Update

Yes, I am still around! I've just been busy. Went to Dallas for the HHS Training Summit on April 3rd, and got back on April 8th. And I hit the ground running ever since! I worked my day job on the 9th, and then worked opening day for the Sacramento Rivercats (I work as an EMT there during baseball season). Worked the ballpark Friday night, worked in Salinas on Saturday, then back to the ballpark Sunday... then Monday, it was back to work at the day job again! And this week, I got to pack up my cubicle (Its amazing the crap I have accumulated at work in 2.5 years), as we are moving people around in the building. Me? I am moving 3 cubes over to the west... Along with packing, we were interviewing students this week for 3 positions. Whew!

Going back to the training summit, I think I learned more at this summit than the ones from 2004-2008. 2003 was a big learning curve for me (First National Disaster Medical Service (NDMS) conference I attended), but this one... wow! Advanced airway management, ultrasound technique, providing medical on trains during evacuations, and more. Suffice it to say I learned A LOT. This was not a "kick-back" conference by any means. It also reinforced my belief that I have chosen the right path to serve my country as well as a member of my DMAT in the NDMS. This conference allowed a lot of us to express our condolences in person to members of TX-4 DMAT, who lost their unit commander Ozro Henderson, as well as to mourn. Ozro was also in Dallas last year when we were staged for Hurricane Ike to make landfall.  He died shortly after. I wrote about him in a previous post.

Yes, I also had fun. Got to meet up with my good friend Barbara from NJ-1 DMAT, and also the ICE (Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement) folk that watched over us in Houston during Hurricane Ike. I even scored a cool coin from them. Had our usual sister team meeting/dinner with CA-6, which is also a lot of fun! But, I was glad to get back here to Sacramento, even with all the running!

Now, onto some not-so-fun stuff... my ankle appears to be getting worse. Maybe it is just "overuse", but late Sunday, it started hurting BAD. Swelled up pretty good as well. I treated it aggressively, applying the RICE formula (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). It has calmed down a lot, but today is the first day I have even dared to walk around the house, let alone working, without a support on it. It made me think that perhaps it is time to revisit my doc about it, and the possibility of surgery to reconstruct my ankle sooner than later. I just don't want to be out of commission for 4 months... I might not have much choice.

For My Paramedic Friends Who Have Passed On

The medic stood and faced God.

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his uniform was clean,

He'd gotten dressed kind of fast.

"Step forward now, paramedic.

How shall I deal with you?

Have you always turned the other cheek?

To my church have you been true?"

The medic squared his shoulders and said,

"No Lord I guess I ain't,

cause those of us who wade in blood,

can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,

and at times my talk was tough.

And at times I've been violent,

cause the streets are awful rough.

But I never took a penny

that wasn't mine to keep...

although I worked a lot of overtime,

when the bills got far too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,

though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God forgive me,

I wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place

among the people here.

They never wanted me around,

except to calm their fears.

If you have a place for me, Lord,

It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't I understand."

There was silence all around the throne,

where saints had often trod.

As there medic waited quietly

for the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, paramedic.

You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on heavens streets.

You've done your time in hell."

I have posted this to honor those paramedic and EMT friends of mine who have passed away, including my original mentor, Jesse Abrams, and most recently, Ozro Henderson, Team Commander of DMAT TX-4, who passed away yesterday:

Please say a prayer for his family, friends, and for his team.

Note: I did not write this. I would love to know who the author is, to give this incredible person appropriate credit. If you know, please email me.

Back Home

I just got home from deployment yesterday. We first went to Atlanta, staging in anticipation of Ike landing in Miami. Then it changed course, crossing over Cuba as a strong Cat 4 storm, into the Caribbean Ocean, and then back over Cuba one more time before setting its sights on the Galveston, TX region very early Saturday, September 13th. There is A LOT of damage in Texas and Southwestern Louisiana. Not just Galveston, but Beaumont, Palestine, and other cities also. Houston also sustained major damage from hurricane Ike. In fact, the tallest building in Texas had most of its windows on one side completely blown out, most likely due to a pressure gradient caused when Ike pushed on the other side of the building.

We ended up at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on Saturday, after Ike made landfall, providing care to the special needs population that arrived, primarily by ambulance and bus. It was a wonderfully fulfilling and successful mission for us.

The armada of ambulances, staged and ready to transport patients to local hospitals, and for long distance transport to San Antonio.

Training and Stress

While Hurricane Ike decides what to do, we are here training. It seems like busywork, and to some extent it is, but there are aspects to deployments that need reinforcement. Even to those of us that are deployment "veterans" (i.e. those who have been on a 2 week mission in austere settings before), you can't learn enough of some subjects. For the new folk, it may be their first introduction to a subject while out in the field. So, if you hear me referring to training, realize it is for a very good reason!

Stress can be a big problem on deployments. So, we are given downtime for obvious reasons. It lets us "let our guard down", stand down, cool down, whatever you want to call it. Sharing a room can be a stressor for some people who are more accustomed to having a hotel room by themselves. Eventually, living in a tent, a gym, or other location can (and will) add to stress. I am writing this entry during a 1-hour period of downtime.

So, just to let everyone know, I am doing fine. Kicking back in my room right now! Another training at 3:00pm... (Eastern time, that is)

Hurry up and wait

Well, we made it to Atlanta yesterday. Red-eye flights are fun... NOT! I can't sleep on planes. I've tried, nothing helps, even diphenhydramine only makes me drowsy. Every noise or vibration keeps me awake (Yes, I have tried earplugs). So, we made it to our hotel, got checked in (Checking in 35 people takes a bit of time!), and got to our room. Switched rooms, when there was a plumbing issue (Toilet leaking). Got dinner, and got to bed. Some of my teammates went out for a little while to wind down... I didn't need that. My bed is so friggin comfortable, I was out in moments! I am going to thoroughly enjoy this time here, since I believe in the "No good deed goes unpunished" principle. Chances are, once Hurricane Ike hits, we will be sleeping on cots in or on our sleeping bags (Been there before!).

More to come later!

Deployed to Atlanta

Well, my team (DMAT CA-11) has been deployed. We will be on our way to Atlanta to pre-stage for the expected landfall of Hurricane Ike. We are leaving at (get this) 12:25 AM on a flight to Houston, then on to Atlanta.

Finishing packing my gear... hope I don't miss packing something important. I use lists, but all of us manage to forget something!

Activated

Tonight, I got activation orders, effective 11:00 am tomorrow. Will let you know when/where/etc as I know.

Holding pattern

I am still waiting to see if I am deployed. In the meantime, life goes on...

Hurricane Gustav

... is making landfall as I write this entry. I am currently anticipating being deployed in the near future (24-48 hours) to the region. Depends on the amount of damage, the needs of the evacuees, and what NDMS decides to do. For those of you who are curious, there are teams that have been "pre-deployed", and are staged (waiting) in safe locations in nearby states. Others are already handling special needs populations that were evacuated to Dallas and other areas.

I just heard on the news (NBC) that the storm surge is topping one of the levees. Not good, folk. There is also a barge and a boat on the loose in one of the canals. They can actually damage the levees.

NDMS Training Summit

Just got back from the NDMS Training Summit. If I hear from anyone at my work that I was "on vacation", I think I will remind them that I need a vacation from my "vacation". It wasn't by any means a vacation. This was work, pure and simple. Granted, it is work in Nashville, TN at the Gaylord Opryland (Right next to the Grand Ole Opry), but it was still work...

Day 1 - Travel to Nashville (Got up at 3:30AM to finish packing... left the house at 4:15. Went to work briefly to pick up my USB drive that I forgot, and turn in my parking pass from the day before. First flight at 6:00am. Got to the airport around 5:00am. Next flight was in Denver, CO. Got into Nashville around 2:00. Got to my hotel around 3:00. Checked in, then got over to the training summit to pick up my badge and switch some classes around.


Day 2 - Core Disaster Life Support class (4 hours). Then Electronic Medical Record training for the 3rd time (Longer story here). Butt is getting sore from sitting in hotel conference center chairs.


Day 3 - Basic Disaster Life Support class (8 hours). My butt is starting to get seriously numb.




Day 4 - Advanced Disaster Life Support class, day 1 (8 hours). Now, my legs are getting antsy too! I am drinking iced tea like it is going out of style. And my bathroom breaks have increased due to the iced tea! :-)

Day 5 - Advanced Disaster Life Support class, day 2 (8 hours). THIS IS THE FUN DAY! We had a mass casualty incident (MCI) training. Scenario was a bomb going off at a concert. And a second device went off. We found a third device on a patient. We also had training on patient simulators (These are like manikins, but they respond to what we do. Technically, you could kill them by doing something wrong, or if their injuries are too severe, they could "die". Their eyes blink, they have pupillary responses, they breathe, they have a heart rate and pulses. Its actually kind of eerie. You can push meds and they react. Really cool! Also Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) refresher (For some, it was a brand new experience suiting up). Last class was learning how to use Mark-1 kits (Atropine/Pralidoxime (PAM-2) combo), and how to give smallpox vaccine. All in all, this day made the rear-end trauma of the previous 4 days worth it.

Day 6 - Final general session at the training summit. Very informative presentation by the military on trauma care. Then, it was travel back to Sacramento. Flight left at 6:11pm CST. Next flight from Denver at 9:45. Got back in Sacramento at 11:15pm. After waiting for luggage and my ride, got home around 1:30am today. Crashed until 10:30am.

Now, you may ask, "Why would I take all of these classes?" Because I happen to be one of a group of people who see the writing on the wall. These trainings are an "All Hazards" medical training for mass casualty events. Basically, it puts all healthcare providers on the same page for dealing with MCIs. I see it coming as mandated training for healthcare personnel. And I want to teach it.

So, my next step is to take the instructor training.

Of course, I had "downtime", I went to the Grand Ole Opry and saw Carrie Underwood, Randy Travis, and Vince Gil all in the same night. I went to dinner one night with my team, DMAT CA-11, with our sister team CA-6 (All of us do this each year at the conference), and with some friends from other teams on another night. And yeah, I enjoyed a few drinks at night. But trust me, with what I learned, it was no vacation.