Busy Night for US Navy’s Raptors

Crews from the Raptors of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 71 performed two back-to-back emergency medical transports of sailors aboard USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110).

Both lifts happened during the ship’s transit from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to San Diego, USA on October 14. HSM-71 medically evacuated one sailor in response to symptoms of appendicitis.

The crew prepared the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and worked with ship’s hospital corpsmen for transport to the Naval Medical Center San Diego.

As the standing search and rescue watch team for the night, HSM-71 later responded again for another sailor aboard USS William P. Lawrence with heart attack-like symptoms. The crew flew the Sailor to the Naval Medical Center San Diego.

The roughly 300 Sailors assigned to the “Raptors” of HSM-71 currently support Carrier Strike Group 3.

The MH-60R and its sibling, the MH-60S Sierra, have flown more than 650,000 hours across a 500+ aircraft fleet.

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Image: US Navy