“Medical emergency, medical emergency” is an announcement Sailors often hear over the 1MC on board USS Abraham Lincoln
(CVN 72). For Health Services Department this announcement is critical. A medical emergency response team is always ready
to respond.
Chief Hospital Corpsman (SW/AW) Russell Cole is one of the senior corpsmen that coordinates the medical emergency response
teams. He said the department developed a new process of responding to medical emergencies in order to reduce the amount
of 1MC announcements in case it’s a simple case and not an actual emergency.
“We developed a process to send a first responder to the scene,” Cole said. “In the past, the entire response team would rush to
get to the location. Now, if we receive a phone call saying there’s a medical emergency, we send one person to respond to the
scene with a radio and response bag, which contains first aid kit used for trauma. He or she will examine the situation and report
back to medical if it’s a true medical emergency.”
Cole said once they get the report and it’s determined an emergency, they call to the boatswain’s mate of the watch to make the
announcement over the 1MC.
As the first responder leaves medical, the response team is put together, and once ready, the team heads out to the scene location.
Each team consists of five corpsmen and one care provider. They bring a trauma bag, airway bag, defibrillator and stretcher to the
scene when their team is called to respond. Also, when an emergency is called, these teams need to know the layout of the ship.
“It is important to understand how to read tac numbers because that’s how we identify and locate the spaces,” Cole said. “Then it’s
important to know what to do because you’ll never know what you’re going to walk into.”
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SW/AW) Amiel Guerrero is a member of the medical response team and he deals with trauma cases and
carries a first response kit. “When I hear the medical emergency whistle, I drop anything I’m doing,” Guerrero said. “I go to the
station, find out the location and grab the gear, then start heading to the location; at the same time, I try to figure out the easiest
route.”
It’s important to get to the location right away, Guerrero added. “They refer to this critical time period as the “golden minute,” which
is actually about 5 to 10 minutes to get to the location.”
Guerrero said medical emergency is like dialing 911, but instead Sailors dial 7633 or 7MED on board.
“Some cases that I’ve encountered are Sailors falling out because of heat stress, fractured bones, difficulty breathing and
more,” Guerrero said. “We are here to give a quick response to any type of casualty. We will respond to give medical attention
to someone in need.”
Being a member of the medical response team is challenging, Guerrero said. He uses his knowledge in other medical techniques
besides the skills that he uses on his daily job as the advanced laboratory technician.
Lincoln is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom as well
as Maritime Security Operations (MSO).