The Replacements Arrive

Although three of us docs have been here for over two months, the majority of our EMEDS is on a different schedule. So, the "replacements" for those guys arrived about a week and a half ago and have been getting settled. Most of them are from Florida (Eglin AFB is the main supplier of personnel to our facility) and will be here for the next six months. Their predecessors were ecstatic to see them arrive, but their energy dissipated as the news that they would sit here at the KRAB for an extra week sunk in. Have I mentioned the efficiency of the Armed Forces yet? Have no fear, they finally left this weekend and should be happily sipping margaritas at home before the end of the week. We'll miss our roommate and running partner, Glen (flight doc), the most but are stoked for him to get home to his wife and FIVE kiddos.


(Glen's in the middle)


Literally right as these new folks were getting settled, and before my planned mass casualty exercise, we were privileged to take care of a few more of our Army brethren. Yet another Russian-made, shaped-charge grenade was thrown at a convoy of Humvee's and brought us four patients. One was injured and required some relatively minor operating, two were minimally injured and the fourth was gravely injured as the grenade exploded right behind his head. Despite his devastating injury, we kept him alive and hurried him out of here in an attempt to get him to Germany per our protocols (to either be an organ donor or say goodbye to his family). The other injured patient is finishing up his treatment in Germany and Walter Reed.

On a brighter note, many of the new crew is excited to join in our fitness efforts. Here, Jake (ortho) and I made a curious decision to run "hills" in the middle of the day, when the temp was around 115. By "hills", I mean one of the 75-ft tall, pyramidal mounds that dot the base, usually topped by a radar or some antennas. I'll admit that it was RIDICULOUSLY hot and, even after consuming plenty of water, caused lingering nausea for some time! Hey, we gotta find something fun to do around here.

(note the lush vegetation)

And for our weekly culture, we enjoyed last weekend's KRAB's Got Talent show, our monthly event to showcase the hottest future stars of the Air Force and Army. Quite a few good musicians and singers stood out this week, as well as an old-school robot-breakdancer that was phenomenal. I think the funniest was the guy who dressed up as a Viking (complete with the mop-wig, helmet and shield) to sing an Italian aria. He had a "translated" version on the projected screen that explained he was singing about things like scratching his butt with salad tongs!



Love to my fam' and my lady.

Secret Weapons

Well, another week has passed at the KRAB...and yet another severe dust storm is upon us. Although somewhat comical in their consistency, they do tend to disrupt airflow (AKA: flights landing and taking off). I'm pretty sure the several members of our group who were scheduled to depart today after dutifully serving their 6-month term weren't laughing when the skies darkened yesterday. But, as always, a positive can be found if earnestly sought. And that upside comes in the form of cooler temperatures. Today, we all felt quite a reprieve from the heat and almost everyone noted how much "cooler" it felt. The thermometer at 2:30 this afternoon read 113. How about that for perspective!

To be complete, I should explain that last week was clear and HOT (even for Kirkuk). I have yet to find any reliable web sites for weather forecasting in the area, so those back home may not appreciate the realities of our summertime. And I know that the temperatures I'm writing about are accurate because our public health guys have a special thermometer directly outside the EMEDS (it reads dry temp, wet bulb temp, radiant heat temp and a few others). On Saturday, the hottest day, the dry bulb (standard thermometer) read 121.6 at 1:30PM! As proof, here is a pic from Friday (much cooler).

And the radiant heat temp (including the sun's rays and the heat reflected back off the ground...in other words, what we feel outside) read a toasty....

Don't feel too badly, though, because we're quite accustomed to it by now. In fact, I find myself really looking forward to our early Saturday morning run around the base when the temps are still in the 90's.

As the days without anything resembling a surgical problem add up, we did have another VERY high point this week. It began with a connection made during treatment for a minor sports injury. To say thank you, a member of the group that shall remain nameless (at their request) offered to have us over for a BBQ. Naturally, we accepted and found ourselves enjoying some of the finest sirloin and rib eye steaks I have ever tasted! These guys new how to do it...with sauteed onions, garlic and plentiful sides. Again, their method of acquiring of these foods shall remain undisclosed. However, they saved the best for later and quietly invited us out to the weapons range one afternoon for some serious guy fun. Our hosts brought several fully automatic rifles, high-end pistols and a suppressive fire rifle that laid down 800 rounds per minute. I'm sure you can gather from these pics what an awesome time we had!

(I like this action shot with shells flying)

(The SAW)

Cita, thanks again for the SWEET box of goodies you sent! I couldn't be more proud of your amazing single-parenting skills with our lil' man. And, I love you always.

Making Waves

What happens when you put a group of talented, stubborn individuals together in a small cage with no real access to the outside and very little work to be done? Petty issues become MUCH larger ones. This is doubly true in the Air Force where the "institutionalized" interact regularly with folks like us, who were trained by, and think like, the rest of the surrounding world. That sets the stage for some rather interesting confrontations. Last week was an excellent case in point. I'll try to summarize to avoid making this blog several pages long.

Normally, the higher-ranking physicians are given single rooms (called POD's) while deployed. However, due to some odd circumstances and the inability of our command to make difficult decisions, I room with the Ortho guy and one of the Flight docs in a standard dorm room (we are the only three Majors living MOD's). I have actually enjoyed the company and we plan to keep this arrangement even when single rooms again become available. Unfortunately, and for reasons none can explain, we were given the worst room in the building (nearest the loud, broken door we all used to enter/exit, smaller than all other rooms and containing important communication equipment that prevented us from sleeping away from the wall bordering the hallway). This seemed odd at first, but we settled in nonetheless. The problem with this plan was that some of the guys work all night and literally come and go EVERY hour, all day long. So, after numerous nights of waking up EACH hour, I finally tried sleeping with earplugs. It worked, but I was unable to hear my relatively quiet pager when someone needed to speak with me. Clearly, a remedy was in order.

Our MOD has four unoccupied rooms for transient personnel that need a bed for 1-2 nights as they pass through (typically 1-2 times monthly). Inexplicably, these are some of the largest and quietest rooms, located in the center of the MOD. So, we asked our MOD Chief (don't even ask, every noun or thing has at least one person as its Chief) if he minded us switching rooms and allowing the infrequent transient the pleasure of our ridiculous room. We explained our jobs and the need for sleep without earplug use and he agreed that it made sense. So, on a Sunday afternoon, we moved our lockers, shelves and bags from room 16 down to lucky number 13. And for three days, we had the best, most restful sleep of our short tour thus far.

What could be wrong with this? Ahhhh, never forget the ego of some senior NCO's (which has been known to bruise easier than a ripe peach). Unbeknownst to our group, one of the senior NCO's in our EMEDS (who naturally has his own room in a POD) is "in charge" of room assignments and was extremely unpleased with our callous decision to "bypass" his authority by not asking his permission first. I tried to reason (first mistake) with him, explaining that no one had alerted us of his "reign" over the rooms. I stated that, frankly, it had never occurred to any of us to ask someone who wasn't our boss and didn't live in the MOD if they would permit the move. We had asked the MOD Chief and were given permission. To no avail. Our commander was quietly (and of course, behind closed doors) briefed of the situation by said NCO and requested (by email of course, direct confrontation is to be avoided at all cost) that we return to our original room. I hope you're enjoying the "rational thought" involved in these decisions!

Dutifully, we moved back as directed and then requested (through the above-mentioned senior NCO) a room change with Services (an ironic name, don't you think?). In typically mature fashion, he waited three days before making this request with Services....there must be punitive consequences after all. But, a week later, we were finally "granted" permission to change rooms.....right back into room 13 where we had moved in the first place!! If any of you wonder why the various government services take so long to execute relatively simple tasks, this should shed some light on the processes involved. After three moves in less than two weeks, here is a picture of me reading on the couch (which was already in our room but apparently not a part of the standard floor plan, per our NCO, and therefore not authorized to be on the floor).

On a lighter note, we have been engaged in a very competitive ping pong tournament over the past week. The finals will be later this week and most games draw at least 6-8 spectators as a cheering section. Thanks to Dad for purchasing a table when I was a teenager and having a several-month match that honed my skills! I think tonight's match is the quarterfinals....

We were also blessed with a very rare award by one of the Army infantry battalions for our care of their soldiers. They presented it in their traditional cavalry uniforms, complete with riding hats. Very cool. It may be hard to read this picture, but it was a VERY special honor to our EMEDS and was only the 23rd such award this group has ever given (remember, the Army is over 200 years old).

Finally, we had our monthly 5K race (on the base roads) yesterday morning that was a great time. We received t-shirts and water bottles from the sponsor (one of the huge contracting companies here) and enjoyed the fleeting break in the weather. Less than an hour after completion, the dust descended (literally) like a fog bank in San Francisco with visibility of ~150 feet that would have cancelled the race. Today, the ground and all outdoor surfaces are covered in a layer of dust reminiscent of the ash after Mt. St. Helens erupted!

Until next week...

Always in love with you Cita!!