Extracts from the Medical Journal, July 1st - 3rd

Published 05th Jul 2007

Monday, july 2nd.

Many crew members are seasick with vomiting. Mostly when crew members are looking down. For example to bale out water or read a map. It helps to look at the horizon. Tablets to prevent seasickness are used by many.

Tuesday, July 3rd.

Cold, rain and seasickness. In particular the young girls on board are suffering. It is difficult to observe the condition of the crew members properly; The ship is packed, the sole is slippery, people sit close together in similar outfits and are covered in blankets - Who is who? 

A female crew member is suffering from stomach ache related to her period. She is inactive most of the time. She is lacking a pair of proper boots. Her clothes are wet. Increasingly cold. From time to time she looks ok, but the next moment she is clearly not. Shakes all over her body. Hypothermia? Is given a survival blanket. Later seen crying. She is eventualle transfered to the support vessel 'Cable One'. There she had a lang bath. Her condition quickly improved.

She is back on the Sea Stallion this morning.

A female crew member lost her footing when she had to bale out water. Her knee got stuck. She has severe pains in the knee, and finds it difficult to put weight on it. Has previous experiences with the same knee. Treatment: RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). Ice is delivered to the Sea Stallion from 'Cable One'. To prevent an increase of the injury, she is later evacuated to the support vessel.

A female crew member gets wet under the survival suit. -The survival suit was not closed when a wave covered her in water. Her regular rainclothes was leaking. Quickly she became cold and clammy. Treatment: she is covered in a survival blanket and a woollen blanket. Increasingly cold. She tries to drink something warm and get shelter from the wind. She is very keen on staying on board the Sea Stallion. At about 01.30 a.m. she takes the decision of tranfering to 'Cable One' even though we find the operation dangerous, due to the high waves.

When she enters the support vessel, she is very cold and exhausted. The evacuation should probably have been done at an earlier state - we have learned from this experience! Treatment: A warm shower on board the support vessel. Next morning: Fever. Two 'panodil'. She is transfered back on board the Sea Stallion. New clothes will be bought.

 

MT


Created by Susanne Malmstrøm