Fatal fall from Coast Guard boat

[Mudpuppy Sarge]

Fatal fall from Coast Guard boat
P-I STAFF

A 25-year-old Coast Guard petty officer died of injuries he suffered in falling out of a boat during a security patrol and training mission in Puget Sound north of Vashon Island on Sunday.

The man was a crew member on a 25-foot fast-response boat of the type used to accompany ferries across Puget Sound when he "was ejected from the vessel" at about 2:15 p.m., the Coast Guard said in a statement. The vessel was one of two such boats from the Coast Guard maritime safety and security team involved in the exercise.

A third 25-foot response boat was operating in the area and came to the petty officer's aid, taking him to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. An ambulance waiting for him there rushed him to Harborview Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Coast Guard officials released no information on the cause of the man's fall, the nature of his injuries or other details. His name was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The fast-response boats are nicknamed Defenders and have become highly visible symbols of the Coast Guard's security efforts since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

[Mudpuppy Sarge]

Coast Guardsman dies in accident near Vashon Island

08:30 AM PDT on Monday, March 26, 2007

BERNARD CHOI / KING 5 News


 
KING

The Coast Guardsman was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died.

SEATTLE - A U.S. Coast Guardsman died in a fall during a security patrol near Vashon Island on Sunday.

The accident occurred at about 2:15 p.m. while the 25-year-old petty officer was aboard one of two 25-foot fast response boat crews from a Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team that were involved in a security patrol and training mission.

Somehow the man fell overboard.

"They said that they did a turn and somehow he fell off," said witness Nathan Thomas. "They didn't know how he hit his head. Somehow he hit his head so they pulled him out of the water."

Passengers waiting for the next ferry watched as an urgent rescue unfolded.

"When they finally got him onto the gurney and the paramedics took over, all the Coast Guard guys kind of got away from the scene and were hugging each other and one was crying," said Thomas.

The man was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

"Whether it's helicopter patrols, boat patrols, offshore, we're out here day and night and it's a very dangerous mission, and unfortunately today we lost one of our own," said a Coast Guard Spokesman
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_032507WABcoastguarddeathSW.17b2a99c.html

[vftb]

  cg: :  No doubt that it happened just like stated, but it must have been a freak occurance.  I thought those guys wore PFD's while on operations.  Just answered my own question; on re-reading it said that he hit his head, must have been some whollop.

[Matt]

Here is more on this tragic death:

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/11401190/detail.html

My prayers go out to PO3 Gill's family.  May he rest in peace.

[Mudpuppy Sarge]

That's awful. 

[EX-CG-GM]

You would think the medai, especially in Seattle, would know a Petty Officer ain't the same thing as an officer.

Friggin' journalists!

[BuoyJumper]

I don't know a whole lot about today's CG but I would have thought on the fast response boats the crew would have been required to wear some type of head gear.  I mean it's pretty damn easy to fall down or go air born when you go over a wave or wake at high speed.  I would have also thought the crew would have been belted into the seats to keep from being catapulted overboard from a wake.

[Mudpuppy Sarge]

You would think the medai, especially in Seattle, would know a Petty Officer ain't the same thing as an officer.

Friggin' journalists!

The media doesn't even know what the Coast Guard is, let alone how the rates work out.

[vftb]

I don't know a whole lot about today's CG but I would have thought on the fast response boats the crew would have been required to wear some type of head gear.  I mean it's pretty damn easy to fall down or go air born when you go over a wave or wake at high speed.  I would have also thought the crew would have been belted into the seats to keep from being catapulted overboard from a wake.

  What he said.

[Mudpuppy Sarge]

It'd make too much sense, that's not the DOD way.

[LTGunner]

RIP Shipmate... 

Defender Class Response Boat:



RB-S DEFENDER CLASS RESPONSE BOAT (FOR RELEASE) (April 15, 2003)--The new Coast Guard Defender Class Response boat, the 25-foot RB-S, is out on a trial run. The new "Defender Class" boats will replace nearly 300 non-standard shore based boats and provide a standarized platform for the Coast Guard's new Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSST) which were established as a result of the September 1th terrorist attacks. USCG photo by LT Rich Condit

[EX-CG-GM]

You would think the medai, especially in Seattle, would know a Petty Officer ain't the same thing as an officer.

Friggin' journalists!

The media doesn't even know what the Coast Guard is, let alone how the rates work out.

Good point.  I think the first a lot of them learned about the CG was during Katrina.  Now they think all we have are helicopters.   

Too bad too.  Every year we lose a few of our shipmates while performing our jobs.

[vftb]

Every year we lose a few of our shipmates while performing our jobs.

  There's more truth to the old Guard saying than people realize; "You have to go out, no one said you have to come back".

[BuoyJumper]

Here is a pic of the 25421 (which I think is the boat Ron Gill was on) making a sharp turn coming about after escorting the Seattle Ferry to its berth.  From what I read it sounds like the 25-footer was making a turn just like this one when he fell overboard.  After looking at any photos I could find of the 4 man boat crews for the 25's, it appears that the crews are required to wear life jackets but no type of head gear.  In some of the underway photos you can see some crew walking around.  Perhaps some changes will be forth coming to prevent something like this happening again. R.I.P. shipmate, my prayers are with your wife and family.

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[sardaddy]

I must say it was the last thing I expected to hear when I came into duty Monday morning. Especially in our own AOR. My heart goes out to his family and coworkers.