“Hey, Curmudge, has Mack recovered from the concussion he received from the IED blasts?”
“His email notes seem pretty normal, Jaded Julie. A few headaches, but none of the more serious symptoms that one expects from traumatic brain injuries. He has been back ‘home’ at the forward operating base (FOB) for the past few days, but living there is not especially easy.”
“I understand that the Americans share the FOB with British and Afghan soldiers, and that the sanitary conditions are not the best.”
“Here’s what he says, Julie, in his latest note:
‘Do you really think I haven't been ‘encouraging’ these people to improve the Porta-Potties? We've been doing everything we can, including trying to restrict as many as we can for US and British use only. This was determined to be ‘discriminatory’ to the ANA, so they are back to dive-bombing the latrines. They actually stand up on the toilet seats and let it go, and if things don't quite fall into the hole, oh well. The struggle is ongoing.’”
“Do you recall, Curmudge, our writing about sanitation in Third World countries back on March 3? If 40% of the world’s population don’t have any toilet facilities, there are a lot of people out there who might not know how to use them if they had them.”
“And a couple of years ago on May 8, 2008 in Kaizen Curmudgeon we talked about how a leadership culture change sometimes involves learning things that seem unnatural, like potty training for young children. So there in Afghanistan the culture change is more than like potty training, it is potty training.”
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Afghanistan ER
“Another note from Mack, Jaded Julie. I am at a loss for words, so I’ll just read his:
‘Hi, everyone,
This weekend was quite eventful. I was in a double IED blast. We were in a compound and there were two houseborne IEDs that went off, first one about 15 feet away from me; then while we were taking care of the guy hurt worst in that one, a second bomb went off. I just got done being checked out in the Aid Station at Howz-E-Madad. Only a little sore, have a mandatory 24 hour rest period that we do for soldiers who have been in IED or bomb attacks as part of the mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury) policy for prevention of worsening, etc.
I had been on this patrol mission since Thursday. Last night a guy stepped on an IED, lost his leg but also had terrible pelvic injuries; we did all we could do for him, (treating him in a grape field). He had two surgeries today, I think, and is on a flight to Germany. I already had a pretty depleted Aid Bag today when the IEDs blew up; now it's completely trashed as are my clothes and everything. I still have someone's blood on me; it took forever to get everyone flown out and I finally got a helicopter ride back here about 10 PM or so. I am going to leave the bloody stuff in front of the house and go take a shower.
Take care and stay in touch----Mack’
After reading this, I sent him a note suggesting that this might be a good time to revisit the concept of a board-certified physician going on patrols.”
“You can already guess his reply, Curmudge. He will probably say that the horrible wounds suffered by the troops make it all the more essential that he be there. If it hadn’t been for Mack and his medics, the soldier who lost his leg would have died right there in the grape vineyard.”
‘Hi, everyone,
This weekend was quite eventful. I was in a double IED blast. We were in a compound and there were two houseborne IEDs that went off, first one about 15 feet away from me; then while we were taking care of the guy hurt worst in that one, a second bomb went off. I just got done being checked out in the Aid Station at Howz-E-Madad. Only a little sore, have a mandatory 24 hour rest period that we do for soldiers who have been in IED or bomb attacks as part of the mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury) policy for prevention of worsening, etc.
I had been on this patrol mission since Thursday. Last night a guy stepped on an IED, lost his leg but also had terrible pelvic injuries; we did all we could do for him, (treating him in a grape field). He had two surgeries today, I think, and is on a flight to Germany. I already had a pretty depleted Aid Bag today when the IEDs blew up; now it's completely trashed as are my clothes and everything. I still have someone's blood on me; it took forever to get everyone flown out and I finally got a helicopter ride back here about 10 PM or so. I am going to leave the bloody stuff in front of the house and go take a shower.
Take care and stay in touch----Mack’
After reading this, I sent him a note suggesting that this might be a good time to revisit the concept of a board-certified physician going on patrols.”
“You can already guess his reply, Curmudge. He will probably say that the horrible wounds suffered by the troops make it all the more essential that he be there. If it hadn’t been for Mack and his medics, the soldier who lost his leg would have died right there in the grape vineyard.”
Monday, October 4, 2010
Afghanistan ER
“Hey, Curmudge, it looks as if you have another note from Mack.”
“It’s pretty short, Julie, and is mostly a thank-you note to his brother. Here, I’ll read it to you:
‘Thanks so much for the last package. I've been doing a lot of field time with this big thing you've probably seen in the news.... Would've been downright unhealthy without all the wet wipes, toilet paper, Gatorade, and of course, the cookies for morale and a break from just straight MRE's (field rations). Very interesting and slightly precarious last several days. Last night I was on the ground 400 meters from a kinetic strike (F-16 making two runs dropping a two-thousand pound bomb each time). Most terrifying explosion I've ever experienced and I think the rest of the group felt pretty much the same.’”
“Not anything about emergency medicine in this one, Curmudge. Let’s assume that’s good news.”
“As much as I appreciate getting these notes, they always leave me a bit shaken. At least this time it was the enemy on the receiving end. Nevertheless, I’m reminded of how much danger the troops—even the medical personnel—are in.”
“It’s pretty short, Julie, and is mostly a thank-you note to his brother. Here, I’ll read it to you:
‘Thanks so much for the last package. I've been doing a lot of field time with this big thing you've probably seen in the news.... Would've been downright unhealthy without all the wet wipes, toilet paper, Gatorade, and of course, the cookies for morale and a break from just straight MRE's (field rations). Very interesting and slightly precarious last several days. Last night I was on the ground 400 meters from a kinetic strike (F-16 making two runs dropping a two-thousand pound bomb each time). Most terrifying explosion I've ever experienced and I think the rest of the group felt pretty much the same.’”
“Not anything about emergency medicine in this one, Curmudge. Let’s assume that’s good news.”
“As much as I appreciate getting these notes, they always leave me a bit shaken. At least this time it was the enemy on the receiving end. Nevertheless, I’m reminded of how much danger the troops—even the medical personnel—are in.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
