Coincidence - Alan May [47]
Like most merchant vessels of its type, the Great Princess had no doctor onboard. Both captain and first mate had to undergo a rigorous four-week course in first aid. The ship had a small hospital room, just big enough for a bed, a washroom, and four cabinets stocked with basic medical supplies. The ship’s bible—The International Medical Guide for Ships, published by the World Health Organization and mandatory equipment on all ships—lay open on a shelf for quick reference.
Captain Than’s first thought was that Jon was having a heart attack, even though he was only twenty-seven years old. He summoned the first mate, and they went down the list of symptoms: shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, continuing severe pain on the left side. They referred to the medical guide under ”Chest pain: Associated signs.” A number of possibilities existed: coronary thrombosis, pleurisy, pneumonia, pneumothorax. They made Jon as comfortable as possible without giving any medication or fluids until further direction could be provided from a doctor via satellite radiophone at a coastal station.
Captain Than reached Dr. Patrick Herrigan at his Philadelphia office, and described the symptoms.
“Is there any coughing?” the doctor asked.
“No,” Captain Than replied.
“Any pain in the abdomen?”
“No.”
“Continuing pain in the left arm?”
“No.”
“Does he have tightness in the chest?”
“Yes. It hurts when he breathes, so he is making short gasps for air.”
“And his heart rate has been consistently high?”
“Yes.”
“Any skin discoloration?”
“Yes, his skin seems to be turning a little blue.”
“How about his back, any pain in his back?”
“Not now, but at first he had a stabbing sensation in his back on the left side.”
“All right. I want you to listen to his breathing with a stethoscope. Check the right side of his chest first, listen to a few breaths and then do the same on the left side and tell me if they sound any different.”
Captain Than got his stethoscope. He heard movement of air when he listened to the right side of Jon’s chest, but nothing on the left side.
The doctor said, “Okay, I’m ruling out a heart attack. If he were coughing it could be pleurisy or pneumonia, but he’s not, so I’m ruling those out too. Is he tall?”
An odd question, the captain thought. Jon was a little over six feet, he told him.
“Does he smoke?”
“Two packs a day.”
“What I think we’re dealing with here is spontaneous pneumothorax. It’s far more common among tall people than short, and especially if they are smokers. How far from land are you?”
“We’re about nine hundred miles from Lima—that’s almost five days.”
“No good. He needs to have the pressure in his chest relieved as soon as possible. Is there nowhere closer?”
“If I alter course, we could get to the Galápagos Islands in just under two days. We’re around four hundred miles away.”
“This man needs a chest-tube insertion right away to allow air to be released so the lung can re-expand. I’m going to contact the Automatic Major Rescue System to see if there are any ships in your area with a doctor onboard. What are your coordinates?”
Within ten minutes Dr. Herrigan was back on the satellite radiophone.
“Captain Than, there is a doctor onboard the tall ship Inspiration, which is currently a little over sixty miles from your position. His name is Dr. Elliott Williams. He is going to contact you directly in the next few minutes. I’m strongly recommending you rendezvous with the Inspiration ASAP so he can do the insertion. He has the necessary equipment onboard to do it properly once he confirms the diagnosis. If he can solve the problem with a chest-tube insertion then you can likely proceed to Lima with no further delay. Good luck.”
The radiophone soon came alive again.
“Captain Than, this is Dr. Williams on the Inspiration. We have been advised of your medical emergency and are prepared to offer assistance if you wish. We are currently