Dispatch from the desert #4
begin transmission:
14Sep04-Tuesday-1544
Thank you to everyone who is emailing me. You can't realize how wonderful it is to sit down at a computer and see messages from my friends at home.
Everything seems to be coming together. Inherently, I don't really like being in charge of people. But my crew here is fairly competent. We're still ironing out a few kinks as some true personalities start to show, but by the time we are halfway done with this, we are going to be a smooth running machine.
I have a TSgt under me who is an absolute godsend. She runs the front desk like she was born for it.
"TSgt Casey, do you want me to run the desk today and you can work in the back, or do you want to stay up here?"
"No, I'd rather stay up here. We have to go through about a hundred outprocessing questionnaires today, so there will be a huge crowd. I love trying to control chaos."
"Ah. You must be a mother."
"My son is in tech. school right now to be a B-Med, my daughter is 16 going on 30, but my husband is the worst. A hundred people impatient to get out of here and trying to yell or pull rank on me is nothing."
"I'll take the back then. All I have to do is deal with the hurt ones."
The other TSgt "under" me, though really we all work together, is TSgt McKay, who I reserve as back up for when someone starts being a pain in the ass in the waiting room. Bill runs the emergencies in the Citicorp building in Manhattan. He's thorough, deceptively efficient and a true New Yorker, born and bred. The first time anyone starts to have any kind of complaints about us, he will step in and not take shit from anyone, no matter what their rank. Arguing and yelling at each other is the New York pastime, and I'm glad he's on my side.
I have two "younger" guys under me, in their early 20s and still more engaged with trying to get laid than with doing their actual job. One seems all right, just needs to be watched occasionally, at least he puts on a good show of doing work. The other I wish I could get off the god damned computer games. But my theory is that if every time I catch him just sitting around doing nothing, I give him over to supply, then eventually he'll learn to either keep busy or to hide his laziness from where I can see it, which is also where a customer could see it, so I'll be content with that.
I'm lucky to have two lab techs next door with very little to do, so they come in and help us out when they don't have work. They file records for us, answer phones and I've even taught them how to take vitals for us.
There is very little infrastructure here. The fire alarms in all the "buildings" (trailers) aren't connected to the fire department. So when someone has an alarm go off, they have to call 911. There is no dispatch either, 911 is just a certain phone that rings at the fire department, the security forces office, and our front desk. We all pick up and listen to the person calling, then decide amongst ourselves who needs to show up.
The doctors vary here as they do anywhere. I keep feeding them patients, and some of them hop on it and take care of them, while others just sit around for another hour while the patient waits and complains to us. Granted, a lot of the patients are just whining, but some are actually in pain and should be seen. At least that's how I feel now, I'm told that by the end of my time here, I'll be just as casual as they are.
The surgeon, (the old one who's about to leave, I've barely met the new one) is a sarcastic, lazy little shit. And anyone who knows me knows that I can be extremely sarcastic even when its not appropriate. But this guy hasn't been seen in a uniform in months. He just walks around in a T-shirt and shorts and wonders why the other doctors are so stupid that they had to call him in to see something. I'm learning that most of the doctors feel the same way about him that I do.
Ours is a motley crew. But in the end a good one. Nearly all of us volunteered to be here, but I seem to be the only one who doesn't miss being home. Everyone talks about their spouses, and especially their kids. This rotation is made up mainly of Air National Guard, I think I'm one of only 2 reservists, and there are only a handful of active duty as well. Many of them had been planning for this trip for over a year. I heard about it a month before I left. Why do I feel like a mushroom? Because I'm kept in the dark and fed shit.
I've been here a week, so some of the real personalities are starting to come out. Now is when a lot of the real politics will begin and we'll start having people whine about how hard it is here. They are already whining about having to have a roommate (mine is luckily easy to live with), or having to walk to another trailer to use the bathroom, or of course the food. But the truth is, this is really cushy duty. Have these whiners head up north and see what it's really like, and they'll shut up pretty damn quick.
In the meantime, I'm spending my off time working on my application essay for medical school. I'm finding it harder than I thought it was going to be.
I ran into the radiology tech here, and it turns out he and I went to boot camp together. It's a small Air Force. He's still in radiology, and is a damn good tech. The most I remember about him from boot camp is that right when we got to tech. school he got the typical tattoo of a jaguar clutching onto his left arm. He's a lot more built than we were when we were 18, and that tattoo looks a lot better now.
I'm starting to adjust to the climate. On the first day here, just walking to the hospital I would get drenched in sweat, now the email tells me it's 120 degrees out and it's not that bad. Some people have the attitude that once it gets over 100, it's just hot and you don't feel any worse. They are wrong. The difference in temperature between 100 and 130 is the same difference in temperature as between 50 and 80. At this point, 100 feels nice and cool.
I'm learning a lot here. I have enough time to read my book and see the occasional movie. And most of all, I'm relieved not to be studying all the time. I was getting burnt out on school, and this is the kind of break I needed. To work for a while, see some actually injured people (no combat casualties, just normal ER and acute care stuff), do something real.
As for real, the truth is, I haven't seen off base yet, so I'm not entirely certain they didn't fly me all the way around the world and then drop me on a compound in the middle of Arizona and just tell me it's the middle east and there are bad guys around.
end transmission
14Sep04-Tuesday-1544
Thank you to everyone who is emailing me. You can't realize how wonderful it is to sit down at a computer and see messages from my friends at home.
Everything seems to be coming together. Inherently, I don't really like being in charge of people. But my crew here is fairly competent. We're still ironing out a few kinks as some true personalities start to show, but by the time we are halfway done with this, we are going to be a smooth running machine.
I have a TSgt under me who is an absolute godsend. She runs the front desk like she was born for it.
"TSgt Casey, do you want me to run the desk today and you can work in the back, or do you want to stay up here?"
"No, I'd rather stay up here. We have to go through about a hundred outprocessing questionnaires today, so there will be a huge crowd. I love trying to control chaos."
"Ah. You must be a mother."
"My son is in tech. school right now to be a B-Med, my daughter is 16 going on 30, but my husband is the worst. A hundred people impatient to get out of here and trying to yell or pull rank on me is nothing."
"I'll take the back then. All I have to do is deal with the hurt ones."
The other TSgt "under" me, though really we all work together, is TSgt McKay, who I reserve as back up for when someone starts being a pain in the ass in the waiting room. Bill runs the emergencies in the Citicorp building in Manhattan. He's thorough, deceptively efficient and a true New Yorker, born and bred. The first time anyone starts to have any kind of complaints about us, he will step in and not take shit from anyone, no matter what their rank. Arguing and yelling at each other is the New York pastime, and I'm glad he's on my side.
I have two "younger" guys under me, in their early 20s and still more engaged with trying to get laid than with doing their actual job. One seems all right, just needs to be watched occasionally, at least he puts on a good show of doing work. The other I wish I could get off the god damned computer games. But my theory is that if every time I catch him just sitting around doing nothing, I give him over to supply, then eventually he'll learn to either keep busy or to hide his laziness from where I can see it, which is also where a customer could see it, so I'll be content with that.
I'm lucky to have two lab techs next door with very little to do, so they come in and help us out when they don't have work. They file records for us, answer phones and I've even taught them how to take vitals for us.
There is very little infrastructure here. The fire alarms in all the "buildings" (trailers) aren't connected to the fire department. So when someone has an alarm go off, they have to call 911. There is no dispatch either, 911 is just a certain phone that rings at the fire department, the security forces office, and our front desk. We all pick up and listen to the person calling, then decide amongst ourselves who needs to show up.
The doctors vary here as they do anywhere. I keep feeding them patients, and some of them hop on it and take care of them, while others just sit around for another hour while the patient waits and complains to us. Granted, a lot of the patients are just whining, but some are actually in pain and should be seen. At least that's how I feel now, I'm told that by the end of my time here, I'll be just as casual as they are.
The surgeon, (the old one who's about to leave, I've barely met the new one) is a sarcastic, lazy little shit. And anyone who knows me knows that I can be extremely sarcastic even when its not appropriate. But this guy hasn't been seen in a uniform in months. He just walks around in a T-shirt and shorts and wonders why the other doctors are so stupid that they had to call him in to see something. I'm learning that most of the doctors feel the same way about him that I do.
Ours is a motley crew. But in the end a good one. Nearly all of us volunteered to be here, but I seem to be the only one who doesn't miss being home. Everyone talks about their spouses, and especially their kids. This rotation is made up mainly of Air National Guard, I think I'm one of only 2 reservists, and there are only a handful of active duty as well. Many of them had been planning for this trip for over a year. I heard about it a month before I left. Why do I feel like a mushroom? Because I'm kept in the dark and fed shit.
I've been here a week, so some of the real personalities are starting to come out. Now is when a lot of the real politics will begin and we'll start having people whine about how hard it is here. They are already whining about having to have a roommate (mine is luckily easy to live with), or having to walk to another trailer to use the bathroom, or of course the food. But the truth is, this is really cushy duty. Have these whiners head up north and see what it's really like, and they'll shut up pretty damn quick.
In the meantime, I'm spending my off time working on my application essay for medical school. I'm finding it harder than I thought it was going to be.
I ran into the radiology tech here, and it turns out he and I went to boot camp together. It's a small Air Force. He's still in radiology, and is a damn good tech. The most I remember about him from boot camp is that right when we got to tech. school he got the typical tattoo of a jaguar clutching onto his left arm. He's a lot more built than we were when we were 18, and that tattoo looks a lot better now.
I'm starting to adjust to the climate. On the first day here, just walking to the hospital I would get drenched in sweat, now the email tells me it's 120 degrees out and it's not that bad. Some people have the attitude that once it gets over 100, it's just hot and you don't feel any worse. They are wrong. The difference in temperature between 100 and 130 is the same difference in temperature as between 50 and 80. At this point, 100 feels nice and cool.
I'm learning a lot here. I have enough time to read my book and see the occasional movie. And most of all, I'm relieved not to be studying all the time. I was getting burnt out on school, and this is the kind of break I needed. To work for a while, see some actually injured people (no combat casualties, just normal ER and acute care stuff), do something real.
As for real, the truth is, I haven't seen off base yet, so I'm not entirely certain they didn't fly me all the way around the world and then drop me on a compound in the middle of Arizona and just tell me it's the middle east and there are bad guys around.
end transmission