Synchronized Swimming Video

As described in my last post, our group of docs shared our unequaled talent with the rest of the base two weeks ago during the monthly Talent Show. Somebody had a camcorder and our EMEDS commander put his new MacBook to good use by making a good video out of our synchronized swimming event, complete with credits and special effects! After many requests from back home, I was finally able to upload it to this site. So, here it is (for reference, I am the third person in line as we walk in).

I'm still trying to find some pics of the popliteal artery injury that I worked on last week, just to prove that I occasionally do have a purpose here.

Missin' you tons, my Bella!

Busy Is a Relative Term

Desert life has actually been somewhat busy over the past couple of weeks. It began with a Hawaiian Luau party two weekends ago that was a blast. Unbeknown to many of us, the Communications squadron this summer is primarily made up of reservists from Hawaii. They spent weeks planning and preparing for a traditional party and didn't spare any expense. There were free Hawaiian shirts for EVERYONE (about 500 people attended), leis, tropical drinks (not what you think, alcohol is forbidden among us troops in Iraq and Afghanistan), lots of decorations/paintings, male and female dancing groups and enough traditional food to stuff every hungry Soldier and Airman! We were even allowed to wear civilian clothes while inside their compound (flip flops and cargo shorts galore). For a brief while, many of us forgot we were in Kirkuk. We're still saying "Thank you" every time we see them around base...it was THAT good!

Then, there was the monthly Talent Show last weekend. Knowing our relative lack of talent, our Orthopod found a funny skit online and convinced the rest of us docs to join in the show. We did a synchronized swimming spoof, complete with a blue sheet (held up by two "maidens"), swimming caps and goggles (courtesy of Amber, Jake's wife) and some quality tunes by Andrea Bocelli. As you might imagine, the crowd got REALLY into it.....enough to land us in second place overall (the video is in the mail, Darlin')! I felt pretty badly though, because we beat out some people with a lot of ACTUAL talent (an amazing pianist, some very good vocalists, a beat-box guy and a phenomenal robot-dancer dude). To top it all off, another EMEDS group (with a great female singer) took first place, allowing us to maintain our dominance in most of the base events. Now, if we can just continue to take down the key Army players at our twice-weekly poker tournament....

-Alex (FP doc) preparing for the Show

We followed up that craziness with some awesome rides in our MEDEVAC Blackhawk helicopter...naturally, in the name of "training" that I helped organize. These took place over the course of two nights and everyone got a couple of rides in different seats in order to better appreciate what our patients experience during evacuation. Our base Commander even came out and became a "patient" for one of the flights. In the highlight of the evening, the flight medic decided to take the "practice" as far as possible and stuck an IV in the Commander's hand DURING the flight...without warning him first! He came back into the ER with blood running down his fingers and was STOKED to see us making good use of our time (he's like a kid in a candy store whenever toys are involved...I think he's turned on one of the Fire engine sirens at least a dozen times now)!!

And last but not least, we had our second official running race of the Summer this past Saturday: the Labor Day 10K. I was proud to see 13 of our 44-member EMEDS group running that morning. It was a beautiful morning and almost everyone met their goal for the race. How many times now have I said, "Thank God for running and the gym"? Here is our group with our new t-shirts after the run...of course we can't wear these until we get back home:

Thanks to Mom and Pop for hosting CJ and Braden during their most recent Portland trip. They both had a blast!

I love you my Bella!!

Heat Delirium

So, for starters, whatever temperature this blog says it currently feels like in Kirkuk....go ahead and add about 15 degrees to get the ACTUAL temp. I don't usually look at it while I'm writing, but right now it says 97 and it's really 113 outside (as read from our EMEDS double-secret, classified, NASA-prototype thermometer). Not that it matters too much, because every day is either REALLY hot or REALLY, REALLY hot. We did see clouds for the first time about two weeks ago, and they looked so beautiful for the 45 minutes that they lasted (once the sun came up, they burned off almost instantly).

You might wonder why I'm so fixated on the weather today. It's because last week was one of our hottest yet. The Air Force, in its infinite wisdom, uses a measurement system called Heat Stress Condition to determine the safety of being outside each day. The conditions are Green, Yellow, Red and Black, in ascending order of pain. Green is usually only possible at night here, and Black is like living a few miles from the surface of the sun. Last week, we had four straight days of Condition Black with each day being over 120 on our thermometer! I never really thought I'd care about the difference between 115 and 125, but I have a renewed appreciation for these upper-limit temps. So, here's a word-picture that I hope will portray the feeling of outdoor movement (while wearing thick, polyester uniforms, naturally) here at the KRAB.

Imagine the hottest day wherever you might live. If it's not at least 105, then imagine Arizona in the summertime. As you walk outside of your heavily air-conditioned home, the dry heat is choking at first. Then, as you become accustomed and venture further out, a "friend" has kindly set up an industrial-sized fan in your yard, aimed right at you. Only, this isn't a typical fan...it's a massive hairdryer blowing air that feels like it has come straight out of your oven when set to "broil." And, to heighten their enjoyment at your expense, your "friend" throws up several hands full of dusty sand into the back of the fan (because they wouldn't be caught dead in FRONT of the thing) which coat you in a fine mist of silica that sticks to the beads of sweat that NEVER, EVER leave your skin. It kinda makes you wonder what the purpose was of that shower you recently finished? And that would be about how it feels to us each day here at our KRAB paradise.

OK, on the bright side, at least it isn't humid! We have officially passed the halfway point (thank God) and are on the downhill stretch now. And don't read too much into my sarcasm, it's just some minor electrolyte disturbances from profound sweat loss during our run yesterday! We have also enjoyed some more intimate time with automatic weapons (at 1PM, just to see how hot we could make it) and had a great weekend with some good pics coming soon.

Cita and the B-ster....I'm always lovin' you guys!

Hangin' in there

There must be a little-publicized water surplus in the city of Kirkuk, because our FOB decided to have ANOTHER wet and wild event this past weekend. And, naturally, some element of competition is essential to any worthwhile endeavor at a military installation. Thus, in deference to that recent Ben Stiller movie with so many great lines, the Services group put on the KRAB "Water Balloon Dodge Ball Tournament". Sixteen teams of five signed up (yes, there really isn't much else to do on Sunday afternoons) and vied for the title....and, as is often the case, our EMEDS team bested them all and strutted victoriously to Mongolian BBQ night at the DFAC (dining facility...it's important for our intellectual stability that everything has an acronym). We even won digital picture frames as trophies for our effort.

On a more serious note, we finally held the mass casualty exercise for which I had spent a few weeks preparing. Its purposes were to simulate a disaster or attack that injures more patients than our facility can simultaneously treat and to practice our group's response. It went well and several interesting lapses were noted in our system, which have all been addressed. Here are a few images of the ER as we prepare for and then treat our patients.

Don't worry, even with ALL of this excitement in one week, I still found plenty of time for exercise and planning various youthful activities (wait until I describe our skit for the talent show contest at the end of this month!). Our unofficial EMEDS running club meets almost every morning at 0515 and heads out for various distances. We usually have at least 3-5 people, with some mornings hitting 7 or 8. Saturday morning has become our long distance run (meaning multiple loops around the 6 mile route we're allowed to run) and the dust storms have been surprisingly cooperative lately. The morning depicted below was a particularly clear sunrise and I got some great shots from around our base.

I'll conclude with a shot of the cemetery that is within our FOB. We aren't allowed to enter because it's a sacred site for the Iraqis. But, during Saddam's regime, this was engulfed by the Iraqi military base and civilians were denied access. We had a ceremony here last month involving Army and AF chaplains as well as local religious leaders, and some Kirkuk inhabitants got to see their ancestors' graves for the first time in decades. Pretty cool, I thought.

I praise God for this difficult time of separation from my family, knowing that He will grow our characters and marriage though this trial. Thanks to all of our family and friends for their support and prayers. As always....I love you deeply, Cita.

Lotsa pics

Just in case anyone forgot the real reason we were sent on this desert vacation, last week quickly reminded us. We had two trauma activations with four patients each, separated by a couple of days, that indelibly educated our new crew about the potential violence surrounding the KRAB. In keeping with our theme, though, there were no "true" general surgery emergencies that needed fixing, only orthopedic extremity injuries. So, our ortho guy (Jake) let me jump into the fray and externally fix a fractured femur (ie: stabilize with external pins and rods before final internal fixation in Germany or the States). It was fun to have a little something to do, but it really served to remind me why I chose NOT to pursue a career in Orthopedics!

(not one of my usual trade tools)

(our OR has no A/C and is HOT...we're usually swimming in a sweat bath by the end)

I'm sure it will come as a surprise that we managed to find some extra-curricular fun this week as well. Remember that huge vehicle I stood next to for a picture several weeks ago (the MRAP)? Well, we convinced someone to take us for a ride around the KRAB and let us do a little 4x4 action of our own. These behemoth's weigh around 14 tons and are encased in armour with a gunner's turret on top. They were designed to combat the ubiquitous presence of IED's (improvised explosive devices) during the early parts of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. MRAP's (Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected) are all-wheel drive and loaded with electronics, communication and other offensive equipment. The version that we commandeered, though, was a medical MRAP configured to transport patients within the base in the event of a mass casualty situation. In case anyone's wondering, this is definitely NOT a standard (or even allowed) activity. Like that's ever slowed us down before...

(Me in the driver's seat)

(I can hear CJ saying, "Pay attention to the road while you're driving." :)

And, to keep us cooled off during the summer heat, the Fire Dept held their semi-annual Fire Muster last Sunday. This is a multi-event, team challenge involving lots of water and strength drills. Of course, it's well known that this activity was originally developed to show the ladies just how tough and strong our Fire guys can really be (no shortage of testosterone over here). We competed in a tug-of-war, a hose and accuracy drill and a bucket brigade, after which we were in second place overall. Unfortunately, our luck ran out on the final event: the joust (using fire hoses to "push" a bucket along a rope past our opponent's mark). As you can see, a soggy wet and fun time was had by all (water conservation efforts were on hold for this day). And it only took about 30 minutes to dry our shoes out completely in the arid 115 degree heat!

(giving it all we got)

(some tug-of-war losers)

(The Hose Joust: that green bucket is on a rope tied to two fire engines)

(losing the joust and getting soaked)

(our base Commander sharing the love with some of the cheering section)

Cita, you're always in my prayers! I love you...

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.