KL7RRC/P Need doctor help

Oh, c'mon, Ed. Somebody out there has to have a UHF-linked, CAT-controlled HF radio that could be used for HF EMCOMming via a repeater. Or, one tuned to 14.300USB that could be parked on an Echolink node as well, so that licensed hospital professionals that are confined to their computers could still participate.

Yep. Ann Coulter would label anyone saying such a celebrating pinko Commie and ignore them.

 

Oh, Well ....

Guess you STILL don't understand where they were ... enough said ..... Kinda like we were last year out on NA-239 ...... Where the Bears chased us off the Island ....

 

I doubt that anyone here questions where they were. Or, that there were other means to reach help. Likely AR was the only way.

Did they consider what they'd need to do, in case of such a need ahead of time? If they had, the MMSN on 14.300 would have been instantaneous assistance. Someone is always listening there.

Glad whoever answered them or heard their call got help on its way.

 

Alaska Emergency Frequency

What ever happened to 5.1675 mhz? I thought that this was the Alaska Fixed Service frequency which is used in Alaska for emergency assistance. Isn't this frequency used and monitored by maritime and aeronautical operators?

I think that most modern ham transceivers have this spot frequency programmed in for emergencies. I checked several of mine and they all have it.

It certainly sounds as if the guys on this expedition are seasoned operators. Why wouldn't they use the statewide emergency frequency instead of 20 meters?

Maybe some of you guys in Alaska can enlighten us....is 5.1765 actually used? Is it like LORAN a relic? Does the Coast Guard, maritime, and aeronautical services monitor this frequency?

 

I think the main issue with getting a response is propagation. Alaskan stations aren't exactly the easiest stations to hear in the populated portions of the U.S.

Another problem as I see it is how limited or effective the assistance given could have been.

While I have 10 years background working the front lines in an ER, (Nursing Dept.) and would have been glad to have offered my assistance, I am afraid the people at the DXpedition probably don't know how to measure respirations or a pulse rate nor could they have told me if the pulse was irregular, thready or if the chest sounds were raspy, rales, rhochi like etc.

I am pondering what treatment options could I have suggested over a two way radio other than offer comfort measure advice. Even if I had a complete vital signs assessment, what would I do with that information? What good would it do if there's no way to inject them with cardiac drugs or a way to start IV therapy?

Hopefully someone there would have Nitrospray or tabs and if not, then what?

If they went into full cardiac arrest, I suppose I could instruct them how to maintain the airway, (no one would be able to intubate them though - tracheotomy using a ballpoint pen? ) or teach them how to perform CPR, how to monitor for signs of aspiration and recommend seeking transport to the nearest EMS facility.

The point is you are extremely limited in terms of providing emergency assistance using two way radio equipment and you can't teach people how to do things very well that way. I will certainly have to give this some additional thought in the future. I guess even though I worked in an ER, I am afraid I probably wouldn't be a very good 911 operator.

With the technology we have in our ranks today, I am somewhat surprised no one thought of patching the radio communications from the DXpedition directly through to an EMS facility. Guess, I wasn't there so I don't know how things happened exactly.

My Best.

 

As I pointed out in an earlier post here, the MMSN on 14.300 MHz would have been the most expeditious way to get a response to a "MAYDAY" or other call for emergency assistance.
I'd think (or hope) that "well seasoned" hams would have chosen that avenue for a call for help, rather than some "random" 20 Meter frequency.

 

Funny how things actually get done without the MMSN.

 

Small DXpeditions like this often have little to no medical experience and are totally dependent on others. I remember there was a Chilean IOTA DXpedition a couple years ago. The van with all the users ran off the road and they had some pretty serious injuries. Took several ambulances and airlifts to get them out.

On the other hand, most major DXpeditions - the type with 10 or 20 ops on a remote island - always will have a ham on the DXpedition who is a licensed MD. They may not be a cardiac specialist, but they're all fully qualified to deal with emergencies - falls, cuts, cardiac situations, etc.

Of course, even then, it may be not much help. Many will remember the YX0A expedition from 2006. On the first day - after hours of setup in the heat - YV5LIX collapsed and died on the spot. The expedition had a doctor on the team (and the Venezuelan military outpost on the island had personnel and equipment as well). But, there was nothing that could be done. Jose was with us one second, then gone the next.

 

The best frequency is whatever the expedition was able to contact someone.

The Monday morning quarterbacking negatively criticising is pathetic.

b.

 

I have no doubt the MMSN on 14.300 MHz would have responded and known how to seek Alaskan assistance IF THEY COULD HERE THE DXpedition people. However, a lot of the base stations affiliated with the MMSN have directional antennas, and unless they were pointed at that Island I doubt they would have heard them. And even then, a lot of the morning stations are in the NE and mid-West. Best case scenario would have been a West Coast ham with a beam pointing at the DXpedition, which is highly unlikely to have occurred on 14.300. A DXpedition is on a set of published frequencies for hams to monitor and contact them on, I think that is the best frequency for them to use--that is, wherever they told people they would be.

This GD forum never ceases to sicken me. I'm ashamed to call many of the posters in this thread hams. It never fails that whatever is posted will be twisted around by a bunch of jackasses who think they know every damn thing in the world. I think about 90% of the threads, if not more, reflect this through the postings of contentious, malicious, self-proclaimed know it alls who seem to have nothing better to do than argue any point and flame any body simply for the sport of it. Ham rado should be about our hobby, helping others in our hobby and through our hobby. It should not be the "old farts with attitude" hobby it has become. Some of you make Channel 19 in the 11m band look like a Sunday School class.

 

This is just the kind of attitude that accomplishes nothing and criticizes a group who devote a lot of time to helping those who may be in need.

In order to overcome propagation issues, it takes a number of diversely located stations. On the MMSN net, the few times I've listened to it (and I don't get on 20M at all) I've heard folks all over the US and internationally pass the baton. Lots of ears from many different places. A similar approach is applied to AFMARS' phone patch network below 14MHz.

Now granted, a DXpedition usually has decent publicity with DXers. But, taking a chance on someone's life by using their frequency at any given time compared to one that is used to listen for weak signals and those in need
is not good judgement.

If you want to gamble, take a ride on a riverboat casino. Greater odds that someone who hears you on the MMSN would know where/who to call to summon aid more quickly than a DX station in a foreign country. And, as someone pointed out, there is a frequency in Alaska on 5MHz that is used for calling in the event of an emergency. That might have worked also.

 

Here? I think you meant **hear**. I've monitored MMSN enough to know that there are usually a half dozen stations distributed so that some can hear the west, east and south coasts of the US satisfactorily. Also, international stations monitor as well.

In amateur radio, we refer to an operator's home station as a 'fixed' station. Base station is Part 95 lingo. Yeah, I'm an old guy and still use 'handle' or 'name' and not 'personal' that I hear more and more, which is just more CB convert garbage.

Lots of people with dipoles and inverted vee antennas also listen.

Again, not correct since most listening for a DXpedition would not be US stations, but foreign stations who happened to hear of the DXpedition. I don't know propagation on 20M too well, but listening to aeronautical mobile phone patches mid morning a few times, I'd guess propagation might be about 2000 miles, so CA might have been the best, but admittedly, who in CA is likely shooting DX in that direction mid morning on 20M?

Apparently, you have some personal experience with Channel 19. Criticism, if it's constructive, can serve to make things better the next time for someone else. Your railing away here only reveals your bitterness toward those who entered the hobby long before you did when it was much more of a challenge. And, who may know a great deal more about the hobby than you or I do with my 49 years-worth of being licensed come this December. And, I suppose my responses (this one in particular) reflect my contempt for exCBers who bring along their habits and behavior. Not much different, and it doesn't help anyone learn from this event how more expedient assistance could be had by someone else in need in the future.

Thank God, Merle wasn't seriously in need of medical attention after all. And, that alternatives to just sitting on an unnoccupied frequency and yelling the international distress signal have been aired so others who don't know of them may learn. I'd hesitate to think a QRZ posting of an emergency by a foreign ham, (that was reviewed and approved by a moderator who took no other action with it) that had no response for about 4 hours is a good way to summon aid. We should all understand it is a very poor way. (No criticism of Paul, K7IN intended as I would have done the same thing if I had seen it before he had. But, HEAVY CRITICISM of Fred's Moderator staff intended) So, in the spirit of sharing our experience, we offer constructive criticism of the approach used by the DXpedition team.

One added comment. I know what Fred's moderators are going to say in defense of taking no action. "We didn't know if it was legit." Well, how many lives would be lost if the Coast Guard ignored what they thought might be false calls on maritime Channel 16 or 2182kHz USB? Paul picked up the baton, as I would have, when I saw the posting, but noted that he was/had taken action.



73.

 

"This GD forum never ceases to sicken me. I'm ashamed to call many of the posters in this thread hams. It never fails that whatever is posted will be twisted around by a bunch of jackasses who think they know every damn thing in the world. I think about 90% of the threads, if not more, reflect this through the postings of contentious, malicious, self-proclaimed know it alls who seem to have nothing better to do than argue any point and flame any body simply for the sport of it. Ham rado should be about our hobby, helping others in our hobby and through our hobby. It should not be the "old farts with attitude" hobby it has become. Some of you make Channel 19 in the 11m band look like a Sunday School class.
__________________
73 de w5jck "


I you get so sick of reading posts on "this GD forum", I would just point you to the door, and ask that you don't let it hit your backside on the way out!

Since I am the one who first brought up the issue of whether the DXpeditioners did things the right way, or not, I take great exception to being called one of "a bunch of jackasses"!

There are LOTS of us on this forum who have made a lifetime avocation of operating amateur radios, and learning and TEACHING everything we can about the BEST WAY to do things involving the Amateur Radio Service. We have sincere questions about what is the right way and what is the wrong way to do things related to the avocation. We are NOT a BUNCH OF JACKASSES!

I see from your bio, that you are involved with a Coast Guard floatilla. How much do they teach you about ham radio operation in that unit ? How much have you learned in the few years you have been licensed as a ham? I bet not as much as some of us old "jackasses who think they know every damn(sic) thing in the world" have in the 20 or more years that we have had our tickets.

Another thing that we "contentious, malicious, self-proclaimed know-it-alls who seem to have nothing better to do than argue any point and flame any body simply for the sport of it" have learned, is that it is NOT POLITE to call others "jackasses" and make highly derogatory remarks about us, such as the one I quote in this sentence. Some of us get HIGHLY OFFENDED by such personal attacks.

 

hope the gentleman makes it ok 73s from scotland, glasgow

 

U.S COAST GUARD ALASKA RESPONSE CENTER

907-463-2000 SEVENTEENTH COAST GUARD DISTRICT
JUNEAU,ALASKA


FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO NEED THIS NUMBER,IT IS ACTIVE.

The USCG Rescue Coordination Centers List is available at:

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg534/RCC_numbers.asp

Hope this is helpful!

73,
WB7TNE