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.
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