I received this from a friend of mine recently. He is currently deployed on a naval vessel. I have redacted a few details to provide some privacy to the individual involved, but otherwise left it unedited. I present it without comment.
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Something happened out here the other day that really gave me a lot to think about. [A few days ago] we were sleeping at around 2 am, when the alarm went off for a Man Overboard; since none was scheduled for that night, it was obviously the real deal. As the whole boat rushed to our mustering stations, still only about half awake, we were told that a strobe, which is worn on the flight deck uniform, was seen flashing in the water. About 10 minutes into the muster we then heard over the 1MC (Loudspeaker) that there was a medical emergency in the [deleted] berthing. We all just thought that someone had slipped or tripped and fell. But as the muster continued and we found that the entire boat was accounted for, we thought that maybe someone had dropped their strobe in the water and not wanted to say anything. So we all just dragged back to bed grumbling about having to wake up and muster for what was no more than a drill.
Yesterday we were informed that a [crewmember] had attempted to commit suicide by taking the majority of a bottle of sleeping pills, hence the medical emergency. When [he/she] wasn't at muster they sent someone to go get [the crewmember, who] was found unconscious in [his/her] rack. They rushed [him/her] to medical and flew [him/her] off the boat to the hospital in Hawaii the next day. Had it not been for the man overboard, [he/she] would have died. I can only hope [he/she] takes advantage of this chance given [him/her].
Oh and did I mention that all of the flight deck strobes were accounted for when an inventory was taken?
Can you really believe it was a coincidence that at that specific time a strobe was spotted and a man overboard was called? Something for put some thought into wouldn't you say? I sure am, that's why I'm sending this to you all.
posted on February 13, 2005 09:00 AM
