Fix, Fly, Fight Rescue 612: MEDEVAC to Jeddah, KSA By LT Rebekkah Roberts, USN
“M
USTER THE MEDEVAC COORDINATION TEAM,” blared through the passageways of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) early on Thursday morning – barely stirring the crewmembers that would be tapped to execute the nearing adventure. Rescue 612 was still in the initial planning stages, the crew members actively being shifted from a daytime Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Alert to a medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) that would take all of their skills to execute. The HSC-7 Dusty Dogs had spent the last few weeks focusing on Operation Prosperity Guardian – standing dynamic, long range CSAR Alerts while balancing standard carrier flight operation requirements. On the morning of 18 January 2024, the Dusty Team would be tested with an additional long-range critical medical evacuation that would see the first use of the carrier’s enroute care team and challenges with aircraft degradations, communications, and fuel availability. The mission was the evacuation of a patient to a Level II hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The transit was estimated to be about 280 nautical miles (NM) making it 30 miles further than the ship to shore SOP restriction. Due to range, the COD was the first choice for transport, but they were all down for maintenance issues on shore. Captain Scott, CAG of Carrier Air Wing Three, tasked HSC-7 to transport the patient who was confined to a litter, on ventilation, sedated, and in need of further life-saving care. Rescue 612’s crew rushed into the bustle of the ready room to brief the known information. Other members of the squadron were still flight planning, filing appropriate paperwork, and coordinating lily pads and fuel contingency plans due to the long range required. The medical team also needed further coordination prior to transport, including switching from the primary to the secondary hospital due to the lack of available ICU beds. In the meantime, 612 planned to launch into the starboard delta to clear the flight deck for fixed-wing operations while the team made final arrangements. While spinning up, 612 received a #2 Accessory Chip Caution. With only 20 minutes to launch prior to busting the fixed-wing cycle, maintenance wasted no time pulling the detector and screening for chips. No chips were discovered, and the detector was replaced, but the caution remained. The aircraft commander decided to accept the aircraft and launch with the degradation. After establishing in the starboard delta, the crew noticed the chip caution successfully cleared. The crew would continue to wait for approximately two hours for Rotor Review #163 Winter '24
HSC-7 Helicopter on deck
the patient to be prepped. During the wait, CAG Operations, the SDO, and the Zulu Watchstander continued to coordinate potential lily pads for 612 up to Jeddah and on the return. At 1540L, 612 was cleared to land for patient onload, as well as an enroute care team with an SMT, a flight nurse, and an additional 400 lbs of medical equipment. The aircraft, outfitted with dual auxiliary tanks, refueled to 4950 lbs of gas, to which the flight deck chief commented, “That’s the most I’ve ever seen a bird take!” At this point, Jeddah was estimated to be about 260 NM away – still further than SOP allowed. However, multiple U.S .ships, including two supply ships and one destroyer, were scattered along the route and agreed to have their flight decks ready if required. Ten minutes later, 612 was off deck and flying north as “Rescue 612.” Prior to launching, the crew coordinated with other HSC7 and HSM-74 aircraft to monitor a common SATCOM channel in order to keep a steady communication flow between the aircraft and the boat. Once out of line of sight and Link-16 range, SATCOM was the only reliable way to pass information. After the exciting preplanning coordination, the transit to Jeddah was rather benign until about 50 NM from the airport. The crew accidentally transferred fuel from both auxiliary tanks rather than the forward tank thereby draining the aft tank below 100 lbs. Due to previous experience with dual auxiliary tanks, the crew knew the troubleshooting required and was on the lookout for potential vapor lock. However, it appeared no troubleshooting was necessary this time. Continuing on, struggling with ATC frequencies and communication barriers (including wrong frequencies, indiscernible accents, and non-standard terms and handling), Rescue 612 landed safe on deck in Jeddah at 44
