THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512130566
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Chief Katie Marlatt says the worse thing about her job as leading chief of the area's only naval hospital emergency room is ``only being 31 years old and having 69 kids.'' Marlatt is responsible for training, disciplining and supervising nearly 70 hospital corpsmen, whose average age is 23.
``But what's good about the job,'' she added, ``is that I have the chance to do for them what was done for me right here in this same hospital when I was 19 years old: I can be a role model, and I can encourage them.''
Marlatt describes her typical day, 6:30 a.m. until about 4 p.m., as mostly administrative. But she also describes herself as ``driven, high-energy, proactive rather than reactive, someone who likes to put out fires.''
Those traits probably developed, she said, in her last assignment, where her training as an independent duty corpsman was put to the test every day. Marlatt was the sole source of medical care for a crew of 300 on the frigate Donald B. Beary.
While she was in that job, she saw seven major medical emergencies in a single three-month cruise. The worst was a case of advanced appendicitis.
``I sat with him 32 hours straight, living on caffeine, nicotine and adrenaline.''
While independent duty corpsmen are usually called ``Doc,'' because they are the only medical personnel on board, they are not physicians. Their job, in an emergency such as the case of appendicitis, Marlatt said, ``is to make a quick identification, then treat the patient until you can get him off the ship and into a hospital.''
Marlatt has followed in her dad's footsteps. He is a retired senior chief independent duty corpsman. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Photo
ON THE JOB
Chief Katie Marlatt, 31
Job: Independent duty corpsman
Duty station: Leading chief of emergency room, Portsmouth Naval
Medical Center
Years in military: 13
by CNB