R 051900Z MAY 22 MID600051808405U FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC TO ALCOAST BT UNCLAS ALCOAST 165/22 SSIC 6010 SUBJ: ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 2022 ARMED SERVICES YMCA ANGELS OF THE BATTLEFIELD AWARD RECIPIENT 1. I am pleased to announce Health Services Technician (HS) Second Class Christian Ortega-Santiago, assigned to Coast Guard Academy, has been selected as the Coast Guard recipient for the 16th Annual Armed Services YMCA Angels of the Battlefield (AOTB) Award. AOTB is an annual award that recognizes one enlisted medical professional from each branch of the Armed Forces. a. The AOTB Award recognizes HS2 Ortega-Santiago for his acts while temporarily assigned to the CGC GLEN HARRIS (WPC-1144). In response to a distress call off the coast of Africa, and as the sole Spanish speaker aboard, HS2 Ortega-Santiago reported to the bridge to receive and translate the distress call which stated that two civilian maritime crafts with embarked refugees were in distress. CGC Glen Harris, CGC Emlen Tunnel, and CGC Thetis quickly diverted and responded to the distress call. Upon arrival, the crew found the distressed crafts heavily laden with more than 100 migrants, many of whom were hanging off the vessels in the cool water amidst seas building from 8 to 18 ft. While awaiting clearance to intervene, HS2 Ortega-Santiago leveraged his medical expertise and voiced concerns to his Commanding Officer of significant hypothermia risk and recommended prompt medical intervention of the migrants. The Commanding Officer of CGC Glen Harris concurred with HS2 Ortega- Santiago's recommendations and took immediate action to bring the migrants aboard. In preparation to receive the survivors, and as the sole on-scene medical provider, HS2 Ortega-Santiago quickly established triage stations, organized available resources, and directed the medical response for the 100 migrants. HS2 Ortega-Santiago provided sage medical recommendations that assisted with the rapid prioritized embarkation of survivors from the maritime vessels, many of whom were jumping out of their vessels into the open ocean in an effort to swim to the Coast Guard small boats. HS2 Ortega-Santiago quickly identified the three most critically ill patients who required immediate lifesaving interventions. Two of the three critically ill patients were noted to be severely hypothermic and unresponsive, and one began to seize upon being brought aboard the cutter. HS2 Ortega-Santiago took immediate lifesaving medical interventions and successfully stabilized both patients. HS2 Ortega-Santiago's actions were extraordinarily heroic, brought great credit upon the Coast Guard, and highly merit the 2022 Armed Services YMCA Angel of the Battlefield Award. b. The following enlisted medical professionals were also nominated by their Commands for this award and can take pride in their significant accomplishments during 2022:
AST2 Paul Taylor CG Air Station San Francisco AST3 Brian Gilligan CG Air Station Clearwater
2. All nominees are worthy of this recognition and will be nominated for the DHS Lifesaving award sponsored by the DHS Chief Medical Officer and the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS) Lewis L. Seaman Enlisted Award for Outstanding Operational Support. I applaud all the nominees for their accomplishments and their Commanding Officers and supervisors for taking the time to submit well-deserved nominations. I encourage all leaders to recognize their high performing enlisted medical professionals by nominating them next year for the 2023 AOTB Award. This year's awardees demonstrated outstanding professionalism in carrying out their duties. Bravo Zulu for a job very well done. 3. POC: CWO2 Luis Muniz COMDT (CG-1122), 202-475-5173, Email:Luis.A.Muniz@uscg.mil 4. RADM Dana L. Thomas, Director, Health, Safety, and Work-Life, (CG-11), sends. 5. Internet release is authorized.
This email was sent to gps_status@aus-city.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: U.S. Coast Guard · U.S. Department of Homeland Security · Washington, DC 20528 · 800-439-1420 |
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