down the dock,” Johnson related, “an Ashtabula police car was lad^ f*0r>gside me. I saw Roberts passing the infant to Cooper. I immediately f0tf e decision that we needed to get the baby to a hospital without waiting
~ decision that we needed to get tne DaDy to a *
arnbulance—I did not know how long it would be before one got there.
ith Cooper still giving mouth-to-mouth, and headed
f(>r tf,PltPtd up the baby, w
••q P°lice car. We climbed over a bunch of rocks to get to it. htart/ICe ‘n the car, I felt the throat and groin and under the armpits for a Pm eat- Not finding any, I gave the baby a good jolt and started ( PR [cardio- tom ’’’ary resuscitation]. We were holding the infant about chest high in order Qw e 'C easy to tilt the head back and give mouth-to-mouth. 1 gave CPR, and streePer «ave mouth-to-mouth. The patrolman proceeded down the dock and at high speed, yelling at the people who weren’t listening to the siren.
C’n we arrived at the hospital,” Johnson continued, I did not even stop ’ *' open the door; the patrolman came around and opened the door for
th
Us, a , .......... ,........ ., ...... r----------- -
Wat, We ran rjght into the emergency room. One of the doctors from the cold
p (t dfQ * — * * ---- - ---- ------ ■*-
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'°wn team took over the CPR, but Cooper kept up the mouth-to-mouth her 30 to 45 seconds before he was relieved by a doctor with a res-
ttr being relieved, it wasn’t until four or five minutes that the doctor said.
, aVe a real good, strong heartbeat ... It looks like she s going to make
°ext morning the little girl was up and playing, summed up the whole drama for the entire crew of the Coast Guard a rewarding job when you can do something like this.
VHF-FM-homing capability, these steel-hulled 52s are a quantum jump from the wooden 36s with their electronics package of a single radio and a Fathometer.
The 52-footer is manned by a crew of four to five enlisted personnel. During heavy weather, the crew members are outfitted in international orange wet suits, specially equipped life vests, and aircraft-style helmets. In addition, they are placed in restraining harnesses which prevent them from being lost overboard in the event that the boat is capsized or pitch polled. Similar survival wear is required for the crews of the other classes of surf boats.
The 44-Foot MLB: With 105 in the Coast Guard’s inventory, the 44-foot MLB is the most frequently encountered of the surf rescue vessels. From New England to Alaska, this is the boat most often called upon for “the rough ones.” Probably the finest rescue boat in the world, the 44 frequently handles calls for help under conditions where few other vessels could even survive.
A follow-on to the 52-footer construction program, the first of these smaller MLBs was launched in April 1962. Like the 52, it is steel hulled (although the 44 has an all-aluminum superstructure), self-righting, selfbailing, and powered by twin 185- horsepower Detroit Diesel engines. It has a maximum speed of 16 knots which is about 5 knots better than the 52-footer.
In testimony to its rugged design, Great Britain’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution obtained one 44 for evaluation and later constructed six from the Coast Guard’s design. The
in
has
first of the British-built 44s was named the John F. Kennedy and stationed at Dun Laoghaire.
Over the years, many of the 44s have survived 360° rolls and even a pitch polling or two. Rolls of 90° or more are often experienced. None of this class has been lost, but there have been some close calls. In the winter of 1975, for instance, an Alaskan 44 was called out to rescue the crew of a sinking fishing vessel. Fighting ice, snow, and gale-force winds, the rescue was completed. However, on the return, the MLB became so ice encrusted that visibility and maneuverability were lost. At the mercy of high winds and seas, the small boat was thrown onto the rocks of a lee shore. Holed in more than 100 places, the boat remained intact. All aboard were later rescued. The 44 was refloated, returned to the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, for repair, and eventually returned to service.
The 30-Foot Surf Rescue Boat: Soon to join the motor life boats is a totally new type of surf boat. Unlike its predecessors, this 30-foot surf rescue boat (SRB) is designed to dart in and out of the surf, avoiding the brutal poundings which the 36, 44, and 52 were all designed to endure. It introduces an entirely new concept in surf operations in that its speed and maneuverability allow an experienced coxswain to complete a surf rescue without having to bust through a breaker’s curl. Nonetheless, the SRB, like its older counterparts, is capable of surviving the “sneaker” wave or a coxswain’s miscalculation.
In addition to a self-righting capability, this boat possesses an agility which few other Coast Guard craft can match. It has a maximum speed of 30 knots, the ability to tow vessels up to 40 feet, and room for six survivors in addition to its normal two-man crew.
Like the 36-footer, the SRB is equipped only with a radio and 3 Fathometer. Its use will be primarily restricted to inshore work such as the quick response to a capsizing.
The prototype SRB (30201) is now 'n service at Station Tilamook Bay, Ofe' gon. A class of 20 is planned, an construction is under way at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay. i
As with the 44-footer, this vessel s performance has attracted the atten-
other countries. Spain, for one, expressed a desire to obtain some SR^s for test and evaluation. ,
"You have to go out, but you don have to come back” has long been a motto of those who man this country5 search and rescue stations. Thanks t0 these tough, capable surf boats, thousands have made it back.
Commander Ebersole is the author of the afC cle, “Standing Into Danger,” which appe®rs this issue.
Emergency Medicine: Now or Never
By Chief Warrant Officer Dale Puckett, U. S. Coast Guard
its
technicians and hospital corps'11^
with reliable medical equipment an
radio communication formal
Coast Guardsman Chuck Warren, a second-class aviation structural mechanic, positioned himself as the 44- foot motor life boat took another roll. Cold ocean water rushed over the gunnel.
A volunteer victim waited 50 yards from the lifeboat. She disappeared several times a minute behind seven-foot swells.
A physician’s assistant gave a signal, and Warren leapt over the side and swam toward the victim who was floating face down. Reaching the victim, he flopped her over. Keeping her afloat, he gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Warren then positioned himself behind the victim and waved toward the boat.
At this signal, First-Class Aviation Machinist Mate Lee Seward began towing Warren using a line attached to his rescue swimmer’s harness. Warren, meanwhile, wrapped his arms around the victim and began compressing her chest—a technique called in-water cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
After the ventilations, Warren held the victim in position while Seward dropped a line around her. Warren pushed. Seward pulled, and seconds later the victim was in the boat.
“Fifty-six seconds,” declared the physician’s assistant. “We’re getting better.”
Students from the Coast Guard Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) School in Petaluma, California, who watched the demonstration would soon practice the new water rescue techniques themselves in calmer waters near the Coast Guard station in Bodega Bay, California. They also would learn in-water patient evaluation and procedures for removing the injured from the water.
The Coast Guard set up its new EMT school last year on the assumption that a few minutes can save more lives. The Coast Guard has been known for years for its lifesaving rescues at sea. But on-scene medical treatment usually was unavailable unless the Coast Guard station was large enough to have a hospital corpsman.
Generally, the patients tece"je their first medical care at a shofe based hospital. Like most ambulance services on the nation’s highways, ^
Coast Guard simply transported c injured to the nearest medical facil1 c5 as fast as possible. Even the Amerk31 Medical Association only recently reC ognized emergency medicine as a sp cialty field.
The new EMT school, however, allowed the Coast Guard to integrat an emergency medical system mt0 search and rescue program. The s>s tern mixes trained emergency meu'
for
medical personnel aboard search ‘lfl rescue vessels and aircraft. . __
"The trained EMT is the most in1^ portant part of the system,” said l(1^ structor Ken Beck, a first-class h°5P^ tal corpsman, “Without the EMT, patient may not live long enough use the rest of the emergency meC 1 system.” f
To ensure the necessary number