It is 13:20 p.m. on Thursday, February XNUMX, when the coordinator of the SNSM of Saint-Martin receives a call from one of the station's members.
He works on a local charter boat and is in Anguilla with clients, when one of them is seriously injured in the heel by jumping off a cliff and landing on a reef.
He swims back to the boat, where the crew and his family help him get back on board. As the blood flows profusely, they put on a compression bandage, then a second, and make him put the leg up; but it continues to bleed.
The SNSM coordinator advises him to alert the CROSS on channel VHF 16, to trigger the SNSM of Saint-Martin officially for an EVASAN (medical evacuation); then he calls the on-call team members to quickly train a crew.
The Rescue Star sets sail at 13:33 pm, with four crew members on board, including the coordinator who is himself a nurse.
Appointment is given in Maunday's Bay, in front of Cap Juluca, where the charter catamaran has anchored, in peace, in order to facilitate the transfer of the injured.
The weather is nice, with 15 knots of wind and a small swell of 1m, and the Rescue Star arrives in the area 20 minutes later. She joins the catamaran; the nurse goes on board for a first assessment and confirms that the patient must be taken to the hospital as soon as possible.
At 14:15 p.m. the injured person was transferred to the Rescue Star, along with his parents; the other family members stay on board the catamaran and can continue to enjoy this beautiful day in the company of the skipper and the sailor.
The Rescue Star heads for Marigot Bay where an appointment is given with the fire brigade ambulance to take the patient to the Louis-Constant Fleming hospital center.
At 14:39 p.m., the injured man got into the ambulance with his mother, followed by a taxi by his father.
Then the rescuers at sea go to fill up with their sponsor, Delta Petroleu, as usual, after each trip they top up the tanks in order to be immediately available if they have to go out for another mission, on CROSS call . Then the Rescue Star joined its berth at 15 p.m. End of mission. The volunteer team members return to their respective professional occupations which they interrupted a few hours earlier to go to the rescue of a victim.
We later learned that the patient had a broken heel, that he had received about ten stitches, but that he was able to return to the hotel the same evening.
EVASANs by the SNSM are always free, because a life is priceless. But the patient and his family were so happy with the services and care rendered by the charter boat and by the SNSM volunteers that they made a big donation to the crew of the charter boat as well as to the SNSM station. from Saint-Martin to thank them for their services. Knowing that the rescue station of Saint-Martin lives only thanks to private donations to finance its nautical means and its operation, this kind of gesture is always appreciated.
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