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Day minus 3
My last day at work turned out to be a disaster. Not for me perhaps but a disaster. Let me explain. All last night I was sick, I staggered into work this morning with the intention of tying a few loose ends and disappearing off home to pack and die quietly. My general managers girl friend was in Zanzibar with her parents and he asked if he could join them. Sure, I said, nothing is happening here. We have a last meeting with the Zanzibar Government officers and then Ben left.
Then an hour later the radio crackled:
"Swahili divers, Swahili divers Swahili divers, this is Foxtrot we have a diving emergency over"
"This is Swahili Divers go ahead over"
"We have a diver who is not breathing, and is unconscious, can you assist over"
"Of course, what help would you like"
"I don't know yet, "
"Well find out the exact nature of the emergency, find out the divers position, find out his name and his dive profile and get back to me over"
And so the afternoon began. It was 1312hrs. I ignored my gut and telephoned the Dar es Salaam Base of Frontier. Frontier is a research organization in Pemba based in London.
"Swahili Divers this is Frontier, can you deploy your fast boat, we have a casualty that is unconscious and not breathing off Misali Island"
"Negative Frontier, my boat is being repaired, it will take me 20 minutes to get her into the water, can I make some phone calls to see if an aircraft is available over"
"Yes please” I picked up the phone and called various airlines, Doctors, Frontier's base in Dar es Salaam and sent Ali the deputy manager into town if there was a doctor in Chake Chake.
He came back breathlessly. "No Doctor in Chake, boss, no oxygen but they are ready"
"Frontier, this is Swahili Divers, you will need to evacuate your casualty to Dar es Salaam or Mombassa, there is no Doctor in Chake over"
"Raf, this is Dave, the casualty is Paulo" I stopped breathing, the Diving officer himself was injured "But he's started breathing"
"Thank f**K for that" I muttered but did not broadcast.
"Swahili Divers this is James from Fundu Lagoon, I understand that you have an emergency, do you need assistance?"
"James, Raf, wait out"
I had the phone pressed to my ear. "Raf we have an aircraft" said Lance the ops manager of Zanair "The pilot can fly at 1500ft"
I had to tread carefully. Frontier had a highly competent evacuation plan, but having no phone hampered them. I asked their permission to book planes and talk to doctors and suggested that they brought Paulo to town.
"Do you want me to send my Landrover Over?"
"Yes please, this is not a diving emergency, it is a snorkeling near drowning accident."
"Right that's good news, I will send the Landy now"
Mzee my driver made the one-hour journey in 20 minutes, he collected the diver and his medical attendees and brought them back in 25 minutes.
This was my chance to see the Frontier Staff and Volunteers firsthand. They acted in an exemplary manner. I have had my differences with their organization in the past, but all of them seemed very calm. Paulo was by this stage talking and sucking on an Oxygen cylinder.
As we waited for Doctors to call back from Italy Dar and Zanzibar Paulo started chatting.
"What did you think?” I asked him "when you snagged on the line and ran out of breath"
"I thought this is really stupid"
"Yeah I know that feeling" and we had a chuckle in the office.
Soon though the phones started ringing and Paulo went to lie down and breathe more oxygen. Finally the doctors agreed on Dar es Salaam as an Insurance company agreed to pay for the Evac flight.
"Lance, Raf, the destination is Dar"
"Right Dar es Salaam, I understand, ETA of Aircraft is 1730 hrs"
"Raf, this is Carl (the boss of Zanair), Alpha Lima is airborne, get to the airport now."
We sorted out the final details and raced to the airport. Paulo's condition seemed fine, but the airport closed at 6pm and his friends wanted to get him to Dar for observation. At Chake aerodrome Captain Leela was waiting with Alpha Lima, a Cessna 404. The seats had been torn out at Dar in record time.
"Raf, I thought you were involved" He smiled.
"Nothing to do with Swahili Divers, I'm just helping"
"Ahhh" He smiled again.
"Hey can you fly at 1000ft, this guy was diving earlier today"
"Sure no problem, I had to fly to Mombassa once at 500ft"
Captain Leela was a young pilot but extremely experienced. He had trained in the highlands of Ethiopia and was a friend of mine. "I suppose I shouldn't fall asleep at the controls" He joked. Paulo looked a bit funny when he said this.
"Don't worry, Leela is the king of low level flying” I re-assured them. We watched the plane take off and I drove the Frontier chaps back to the base.
"Thanks Raf, " Said Andy
"Hey no problem, this is my last day of work"
"Oh yeah. Well have a good trip....................."
JUST IN CASE ANYTHING IS LOST IN THE STORY TELLING I WOULD LIKE TO STATE THAT THE GUYS FROM FRONTIER DID A GREAT JOB.
ACCIDENTS HAPPEN TO ALL OF US.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO
LANCE, CAPT CARL, CAPTAIN LEELA, AND LIZELLE OF ZANAIR.
ALL THE STAFF AT CHAKE CHAKE AERODROME.
DIVE INSTRUCTOR JAMES OF FUNDU LAGOON.
THE RANGERS AT MISLALI ISLAND.
AND TO PAULO FOR DRAGGING ME OUT OF THE MISERY OF MY ILLNESS ON MY LAST DAY AT WORK.
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