SA: Yacht rescue hero says it was a team effort

AAP General News (Australia)
04-02-2000
SA: Yacht rescue hero says it was a team effort

By Toni Jupe

ADELAIDE, April 2 AAP - Paramedic Pat Stevenson is a reluctant hero.

He's flattered that he might be nominated for a bravery award after plucking 12 people
from capsized yacht Doctel Rager off the South Australian coast on Friday night.

But any bravery award would have to be shared with the three other men on the helicopter
used in the five-hour rescue operation, he said.

It was a "team effort", insisted the 31-year-old from the northern Adelaide suburb
of One Tree Hill who has been an ambulance officer for 12 years, the last four as a paramedic.

The others on the helicopter were pilot Jack Kinross, also of Adelaide, co-pilot John
Zeig of Perth and winch operator/air crewman Terry Wilkinson, of Sale in Victoria.

All three men are employed by Lloyds Helicopters.

Although it was his first at-sea rescue, Mr Stevenson said he felt well-prepared by
the "pretty intense" training he and the nine other SA Ambulance Special Operations Crew
received.

"I was involved when a light aircraft ditched off Kangaroo Island a couple of weeks
ago, although another officer did the actual rescue on that one," he said.

"We're all in awe of the two paramedics who did the Sydney-to-Hobart rescues in 1998.

"One of them came over to Adelaide to talk to us about his experiences, but this has
highlighted the fact that it is real."

The rescue had been a success because of the combined skills of all of those on board
the Lloyds Sikorsky, which happened to be in Adelaide for refurbishment before going back
to Perth, Mr Stevenson said.

"Everyone did an exceptional job, it was a team effort," he told AAP today.

"Particularly the winch operator, because my life is entirely in his hands, and therefore
(so are) the lives of the people I'm bringing up."

Well rested after sleeping off the exhaustion of Friday night's dramatic rescue, Mr
Stevenson told how, after arriving at the disaster scene about 10pm (CST), his first task
was to count the people clinging to the stricken yacht's upturned hull.

"The conditions were extremely difficult," he said.

"It was dark, very windy and misty and the yacht was only 20 metres from a 200-foot (70m) cliff.

"I was so relieved when I counted all 12 people to be accounted for."

Contrary to initial reports, there were no children involved, but several were in their
early 20s, Mr Stevenson said.

The survivors were cold, distressed and struggling to hold on to the rope they had
tied around the boat, but otherwise relatively calm, he said.

In all, he was lowered 12 times, bringing up the survivors, five women and seven men,
in two groups.

He didn't know it at the time, but one of those he rescued, 40-year-old Adelaide man
Peter Stevens, had a serious chest injury, suspected to be cracked ribs.

"Each time I dropped down I went towards the nearest person, explained what was going
to happen, that they had to put their arms down and that the first time the winch started
up it would be quite a jolt," Mr Stevenson said.

"It was very noisy with the wind and helicopter, but most made typical comments like
`boy, I'm happy to see you'.

"Looking back it all seemed to go so quickly, there wasn't time to think about anything
other than getting the job done."

Mr Stevenson, who was a world champion trampolinist at 16, said the concentration and
flexibility learned in that sport came in handy in his demanding job.

"We're required to keep fit for the job of course, but working weekends doesn't leave
time for structured sport," he said.

"I hope to be working in this job for a few years yet, it's what I'm trained to do," he said.

AAP tj/bdm/br

KEYWORD: RESCUE PAT (CARRIED EARLIER)

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