Sea-year interrupted by broken hand, need some advice

keelstrake

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
5
Good Morning,

Our class of 2012 engine midshipman got his right hand broken this week while on his sea year assignment and was found not fit for duty. He had finished his first of two 50-day round trips, and was coastwise starting his second.

Fortunately this is most probably an unusual occurrence, but a possible outcome for any midshipman.

He's OK, but will be in a splint for 1 week, cast for 3 weeks, and brace for another 3 weeks.

He has called his ATR and left voice messages, but has not received any 'instructions/orders' on what to do next.

Could I get some feed back from folks who have had this experience, or guidance from people who know the rules/procedures? My immediate concern (beyond him healing OK) is the possibility of being setback. If that isn't a concern, then what is normally done to make up the sea time that will be missed?

We appreciate any help the group can give us.

Many thanks.
 
keel - very sorry to read of this mishap, but glad the prognosis is good. I would suggest you contact your Parents Association President who usually has the wherewithall to contact someone at the Academy. You can check the USMMA website on the parents page for contact information. Best wishes.
 
Good Morning, ... He's OK, but will be in a splint for 1 week, cast for 3 weeks, and brace for another 3 weeks.

He has called his ATR and left voice messages, but has not received any 'instructions/orders' on what to do next.

Could I get some feed back from folks who have had this experience, or guidance from people who know the rules/procedures? My immediate concern (beyond him healing OK) is the possibility of being setback. If that isn't a concern, then what is normally done to make up the sea time that will be missed?


He will need to get that information from the Dept. Of Shipboard Training, his ATR and Capt. Albert. I'm not sure from the date and time of this email when this occured and when you son tried to call the ATR but as you know if this just happened yesterday, this is a holiday weekend for the Federal government. In addition to calling, I'm also assuming he has sent an email to the ATR, I suggest he also cc: Capt. Albert as well. All that said, they really are the only people who can give you the final answers to your questions and that probably means you both won't know definatively what is going on until this coming Tuesday/Wednsday at the earliest.

Relative to your bottom line question: If that isn't a concern, then what is normally done to make up the sea time that will be missed?

I'd say a definate "that depends" on your son's particular situation as to how many more days he needs and whether he is a third or second classman, etc. and that's why the only ones who can tell you are the Department of Shipboard Training after they consider all the details and alternatives.

I'd also suggest that he call the Academy and leave a message or talk to the on duty CDO as that officer may have an emergency contact number for someone who is on call for the Department of Shipboard Training and that might help him get in contact with someone before Tuesday at 08/09:00 EST...

Good Luck and sorry to hear about this challenge for you both.
 
Keel. I just got off the phone with the regimental officer in charge of shipboard training and he said that your midship should have the home and cell phone numbers of his ATR. If he does not I suggest he call the MOD at the academy who can help him out.

If you don't get any help there, please send me a PM and I'll see what else can be done.
 
Follow-up after contacting the ATR

Thanks to those who responded.

He talked with his ATR, who told him to see the Orthopedic Surgeon (as instructed by the E/R doctor) which is scheduled for this coming Thursday.

He is emailing all the paperwork to the ATR.

He is (was) on his first outing at sea.

If anyone has any information or experience to add, that would be great.

I will post to this thread to keep it updated so it can be of some value in the archives.

Many thanks.
 
There are many ways to make up sea days and it all depends on the number of days needed to be made up.

If there is enough days in the second sea year then he will simply stay on for those days. He can also make days up by doing trips on the Kings Pointer and a few other ways.

There is always the possibility of a set-back if there simply aren't enough days in the remaining sea years to make the time up. There is also the off chance that he will simply have graduation delayed by however many days are needed.

This does happen on a semi-regular basis and there are any number of ways to make up the needed days. The Coast Guard has a firm number of days needed and they will have to get those days no matter what by the time they are to get their license.

Simply too many variables at this time to give you a better idea of what may happen. As jasper noted the only ones who will know in the end are the ATR's.
 
D/S came up short sea days. He ended up having to forfeit a spring break and spend time on the Liberator.
 
Whose fault was that hand?

First off:
The ATRs are quiet frankly, worthless. Do not expect much out of them. I have many stories about how they made my sea year as difficult as un-necessarily possible.

Get your Cadet's hand fixed as soon as possible. Actually, more importantly, make him/her finish the sea projects. 'I got hurt' excuse is pretty worthless when he/she watches his class graduate. Have him/her email their officers to get STCW sign offs if they need to. Suck it up, acta non verba and all of that stuff.

I hurt my hand pretty badly(totally my fault) and one of my parents died while I was at sea. I finished my sea projects.

The best way to get sea days that I ever heard of was on a Staten Island Ferries. There is a significant amount of time in the second sea year to make-up sea days so unless he was a Deckie, should be okay. JUST FINISH THE SEA PROJECTS.
 
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If your son is short on sea days, he will have to make them up somehow. There are several options for that. He can do time on the Kings Pointer. During whatever vacations the midshipman get these days, he can spend that time on the Kings Pointer. He can go to sea and be on a ship on any day that he is not required to be at school.

There are a plethora of Military Sealift Command and Ready Reserve Force ships at layberth throughout the country. He can spend time on one of those. They don't go anywhere but he will get the time in.

If the ATR will not work with your son on making up his sea days, then go over his head and have the Head of Shipboard Training, the Dean, and the Superintendent explain why he cannot make up the time.

Make sure that his doctor states that he is Fit For Duty.
 
Whose fault was that hand?

First off:
The ATRs are quiet frankly, worthless. Do not expect much out of them. I have many stories about how they made my sea year as difficult as un-necessarily possible.

Get your Cadet's hand fixed as soon as possible. Actually, more importantly, make him/her finish the sea projects. 'I got hurt' excuse is pretty worthless when he/she watches his class graduate. Have him/her email their officers to get STCW sign offs if they need to. Suck it up, acta non verba and all of that stuff.

I hurt my hand pretty badly(totally my fault) and one of my parents died while I was at sea. I finished my sea projects.

The best way to get sea days that I ever heard of was on a Staten Island Ferries. There is a significant amount of time in the second sea year to make-up sea days so unless he was a Deckie, should be okay. JUST FINISH THE SEA PROJECTS.



i will agree that the projects need to be finished, however i will have to firmly disagree on the value of the ATRs.
while they sometimes have frustrating hands that they deal to the cadets, they're working on a lot of stuff and will make it right.

also, it doesn't matter whose fault the hand was. accidents happen. bottom line is he needs to get it fixed and get his stuff taken care of and i wish him the best of luck and a very speedy recovery.

if your son gets his hand fixed in the timeline they anticipate, he could be ok, but as was stated, he MAY have to give up some much cherished time at home to get his days and still graduate on time.
he will have to keep on top of stuff, but SBT will do their best to get it taken care of on their end. i will personally see to it that he doesn't get hosed.
 
...The best way to get sea days that I ever heard of was on a Staten Island Ferries...

Staten Island ferries are probably not an acceptable remedy for sea time deficiencies. The service must be on "sea-going" vessels, the ferries operate on inland waters and are not acceptable.
 


Staten Island ferries are probably not an acceptable remedy for sea time deficiencies. The service must be on "sea-going" vessels, the ferries operate on inland waters and are not acceptable.

We'll I stand corrected. Thanks.

ROS ships are the next best option. It takes some effort sometimes to get on them.

I just find it interesting who ends up claiming fault for injuries at sea.
 
Update on the NFFD and continuing the sea year

Wanted to update the thread. Hand went into a cast yesterday; stays on for 2 weeks. Then a brace for another 2-3 weeks, after which they expect a FFD.

So, he will lose from Jan 13 until appx. Feb 20 out of his first sea period. His ATR told him that they will try to get him on a Coastwise run from the time he is FFD until the classroom trimester starts. Setback does not appear to be an option at this point, and how the other days will be made up will be determined at a later date.

Once again , many thanks for those who posted. I will keep the thread updated until he is back in the classroom trimester, so folks can have a 'gauge' of what works.
 
keelstrake,

Thanks for the update on your son. I was wondering how he was doing. Please keep us posted...we may be in your shoes some day! Best of luck!
 
An update on the NFFD cadet

Good evening forum,

Just wanted to update the thread for archive sakes.

Cast came off Thursday. We asked the doctor to put an 'expected FFD' date on the paperwork, which they did as "expected return to duty is Feb 26". Contacted the ATR with the information (both by email and phone) and told him he is ready to get on a ship the day of FFD. ATR is going to try and arrange Coastwise work. He has been supportive and helpful.

Each of these permutation's of seeing the doctor involve emailing the ATR with attached doctors paperwork and faxing paperwork to Patton.

Received a special surprise in the snail mail today asking us to pay the 'co-pay' for the medical care in port. I will find out how that needs to be handled and what is the best way for a cadet to preempt receiving this stuff and post to this thread.

All the best.
 
Received a special surprise in the snail mail today asking us to pay the 'co-pay' for the medical care in port. I will find out how that needs to be handled and what is the best way for a cadet to preempt receiving this stuff and post to this thread.

1. Thanks for the update, it's great for everyone to gain the knowledge you are learning first-hand.

2. Midshipmen need to remember that for medical purposes your home address is now your KP address, preferably using Patten Hall. This will prevent parents from receiving these fun bills. I would call Patten regarding the bill they've handled this a million times in the past and as I remember it is a little bit of a pain to rectify.
 
Fit for Duty and back to sea

Hopefully :) one of the last updates to this thread.

He received his FFD on Tuesday, Feb 23. By the end of the day Wednesday his ATR had him assigned to a ship for boarding on Friday. He's at sea running the east coast.

Listen to the ATR and do what they say. Remember to fax a copy of everything to Patten.

Declare KP as your address with all the medical people you interface with.

Start your Sea Project as soon as you can. He has gone from a motor boat to a steam ship, with sea project interruptus. Not a lot of fun.

The ATR treated him very well. Nobody should expect a lot of detailed correspondence, they don't have time. But he got the who, what, and where's that were necessary immediately. His ATR certainly has my thanks.

He is going to end up with about 85 days for this go-around. I will repost to this thread and describe what happens to get him the necessary sea days.

Many thanks to those who provided information.

All the best.
 
Thanks, keelstrake, for the update!

Hoping for the best for your boy.
 
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