Back to Kushiro for a MedEvac

It was 6:00p … or so. Kushiro was three hours behind us. The sun, which had been shining into the cabin, was no longer doing so. Huh! No clouds anywhere nearby to obscure the golden orb. “Where did it go,” I thought to myself.

Just then Dottie’s voice came over the P/A to announce that the ship had turned around and was returning to Kushiro for a medical emergency involving a fellow-passenger. Or, to put it in her words, “to provide more medical care than we can do so on the ship.” Obviously a serious issue. Hoping it wasn’t a life-or-death situation, we proceeded with our plans to have dinner in the GDR with Younga and David.

Around 8:00p, the ship slowed down. We figured that perhaps the Coast Guard had sent out a boat to meet us for the MedEvac and we weren’t going all the way into Kushiro Port. We were wrong.

We finished our meal and were heading out of the GDR at 8:30p when we heard the sound of rotors. Aha! We had obviously returned far enough that we were now in chopper-range to effect the MedEvac by air. Faster, I am sure than docking to meet up with an ambulance.

By 9:00p, the patient and his wife had been transferred to the chopper and we were retracing our route away from Kushiro once again.

We send our “care thoughts” to the patient and wish him a speedy recovery.

Bye Bye Kushiro … Bye Bye Japan!Read more