Seagoing USCG Docs PDF
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I'm Not a Doctor, but I Play One at Sea... MIAMI (Reuters) - Suspecting a group of Cuban migrants feigned illness at sea to avoid repatriation, the U.S. Coast Guard (news - web sites) said on Wednesday it is training and equipping patrols off the Florida Keys to better diagnose true medical emergencies. Under the U.S. government's "wet foot/dry foot" policy, undocumented Cuban migrants who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay, regardless of how they get there. Those intercepted at sea are returned to Cuba. Coast Guard officials said that as they approached a boat full of Cubans off the Keys last week, they saw the migrants take pills that caused some to faint, vomit and become disoriented. Hours after they were brought ashore for hospital treatment, the migrants "made an incredibly quick recovery," raising suspicion they had feigned illness, said Bret Workman, a Coast Guard spokesman in Key West. As a result, the Coast Guard will supply its smaller patrol boats with medical equipment, including devices that read blood sugar levels, pulse and blood pressure. Crew members will have phone access to medical professionals who can offer second opinions, he said. "Crew members will be trained to do different simple tasks that don't require medical expertise to determine that an individual is not faking their medical condition," Workman said. He said the 90-mile boat trip across the Florida Straits from Cuba is dangerous and those inflicting injury on themselves make the situation worse. "Our primary concern is for individual safety, even if someone's life is at risk due to a self-inflicted injury," he said. Workman said the Coast Guard was having a busy year. Since October, 466 Cuban migrants had made landfall and 568 were intercepted at sea and repatriated. Thu Mar 20, 7:48 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!
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