US SAILING

Safety At Sea - Hanson Rescue Award Recipient
 
The Officers, Directors and Members of
 US SAILING
are pleased to present the
ARTHUR B. HANSON RESCUE MEDAL
to the crew of

The Spectator Boats

for the rescue as follows:

On May 26, 2001, during the first championship series race on Lake Beulah in rainy cool conditions, five race support vessels recognized major trouble simultaneously. MC scow skipper Doug Dorn sailing solo, was slumped backwards in his hiking strap with the boat dragging him, with his head underwater.

The Gun Boat arrived first, driven by Terriann Norris with crew Neal Norris and Patti Webb maneuvering into position and lifted Dorn’s head and shoulders out of the water, yet he was still in the hiking strap. The Judges Boat arrived, and Rob Hudson dove into the water to remove Dorn’s feet from the hiking straps. Dorn was then pulled onto the Gun Boat. At this point it was clear, Doug Dorn had suffered a heart attack.

CPR started immediately by the volunteers with David Porter (from the Judges Boat) and Rob Hudson who arrived on one of three Spectator Boats, alternating on the compressions and Gan Haeger (Spectator Boats) counting. Staggeringly, Doug Dorn’s father suffered a heart attack and passed away 17 years earlier while sailing on Lake Beulah. There is an annual regatta honoring Doug’s father on Lake Beulah. Rick Kent (Spectator Boats) attempted calling 911, but being from out of town, the call was answered in his hometown out of state. John Porter’s (Spectator Boats) cell phone did the same thing, but this time the Madison, WI 911 center (45 miles away) transferred the call to the professional rescue operation servicing Lake Beulah.

Terriann drove the gunboat to the Lake Beulah Yacht Club where the East Troy rescue squad met it. The rescue squad utilized an AED (automatic external defibrillator) and worked on Doug first on the gunboat, then on shore. He was taken to Lakeland Hospital and then Flight for Life airlifted to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI, a regional center for cardiac care. Doug spent approximately 4 weeks in the hospital during which he had surgery for multiple heart bypasses.

That same year in August, Doug Dorn won the first race he sailed in after this episode.

To Rick Kent, Gan Haeger , John Porter and Robert Hudson and of the Spectator Boats, for extraordinary efforts to assist a sailor, responding quickly and selflessly when needed, and working effectively as a team to achieve their goal of a life saving rescue, US SAILING is very pleased to present the Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal.

Ronald C. Trossbach
Chairman, Safety at Sea Committee
By Direction

 The Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Award was presented on August 31, 2002 at Lake Beulah Yacht Club by US SAILING Director Terry Bischoff on behalf of US SAILING.
 

Terry Bischoff.jpg (63021 bytes)

 US SAILING Director
Terry Bischoff

Rob Hudson, Nan Norris accepting for Teriann Norris and Neal Norris, her son and daughter-in law, and Jim Kutschenreuter, her son-in-law, with the Gunboat Medal, Patty Webb, Terry Bischoff, David Porter (Judges Medal), Gan Haeger, (Spectator Boat Medal), John Porter, Doug Dorn. 

Doug Dorn making his comments following the presentation of the medals. 

Photos by Susan Clayton


DETAILS:
 

Date: Saturday, May 27, 2001.
What was the weather like (wind speed, sunny)? rainy, moderate temperature not hot not cold. Typical Memorial Day Weekend weather in Wisconsin.
What type of boat was Doug sailing? MC Skow
What was the air temperature? Mid 60's
What was the water temperature? 40-55
What was Rick Kent's participation? His cell phone was used to call 911 attempt #1, John Porter’s did attempt #2
What type of boat was Terriann driving? Float boat
How did they lift Doug up onto Terriann's boat? Doug was caught in his straps and so he never went completely into the water. Rob Hudson's first actions was to get Doug's head up.
Was Doug wearing a PFD? He believes so.
Jim and David were judging, what is the name of their boat? What type of
boat is this? Small motorboat without a name
Neal, Terriann & Patti were in the gunboat, what is the name of their boat? No name
Robert and Gan were in spectator boats, what are the names of their boats? No name
What type of boats are these?
What type of boat was Rick on? What is the name of Rick's boat? Rick was on Gan's boat
How was the ambulance called (via cell phone or marine radio)? Ambulance was called via cell phone. See above. Initial 911 call on cell phone by Rick Kent ws ineffective because the cell number was a local Illinois number. John Porter's call was also ineffective because it originated in Madison, Wisconsin however 911 in Madison had the foresight to patch it through to East Troy 911 who then responded.

As a result, LBYC has contacted the East Troy 911 and learned about use of cell phones in the Lake and that the better method to respond to a situation is to radio someone who can make a local wired phone call to 911. Cell phones may not be able to call 911, they may call their local 911 number or they may be ineffective in certain parts of the Lake.

Nomination

On May 26, 2001, during the first championship series race of the season on Lake Beulah, the nominees rescued MC skipper Doug Dorn who suffered a hear attack during the race. Nominees are Jim Kutchenreuter and David Porter were judging the race. The gunboat team was nominees Neal Norris, Terriann Norris and Patti Webb. Robert Hudson and Gan Haeger were in the spectator boats.

The details are as follows: Doug suffered a heart attack. The judge’s boat and the gun boat noticed the problem at the same time. The gun boat reached him first as the judge’s boat had been anchored. At Doug’s boat, Terriann took over the gunboat, while Neal and Patti went to Doug’s aid. He is a big man (about 6 feet) and was stuck in his straps. Teriann maneuvered the boat so that Neal and Patti were able to get his head out of the water and hold his shoulders up. When Jim arrived, he was able to get Doug’s legs out of the straps. Rob Hudson had arrived at this time and went into the water to help get Doug onto the gun boat. Doug was moved to the gunboat. CPR was immediately begun with David Porter and Rob Hudson alternating on the compressions and Gan Haeger counting. Terriann drove the gunboat to the Lake Beulah Yacht Club where the East Troy rescue squad met it.

The rescue team utilized an AED (automatic external defibrillator) and worked on Doug first on the gunboat, then on shore. He was taken to Lakeland Hospital and then Flight for Life airlifted to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI, a regional center for cardiac care. Doug spent approximately 4 weeks in the hospital during which he had surgery for multiple heart bypasses. The Board of Directors of LBYC unanimously nominated these people for their "extraordinary efforts to assist a sailor, they responded quickly and selflessly when needed, and they worked effectively as a team to achieve their goal."

Nominated: Gan Haeger, Robert Hudson, Jim Kutschenreuter, Neal Norris, Teriann Norris, David Porter, John Porter, Patti Webb & Rick Kent.

Each of them have been honored by East Troy Emergency Services.

Interestingly, Doug Dorn’s father passed away 17 years ago of a heart attack while sailing on Lake Beulah.

From Lake Beulah Yacht Club’s newsletter "Mainsheet"

Beulah’s Own Comeback Kid

By Ron Clayton, Sailing Commodore

Wednesday’s MC race ended with drama that has not been seen since the first championship race of this season. Doug Dorn, who ended his last race this season horizontally, found the waters of Lake Beulah to be to his liking Wednesday when he finished first in his post recovery racing debut. But don’t think members of this fleet sailed like the gentlemen they purport to be, and made it easy for him. Doug sparred with Duane Lehnert and fleet captain Hardy Will for first place throughout the race. Milt Haeger failed to enter the fray, only because he was judging. But on the last leg of a windward leeward course, Doug found the right lift and sailed to first followed by Duane and Hardy.

Wednesday’s race was one of those rare instances when it felt good not to have won because you were so happy for the person who did win. Congratulations, Doug on behalf of the fleet, it is good to have you back on the water.


US Sailing Association
The National Governing Body for the Sport of Sailing