Weekend

Last year around October I had the opportunity to help a young boy who was involved in a terrible boating accident.  I received an emergency phone call from a customs officer on another cay (always pronounced key).  This young man had been struck by the propellers of a large sport fisherman.  The customs officer was anxious but controlled.   She informed me they had no way to move the patient and that he was bleeding profusely.  Two of my EMS crew and I gathered our trauma packs and backboard and drove way too fast to Cooperstown in order to catch a boat over to another cay.

The evolution of this trauma call was a true miracle.  Quite coincidentally the US Coast Guard was doing a drug interdiction in the area and intercepted the emergency call over the flight unicom.  As I arrived by boat, the black hawk was landing at the same time.  We did a rapid trauma assessment, applied pressure dressings to his lacerations, loaded him on a back board and onto the black hawk.   By this time his mental status was somewhat confused, pulse thready and tachycardic (class three hemorrhage).

Keep in mind this was a drug interdiction helicopter.  Instead of medics with advanced life support kits, they had soldiers with automatic weapons.  ”You have to come with us doc”.  Normally this wouldn’t be a problem.  On this occasion I had no passport or US dollars with me.  “No problem Doc, you are with the US coastguard”.  These words were still ringing in my ears as they dropped me, the patient and his father off on the helipad of Ryder Trauma center at the University Miami and flew away.   So now I was essentially illegally in the US with no passport or money. 

The father was a pretty tough guy and handled the situation better than I would if the boy were my son.  After giving my report to the trauma surgeon.  The father arranged my flight back to the Bahamas where I was met by an immigration officer who wouldn’t let me enter the country because of the passport issue.  Keep in mind, she knew me personally.  Her cousin ( the local police Sargent) helped me with the evacuation.  Until I could get my passport from another cay she was not going to let me into the country.

That 9 year old kid is one of the toughest guys I know.  Today he is fully rehabilitated.  His father and I are pretty close friends.  In fact I spent this weekend with them freediving and spearfishing.  This was the first time the two of them had returned to the water since the terrible accident.  He speared his first hog fish Sunday.