Grand Viraat

Naval staff that has to sail on naval ships or in submarines faces different kinds of medical or health challenges than generally faced by a common man on earth. I learnt this when I recently I did ‘sound’ for a documentary on the topic of sickness and cures related to people working on ships or submarines.

Aircraft carrier INS Viraat is a very large ship. When it sails fully staffed, it has 1500 personal on board in various capacities. It has a number of doctors, psychologists and physical instructors and trainers. Once off to other shores, it may take a few months before it touches land back again. This kind of situation may make people lonely and depressed. And there are quite a few health problems that come up due to this psychological effect on men. This ship has an about 20 bed sick bay, an operation theatre, dental care centre and X-ray facility. I noticed that stomach aches and other stomach related disease were the most common problems.  

This ship is really large and it has a huge amount of open space for taking that, all important feel good walk on the tarmac and just being under the open sky does make one feel uplifted mentally. Tarmac is a great stress reliever. There is a well equipped gymnasium too and people are encouraged to use it. The kitchen is kept very neat and the food is cooked very hygienically to avoid any sickness starting right from here. A doctor is designated to taste various dishes before the meal time is announced - every time. Staff is stays light hearted by watching films and other TV programs. They have also their own games and cultural entertainments. I guess mostly the new entrants; junior staff or mentally weak people may be succumbing to depression and its after effects.

I am sure the life on INS Viraat would be considered heaven compared to life on a submarine. The submarine that I got a chance to visit was quite small. After every 6 steps I had to either hop over something or duck under. It is all full of machines. When under water and on move; there may be a staff of not more than 25 personnel. Life here is really very different and very challenging too. It has very specialized and delicate health requirements. To get an idea, since there is no space to move around or exercise, people would be putting on too much weight. To counter this they are given a diet, low in carbohydrates. There is no fried or fatty food like butter or Ghee. In a submarine people mostly get hurt while walking in hurry. But there are much more depression related problems compared to a ship. One could easily get claustrophobic in such limited space, where there is no chance of sun light or fresh air for extended period. Only the watches can tell you whether it is day or night. Here staff is not supposed to do any cardio vascular exercises, like spot jogging, due to limited amount of Oxygen available. There is a machine on board that converts Carbon dioxide into Oxygen and that machine cannot be over loaded to exceed its capacity, at any rate. This is a very dangerous point. In war situations a submarine may not surface for weeks. So the Oxygen supply cannot be tempered with. Really, I guess this must be the most difficult defense job. And that is the reason Indian Navy does not select crew for a submarine; but the cadets have to volunteer to join it. After that there is rigorous training involving physical and mental toughness. There is just one doctor on board. The TV room is designed to convert into an operation theatre. There is a story of a Russian submarine, where the sole doctor had to operate on himself in an emergency. Due to complicated internal air pressure, use of anesthesia is not recommended for an operation.

Visiting our earlier aircraft carrier INS Vikrant (now a museum) had been my dream for very long. I knew that only a staff of that ship will be able to help me get on board. I was happy that now it was open to public, but then it was not the real thing. Then India got Viraat and this documentary project soft-landed in my lap. But I had absolutely no idea that not only I will get a chance to enter an aircraft carrier; but also a submarine. Wow!