Jeremy Pickard-Arkansas Orthodontics Tech Support

Recently the Weather Channel traveled to Sitka, Alaska to film a re-enactment of a Coast Guard air rescue.  It will air sometime at the beginning of March, 2006 as a feature on “Storm Stories.”  We thought it would be a great time to do a feature on air rescue for you…who knows, some of you guys and gals might be interested in a career in the United States Coast Guard!

The Coast Guard has many assets in its air and sea fleet.  This is the “HH60 Jayhawk” helicopter and is the same kind as the military Black Hawk helicopters…only it is configured for search and rescue.  There are only nine air stations that house the “60” helicopters and Sitka, Alaska is one of them. Jeremy Pickard, Dr. and Mrs. Pickard's son is the flight mechanic on this $18.5 million baby!

There are four team members on each flight: the pilot and co-pilot, the flight mechanic and the rescue swimmer.  While the pilot and co-pilot are busy with the operation of the helicopter, the flight mechanic and the swimmer manage the actual rescue.  The swimmer is hoisted with a “bare hook” from the helicopter by the flight mechanic. He is the first one to come in contact with the victim, whether the rescue is on land or over water.  In Sitka, many of the rescues are in the mountains and on glaciers.

A great deal of trust and teamwork is involved in a rescue.  The flight mechanic, that's Jeremy Pickard, hangs out of the cabin perpendicular to the aircraft in a 3:00 position.  He is secured to the aircraft by a gunner’s belt, and both the swimmer and the victim trust the fight mechanic to hoist them safely up and into the aircraft.  The pilot and co-pilot hold the craft in a hover position with its nose into the wind. The swimmer relays messages to the flight mechanic so that he can, in turn, give complete forward and aft conning commands to the pilot so that they can affect the rescue safely. 

The rescue swimmer secures the victim in the rescue basket and signals for him to be hoisted.  If you watched the aftermath of Katrina, you saw this scenario replayed time after time. The Coast Guard, with air and water rescues combined, brought 35,000 people to safety in the aftermath of the hurricane!

When the victim approaches the helicopter in the basket, the flight mechanic [Jeremy] pulls him safely inside the aircraft.  He then sends the hook [or sometimes, the basket] back down for the swimmer and pulls him safely inside.  The rescue swimmers in Alaska are trained in EMT3 procedures and they work closely with hospitals and other medical facilities to bring the victims quickly to a medical evaluation.

This victim is able to move on his own with help from the swimmer, right, and the flight mechanic, left.  The flight mechanic on the left, of course, is Dr. P’s son, Jeremy…which is why we had the pictures in the first place!

Jeremy became interested in search and rescue when he volunteered for the Benton County Search & Rescue Team while he was still a student at John Brown University. He also volunteered for the Sitka "mountain rescue team" the first time he was stationed there.  The Coast Guard offers him the chance for an exciting career that serves and helps people in need and is ALWAYS full of action!

If you would like to learn more about the Coast Guard, click on this link OR e-mail Jeremy.