Hello everyone:
Sorry for the bit of a delay since my last update. Things have been busy over here. Please see the links below for two recent stories about our exploits. You can see me in 2 photos in the first story.
Training with the host nation:
http://www.380aew.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123285988
Mass Accident Response Exercise:
http://www.380aew.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123286527
A number of you have asked about the patient I discussed who had collapsed. He is now walking, talking, showering on his own, doing pushups and back to mostly normal activities. However, he does not remember any part of the 3 months that he was deployed prior to his accident. His speech is slow and he needs re-orientation frequently. These are all markers of his significant brain injury due to lack of oxygen. He has a long road ahead of him with cognitive and speech therapy. It is absolutely amazing that he was without oxygen for that long and is doing as well today as he is.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have really been working to prepare for the Mass Accident Response Exercise, which is featured in the 2nd link above and took place on Wednesday. Things went well. I was responsible for handling all patients that were moved from the flightline back to our clinic. Because we are a small clinic, I set up an alternate medical facility at a local building, with 13 medical and 7 additional personnel. I transferred and organized equipment to handle 15+ patients, arranged for pharmacy, public health, stress response (mental health), the chaplain, security forces (cops), manpower (to carry litter patients and provide door security) and all of our health care personnel to respond. I then kept in contact with the providers on the flight line and our medical command and control center throughout. As many of you would suspect, I was very specific with goals and directives for everyone, and things went very smoothly. So smoothly in fact, that when we had a real-world patient appear with chest pain right in the middle of the exercise, I was able to go handle that with our team and get him transported to a local hospital without a hitch.
We have continued to broaden our relationships with our host nation. I meet weekly with one of the host nation military doctors, which has been enlightening and interesting. Because of this I have had to start drinking coffee! I have had more coffee in the last month than I have had in my previous 30+ years. Arabic coffee has a bit of a different flavor; a little bitter, but weaker than most american coffee I have sampled. The porter (every facility has one) brings small china cups (like shot glasses) and pours coffee for each person at the meeting. You should drink 2 cups to be polite per custom. You then wiggle the cup, and he knows you are done. He stands next to you the entire time, which was a bit unnerving at first. If you put the cup down on the table, he will fill it again (learned that lesson the hard way). After you finish your two cups, then he goes and will make a tea or coffee and bring it out for everyone. (It doesn't matter whether you want it or not). The teas are amazing. Definitely try cofftea if you ever get the chance (coffee and tea together)-not that good IMHO, but worth a try. Everyone exchanges pleasantries for 10-15 minutes (or longer for big meetings) before we get down to business. I actually really like that approach, very different from the US though.
I am swimming twice weekly and running in the pool with an aqua jogger twice weekly. Abs class is 3 nights a week, and I am lifting 2-3 times a week. The pool is still really cold. My dad sent me a neoprene cap, which has made a world of difference. I am sure that things will be warming up soon, and the cold pool will be a distant memory. As it is right now, I am often the only person even at the pool!
Family news: My brother Jon and his product "Rebloom" were featured on QVC yesterday. During the session, Jon had the opportunity to talk about the development of his natural sleep beverage. You can access more information about his product and support his retail effort by going to: www.rebloom.com or QVC: http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.A217214.desc.reBloom-Natural-Sleep-Drink-7pack
Steph and Brayden and Sophie have been enjoying some visits from friends and family recently. I have really enjoyed being able to skype with them daily. You can say hi to Steph at stephkwhite@yahoo.com
Thank you for all of your emails, letters and packages. It really helps. Talk to you all soon.
Love,
Chris
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