Week 3 - Helicopters & Match Day

Day 16 – BlackHawks! But no hoist
Corey, Clay & I, the fearless 3, packed ourselves into the car and drove to some military base outside of Santa Fe. We picked-up Yelena and Iris on the way so it was tight in the backseat of the Subie. Yelena, Corey and I were all a little on edge as it also happened to be “Black Monday.” We tried not to let on but we were all watching the clocks because at 10:00, we’d know if we matched.

The iPhone chirped at 9:55 as we were pulling onto base. Hmmmm, is early good or bad? I quickly navigated to my email and the title of the message was “Did I match?” So prophetic. Anxiously, I opened the email and sighed with relief when I read, “Congratulations.” However, the car members could not celebrate until all 3 of us knew. Whewwww….we all 3 matched but still not okay to celebrate til we know about our other class maties.

Everyone was doing a funny “do I ask or don’t I” dance, checking body language and whispering amongst each other. The military base might have thought we were conspiring to hatch some kind of terrorist plan the way we hemmed and hawed. Eventually, it came to light that we all matched and could enjoy playing with BlackHawk copters.

Unfortunately, the live hoists did not happen but we had fun learning about the helicopters and when they are appropriate for us in a rescue sense. The photo opts were also a lot of fun.

Afterward most of us headed to our new favorite spot, 2nd Street Brewery for a little celebration. And what would be a trip to Santa Fe without stopping by Mountain Works. Our troop bought so much stuff that I think I deserved a commission from the store. Even my bestie bought a sweet jacket that matchs her rosy cheeks (facial cheeks.)

Day 17- Flight to PHL

I headed back to Philly for a financial aid meeting and to celebrate Match day while the crew shot guns and learned how to navigate in the woods.

Day 18 - Rest Day in Philly.

My mom flew into town for moral support. It also happened to be St. Patty’s Day so we made plans to eat at Kanella. Okay, Kanella is Greek so no real connection to the Irish but good food all the same. We did don some festive hats that mom brought with her. She also walked into a glass window and hit it really, really hard with her schnaz. OUCH! I was afraid that she’d broken it. Luckily, with a little RICE there was minimal swelling and no bruising. Retrospectively, I think that she took one for the team in order to distract me about thinking about the upcoming big day! Oh and we still managed to eat Capigiro’s.

Day 19 – MATCH day!!!!! Yikes!

Surprisingly, I slept quit well and reported to Connely at 10:55. No this is where I have a point of contention with Jefferson. They only allow spouses to enter the room. Well, that’s just plain ridiculous. Everyone should be allowed a guest, not a spouse. We sit in our assigned section and fill out a bunch of forms which is strategically planned as otherwise they’d never get our responses on those surveys. Everyone get quiet when Dr. Pole goes to the podium at 11:45ish and starts to talk about the Match. Then at 11:55, the new resident takes the stand. We are to get our letters at noon, right?

12:00:00 – TJU prez is giving a speech

12:00:05 – still talking

12:00:55 – he doesn’t show signs of slowing

12:01:30 – a rumble of indignation starts throughout the room as we still don’t have our envelopes

12:02:30 – huh, he’s still jabbering on

12:03:00 – give a pleading look to Dr. Lopez whom has the letters in his hand

12:05:00 – okay, this is the accumulation of many years work and waiting til noon on 3/18 was har enough but now you want to give some fluff speech that we’ve heard before, for the love of GOD

12:06:00 – I think that he may possibly be a sadist

12:07:05 – the slow clap begins as a sign that it’s time to give us the letters and stop talking

12:07:30 – Envelope in hand!!

12:07:35 – suddenly feel paralyzed at thought of opening said envelope

12:07:40 – UWV!

12:07:45 – slight shock and I cry, releasing the pent-up stress of the last few months

12:08:00 – camera crew thrust there gigantic lens in my face and ask me where I matched. I meekly reply “UWV” and he says that I don’t sound happy but I correct him and say that it’s just the culmination of events. Plus I hate being the center of attention, I much prefer to be running the spotlight instead of in it.
Wrap-up the day with some Capigiro’s and phone calls from my new program directors (see this is why I love UWV, I like close-knitness). Then mamma and I head to the airport and go our separate ways.
Day 20 – To 3 Rivers

Running late and still needing to stop by the grocery store before getting to the meeting spot at Indian School. Clay’s in a foul mood and keeps mumbling about disliking food groups, something like “I don’t want to cook with 5 people, grumble, grumble….it’s to hard when you’re backpacking.” I try to point out that we are only car camping and if we do any backpacking then it’ll only be an overnight. No use. Now I’m pissed off. Poor Corey has to endure the stuffy mood as we make our way to meet up with the rest. And it looks like rain which isn’t pleasant.

Eventually we get the caravanning straight and Clay is appeased since he gets to ride shotgun for Doc Macias. It’s a long ride to 3 Rivers. Luckily, we get there and set-up camp right before the storm breaks. Twenty of us huddle under the picnic shelter that is barely big enough for 1 table. We roast some marsh mellows then Linda and Corey break out their guitars. We sing lots of boisterous songs that only get louder as more PBR is consumed. I remember a very nice rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Then just as the storm lifts, a beautiful sunset breaks through the clouds. Perfect photo opt for some more jumping pictures. Then a little more song and dance til bedtime.

Week 2 - To Taos and Back

Day 9 - Day to Rest
Well kinda. Most of the day consisted of preparing for the upcoming trip to Taos. We also decided to go to the Abdominal Snow Mansion Hostel a night early so we can ski on our travel day. We spent most of the day making trips to REI and calling Dr. Macias about snowshoes. Finally, we headed to Santa Fe at 4:30pm, where we stopped at another REI and found a SWEET local gear shop called MountainWorks. Almost everything was 40-60% off. I love a sale and can always justifying buying sale items BUT we're trying to stick to a budget. I ended up with a much needed foam thermarest and a wind-blocking-ear-covering hat. Yes!! Oh Sh$t. It's 8:30 and we still need to eat dinner and drive to Taos.

Found a nice local's secret, Second Ave Brewery. I got a kids burger which was the same size as Clay's adult burger! Benefits of looking twelve. Then I drove, a food induced coma couple (Clay and Corey), to Taos. No one but me to watch for deer or know the speed at which I drove. We arrived at the Snow Mansion at 11:30. Corey decided that he needed to lay the piano in the common area which surprisingly? woke someone up and made them angry. What a way to introduce ourselves. Can only blame the general surgeon in him.

Day 10 - Skiing at Taos
Woke up to 10" of Fresh POW!!!!! Finally, got the crew organized and hit the slopes. I skied with some of the girls most of the day and we took it easy, knowing that the next day would be a loooong one. I loved Taos - not too touristy, not many other skiers and nice variable terrain. At the end of the day, Gabe & I, hit a few harder runs and they were SWEET!

Day 11 - Snow Shoeing to infinity

Its hard to get 23 people anywhere at anyone time. We naturally split off into groups as we ascended the mountain. The Orthopods raced to the top and cut some trail - thanks for making the journey a little easier. Clay, Triod and Beth weren't too far behind them. Yelena, Sam and I found ourselves cutting some new trail about half-way up. Ben was crazy enough to think that carrying his downhill skies up to the top was a good idea. He looked like some strange snow creature once he hung his jacket off the tops of the skies that towered above him. Hopefully, the viagra helped. (Cyalis and Viagra are not only a man's best friend but also improve pulmonary function at altitude.) At least it gave him an arrest device since neither of his hands were free.

They told us that the trail was only 1.8 miles. About half-way up, I decided that they were lying. I was sucking wind after taking Dr. Rimple’s "easy path". Sure, it's easy if you're on a backcountry set-up and float easily above the snow. But when you're on snowshoes with a heavy pack and cutting trail....man my lungs were burnin' not to mention my quads. Alaska Sam and I found ourselves alone on the trail. Each time we'd come around a bend, I thought "this'll be it." Eventually, we got to the Yurt after thinking "this will be it" about 10 times. Sam even made it in his crazy 1920s snowshoes. I decided that it was probably 1.8 miles when you factor in the elevation change from 7,000 to 11,000 feet, that's a nice steady climb.

Clay, of course, beat me up the mountain and had dug 80% of our snow cave by the time I defrosted my toes in the yurt. It was about the right size for him and me. I dug some of it and added a few feminine touches. (The "R" above the snow cave.)

Everyone eventually made it to the top and into the yurt. About half of us decided to brave the snow caves and dug our own various homes. The other half decided that a night in the toasty yurt was the better option. Clay and I crawled into our snowcave about 11pm and he insisted that we did no need a door. (Usually a backpack placed in front of the opening.) He crawled in first, then I crawled in next and had the spot next to the door. Just as I was getting comfortable, Clay proclaimed "I have to pee." He then log rolled over me and put his hand strategically on my bladder. Thanks!

I lay there contemplating in the snowcave after he left. The cave was about 4 feet deep from the door to the back wall, about 6 feet long and 3.5 feet high. I started to feel very claustrophobic and realized that I had a pounding headache. I reminded myself to do some yoga breathing. "Calm down. You are fine. This is safe. You can do this. If you wimp-out you'll hate yourself and Clay'll never let you live it down." Okay, I'm a little calmer but the headache is worrisome as it could be a sign of AMS. Clay returns from his trip to the bathroom and I request some Acetazolamide. Then we snuggle into the cave for the night.

Day 12 - 3am
I have to pee. Can I hold it or do I really have to climb out of my sleeping bag, out of the cave, put on shoes, find the headlamp and walk to the outhouse? Uh, I get up and do all the above mentioned things and find the potty. Sweet, relief. As I'm using the facilities, I reevaluate the situation. So far the night’s gone okay. This doesn't mean I've slept much but I've slept some. And I've been relatively warm. Those feet warmers were the best $1.50 investment that I've ever made. I would have wimped-out awhile ago if it weren't for the feet warmers which kept me roasty-toasty. But if I ever do this again then I insist on a door or at least that Clay sleep next-to-the opening as every once in awhile I get a very chilly breeze that sends a freezing sensation down my spinal column. I walk to the yurt. Fumble around in the darkness of the yurt, trying not to wake anyone. Find my extra layers. And as I'm exiting, throw another log in the wood stove to keep 'em warm. Then I crawl back into the cave.

Day 12 - Waking at dawn and learning about Hoar

It's just before dawn. There are no birds chirping. The sun has yet to rise. "How much longer do I have to lie here in order to feel that I've made it the entire night?" Clay of course is sound asleep. He can sleep anywhere and through anything. If we ever have children, then there will be no sharing of nightly duties as it would be impossible to rose him from his sleep. Clay, the baby's crying....snore. Uh, Clay the baby needs a new diaper...snore. Clay the house is burning down...snore. Clay the house is burning down and your climbing gear is in danger...wide awake. Hmmm. Huh, I'm in a cave. What's my power animal? Something small but incredibly smart, feisty and strong. How bout’ a fire ant? hmmm.... These are my random ponderings as I try to distract myself from realizing that I'm sleeping in a cave made of snow.

I finally decide that I can get up and be assured that I made it through the night as long as I don't go back to sleep. I go into the yurt. Gabe's just left his snowcave as well. We revive the wood burning stove with some difficulty and had to resort to using Iris's mini-fire-starting-log. We need some practice. Looking around the room, it seems that most snow cavers did not make it through the whole night. I feel some warm pride bubbling up. The yurt crashers are dispersed on the floor and look like a gaggle of brilliantly colored butterfly cocoons all snuggled in their sleeping bags.

After breakfast we split into groups. Dr. Macias teaches us about avalanche rescue. Dr. Rimple and Alcock takes us on a hike and discuss terrain features. The Ortho doc teaches us about Hoar. Hoar is another term for snow and apparently there is a whole Hoar science. Interesting.

The day is pretty much over. We're all in the yurt eating lunch, defrosting toes, and packing gear. Dr. Macias is still outside and he starts blowing his whistle. Apparently, there has been an avalanche and we need to rescue some peeps. This means putting on my cold boots and snow gear. Ahh, Clay is missing. He must be part of the scenario. I don't have life insurance on him yet. Better go dig him out of the snow.

The rescue scenario was a bit of a cluster f$@%! Too many chiefs, not enough.... (that doesn't sound right, how does that phrase go.) You get the drift. We all wanted to lead and none of us wanted to follow. Finally. We rescue Seth and Dr. Alcock but Clay's still missing. I know he has his Avalung and that he's probably buried pretty well. Internal thought: "could he please stop volunteering for potentially deadly situations. I have to work on that." We finally locate him with the beacons and probe. Hopefully, he's luckier than Seth as he took a probe to the testes. Oopps. Yelena starts diggin with fervor but I'm kinda afraid that she might injure him in her haste. Plus, I'm pretty sure that she's kneeling on his legs. Hmmm..I realize that there isn't much for me to do. So I take a team and go back to the cabin. We get the hypothermia burrito ready for Clay. Eventually, they lug him back to the yurt and we wrap him up. Scenario is over. Everyone rescued even if it was chaotic. Oh, where's Alaska Sam?

Iris, Corey, Gabe and I decide to buddy up for the descent to base camp (a.k.a. our cars). We enjoy a leisurely pace, taking in the scenery, participating in some photo opts, and telling stories. It was a much nice hike down than up.

We rendezvous at the cars and half of us decide to hit-up Second Street in Santa Fe. When we get to the brewery, there's some live music. We enjoy some brewskies and relaxing.

Day 13 – Time Off
Slept!

Day 14 – High Angle Rescue
Dr. Macias said read the blog and it’ll tell you where to meet. I read the blog but my mind saw “Indian School Road” and shut off. I think I was just very tired yesterday and so I thought “Oh, it’s were we met before.” Wrong! We ended up being 30 minutes late and I HATE being late. Nice little adrenaline rush to start the day. I’d still feel bad but we weren’t the last to arrive.

Here’s the scenario: Climbing accident in Embudo Canyon. Maybe 6 injured. Not much more info.

The strike team departs the trail head. Kennedy, Yelena and Coughi are led by Jackie. They’re gone about 30 minutes. Everyone else is at base breaking into groups. Jackie radios to Seth that there are 6 victims and the approximate location. She describes some of the victims. We have a guy with an open fracture. We’ve got another guy with a knee injury. We’ve got a guy unresponsive. And I’m not sure what else. I didn’t have a radio and I’m getting deaf in my old age. We reorganized into smaller teams so that we’d have a team per victim. The hike was fairly easy except for lugging the stretcher with wheels. That things heavy and kinda awkward. You have to push down and roll but my brain kept wanting to pull up and roll. I know that pushing makes it easier but it seemed counter intuitive.

At the base of the accident there’s a guy with a knee injury. My team assesses him. We get him calm and brace his knee. Then his friend, a cute blonde, starts having a panic attack vs an allergic reaction. Hmm, I’m thinking allergic reaction as she’s been “stung by a bee.” We give her some epinephrine, steroids and Benadryl. She gets better. Sweet, two rescued and I haven’t broken a sweat yet. Seth scrambled up to the unconscious victim and yells down that he’s “dead”. Hmmm, maybe we should us a better word as the living victims start to freak out a little. Clay & Nate are involved in setting up a high angle rescue. They’re gonna have to lower a guy while bagging him. The rescue team at the very top also needs a stretcher-rescue device. (I’m having word finding difficulty, I know a stretcher is not the right term but my mind can seem to come up with the word.) So Tripod and I scramble up the trail around back to bring them one. There are 6 people taking care of the patient with the open fracture at the top of the climb so I let them do their thing. As I’m sitting watching, I notice a 6 year old boy that was just hoisted from a crevasse. He’s climbing back toward the danger zone to look for his mom. So, I go over and make friends with him. We sit and talk while is mom’s being rescued. What I don’t want right now is a real scenario involving this cute kid. Once mom’s out, then Yelena and I escort them down the climb. A little while later, the group up top has the guy all packaged but needs man-power to get him down. Eventually we get everyone rescued and we all worked pretty well as a team. Seth did a great job of keeping us organized and Iris gave us some good direction in the beginning when we were all about to wander off and do our own thing. Go Bestie! All in all this rescue went much better and we were done by noon.

Clay, Ben, Yelena, Corey and I made a quick trip to REI. Then we met Macias back at Embudo for a little bouldering. Macias had his youngest daughter and little Darrylito with him. He showed us some good boulder problems then scurried up a V3, tucked Darrylito under his arm and was gone. We worked on the problem for a few hours and only Clay successfully conquered it. We moved on to a less challenging problem. Yelena and I got pretty far up the problem but the end seemed quite sketchy and our bouldering pad was small. Clay kept saying “it’s less than vertical. It’s easy at the top. Come on you two and get it done.” Yelena and I said no. Clay went up and at near the top he said “hey, there really aren’t any holds up here.” Then he fell and hurt his ankle a tweak. Hmmm, why is it again that the frost bite ration in men to women is 10:1? We ended the day at sunset and took a few amazing photos.

Day 15 – Climbing at Soccoro

The weather threatened to turn ugly but we all wanted to get some climbing in. We met at Indian School Road and divided into our various caravans. I climbed in the car with my bestie, Iris. We were accompanied by Gabe, Dave and her doppelganger Fat Mini. Apparently, her family went to Disney without her and her mom bought Iris “Fat Mini” because it reminded her of Iris. Anyway, we were busy discussing Fat Mini as we pulled out of the parking-lot and so immediately lost the caravan. No biggie! We knew the general direction. When we got close to Soccoro, we called our fearless leader Jason. He said we are too rendezvous at the Cheveron. We pulled into the lot and he informed us that we were 30 minutes ahead of the others as they had stopped for caffeine fixes. Iris and Dave wanted to make a “run for the boarder.” Jason said to met him back at the gas station and to hurry. It literally took us 15 minutes to fulfill Iris and Dave’s Taco Hell craving but when we got back to the gas station, Jason was gone. Hmpf! Luckily, I called Lynn and we were able to rerendezvous with the other group. I later learned that Jason had not ditched us but that he began to have some food cravings too.

The climbing was pretty good. I decided that I’d lead the 5.8 as it’d be a good refresher in lead climbing for me and a good climb for some of the less experienced. As I was climbing, Jason made a comment about the 5.6 that I was leading. Man, he really knows how to ruin my party. I decided to focus on the climb. I was pretty sure it was not a 5.6 as Jason suggested nor a 5.8 as Macias said. I called it a 5.7 and the guide book agreed as a 5.7+. I was proud that I cleanly led the route after 2 years of a climbing hiatus. Then I tackled a 5.9 and 5.10 on top rope. All in all not a bad day. Everyone got to climb a little. And the weather held out. Oh, and I rescued a dropped Mike’s hard lemonade. I accidently dropped it on the rock and it started spurting so I rescued it with my mouth.
As we were debriefing, Dr. Rimple reminded us that tomorrow was “black Monday” and if any of us did not match, visiting students included, that she could help us in the scramble. Then she said “Erin, you have nothing to worry about.” (my brain said “what does that mean?”) The day concluded and we all got into our caravans to head home or to eat. In the car, Iris started hypothesizing Dr. Rimple’s hidden message. I didn’t want to read into it so I suggested we eat. My crew went to an amazing pizza place where I drank a little too much. Tummies full of pizza and booze, Iris drove home while I napped in the back.

Weekend 1

3/6/10 - Survival Skills at Cabezon & Car Camping

Driving out to Cabezon we stopped at Home Depot on the way up and picked up some survival experts, Eric & Brian. Then our 7 car caravan continued on into the wilderness. Watching Lambo navigate the large 15 passenger van over the bumpy terrain was slightly frightening. But everyone arrived at stop #1 safe & sound.

At the first stop we all clambered out of the vehicles ready for some fresh air. Eric told us to make a knee high fire using whatever tools we had on us, no going back to the car. Needless to say, few of us were successful. I don't think I even got anything to smoke. Tried rubbing some sticks together and hitting some rocks against each other like in the movies but nada. Next, Eric told us the golden rules of survival. Basically you should always carry something cable of starting a fire (aka flint or power match), signal mirror/whistle and a knife. Other golden rule as that you need a will to live. Next, Eric & Brian went over ways to start a fire. You need tender (finely ground stuff that lights easily, like crumbled bark or a cotton ball) and kenneling. You should always gather 3x as much stuff as you think you'll need. You should be able to start a fire within 10 mins because after 10 mins then you're hands lose dexterity due to cold. Some smart things to carry that work well for tender are steel wool, cotton balls soaked in Vaseline or turpentine wood. Next stack the kenneling in a tee-pee type configuration with a little opening. Light the tender down wind and then stick the tender under the kenneling - voila, fire. Eric & Brian handed out flints and multi-tools. Challenge #2 - get a knee high fire going in 10 mins. I gathered my tender. Finely ground it. Gathered some kenneling and went to work trying to light it. Alas, failure. Even with all the tools, I still died. Grrrr...this is harder than it looks on Survivor. But a few peeps got some roaring fires. We almost needed an extinguisher for Cory's rager. Afterward, we hopped back in the cars and continued onto the slumber sight.

Tents up. Everyone got busy putting up their sleeping quarters. Some were more challenging than others, especially since some of us had never assembled our own tents. Good thing we had some boy scouts in the group to save the day. Next we discussed water collection. We set-up 2 experiments. #1 Solar still - dug a whole in the ground about 3 ft deep. Placed a big can in the center and covered the whole with a clear tarp with just a little puckering over the can. #2 Transpiration bags - placed one black trash bag, one clear and one white bag over juniper branches. Guess which color bag worked best? Then we left to discuss catching food.

Making traps out of logs, rocks and wire is not as easy as it looks on t.v. Supposedly for every 20-30 traps, you yield one dead animal. The squirrel pole looked simplest so I tried that one. Basically, you set a branch against a tree where you think some squirrels might live then you make some wire loops and hope to snag a squirrel. No one caught anything so I'm skeptical of the efficacy. Lambo & Tripod even left their traps up over night but netted nothin. So then he passed around some meal worms. I swallowed 2 like a champ. Think I'll stick with bugs if I'm ever stranded in the wild. Seems much simpler than catching and preparing something. Right now, I need to concentrate on fire as I have enough padding to last a few weeks in the wild.

After trap setting, we checked on our bags. The solar still was a failure. I think we maybe had one drop of water. The transpiration bags worked great. The clear bag was the overall winner. There was about a cup of water while the black bag had almost none. Rules for transpiration bags - avoid poisonous plants. Otherwise, its an easy set up with a good gain.

Grub time. My superior food group (Gabe, Keri, Cory, Clay & me) made a baller meal of chicken curry with potatoes and naan. Then we shared some smores over the fire before hitting the hey.

The morning was time for orienteering. Before we again made outstanding breakfast burritos and packed the cars. Unfortunately, large rain drops interrupted my orienteering lessons. We had to make a dash for paved road so as not to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere - kinda ironic as that's the name of the game. Orienteering has been rescheduled until 3/17 but I won't be here. I'm doomed to being lost in the woods and freezing to death.

Survival Weekend

 

First Week

Day 1-3 in ABQ - Orientation/Basic Skills

Flew in from Costa Rica but missed the orientation hike. I hate missing things, its akin to my primary pet peeve which is lateness. First day was nerve wracking for me as lots of new people and I'm shy at heart. We learned rescue techniques like litter carries as well as splinting and traction techniques. We had some mock patient scenarios. Iris was our pseudo patient that was having AMI symptoms in Grand Gulch. We had to decide the best course of action. Later we had a suture lab and I taught Clay some simple interrupteds on Babe's foot.

Day 4 at Sandia Ski Resort - Hypothermia Day

Dowsed a few fellow students with cold water and the buried them in the snow. Some were lucky enough to be buried in the snow in the sun others were in the shade. We took control vitals like in any good experiment then monitored them during and after. Unfortunately, we only had the oral thermometers. No one wanted to volunteer for the more accurate rectal, wonder why?

Linda was the first brave sol to get dowsed and buried in the shade. Jason, Dan, Beth, John K, John F & Clay were the other victims. Clay's control temp was 95.5. Then I poured some cold water on him and we buried him. In the snow, he dropped down to 93 after 5 minutes then back to 95 after 10 minutes. When he was extracted from the snow his temp dropped to 90.1 when exposed to the elements. His method of rewarming was warm IVF & PO. Didn't really work so well. Eventually, stripped him of his wet things and bundled him up in some warm clothes. John K's rewarming experience went best. Lucky guy got wrapped in the burrito (trap, sleeping pad, sleeping bag then wrap layers.) Beth snuggled with Yelena and some of the guys commented on YouTube videos. But she got warm pretty quick. Linda, Jason and Dan got kinda screwed as well. Linda was given a blanket and some hand warmers chemical adhesives. Jason just got a space blanket. Dan exercised. John F was given the spa treatment - warm water in a kiddie pool with an attendant to gentle pour the water over him. He said it hurt but he sure did seem to be enjoying himself. Think if he'd had a beer he'd felt better.

Oh, did you notice how much Charolette and Keri (okay and I) enjoyed pouring that cold water!

After the hypothermia day, some peeps braved skiing and some snowshoed. I found a picnic table in a sunny spot and took a nap.

Day 4 in ABQ at REI - Gear/Tracking Day

I like an excuse to be in REI especially before any other customers are there and given free rein to pick out gear. Now, if I'd only have gotten to keep all that gear for free. I've decided that REI is kinda like my version of crack. We were divided into different groups and given different scenarios. Then released into the store with shopping carts to pick out the gear we'd need for the trip. Then we went over the gear that each group selected. There were some interesting choices like the grey parka with fur collar for winter backpacking experience. There was also some great color coordination. It was fun but I wish we'd gone over gear choices a little more or ways to pack lighter as I know I have that problem. We did get a very in depth "pooping" in the woods talk.

Afternoon was tracking. We learned some very in depth tracking terms via power point given by the experts in tracking, aka Boarder Patrol. Then we were let loose to practice. A few lead the way using their "cutting" skills and one of us (I think it was Iris) used her super "high sign" abilities to spot the lost victim (Nalgene bottle)

Day 5 in ABQ - Batcave Extravaganza (aka Simulation Center)

Broke out into small groups. My group consisted of Clay, Charolette, Iris, Dave and myself.

First simulation: Charolette took command. Our patient was 8+ months preggers with no prenatal, suffering from a seizure and sky high BP. Get that baby out, rush her to OB. Oh wait, we're in a small First Aid Clinic in the mountains and its windy so no heli access. Okay,Iris checks for dilation. "Oh Yeaaaaa" says Iris "This simulation model is awesome, feel inside." Well, let's hope you don't say that with your hand up a real woman. But she's right, this simulation model is dilated and the baby's coming. Get her some Labetaolol and Mg. Baby's coming, prepare to deliver. Oh, crap shoulder dystocia. Hmmmm... McRobert's, Wood's, Rubin's, or Zavanelli's. Which maneuver named for a dead white guy should we use. Alright, the baby's coming. it's out, patient's better. Disaster #1 avoided. Go team.

Second simulation: can you say cluster f@$k! We're in Hati and some crazy man has brought in his 2 year old with very high fever (40.1). Crap, I hated Peds and I never got to do much as parents don't like students practicing on their kids. Go figure. Okay, ummm.... I'm don't really remember what happened in this scenario except that we finally got the kid intubated and some ABX started but in real life, I think I just killed that kid. Sh!t, is intern year really only 3 months away.

Third simulation: Dave takes charge. Soldier in Iraq throw from an exploding pesticide plant. Hazmat gear everyone. Primary survey, check. We've got some tachypnea and tachycardia but airway okay right this minute. Strip him down and secondary survey reveals evisceration and shrapnel to the flank. Cover that wound, back board him and get him on the stretcher. Reevaluate his airway as he's breathing hard and appears to be in respiratory distress. Crap, his vocals are edematous and can't get a tube down not even with a bougie. No glide scope available. give him some Epi. Swelling has one down tube is in place. Patient stabilized. Heli transport. Another dummies life saved. Rock on!

Fourth Simulation: Iris mans the helm. 30ish yo male found down in the snow with low core temp and unresponsive. Primary survey, check. Secondary survey, crap his leg just fell off (this was our indication that he had a broken ti-fib). Ortho, splint that sucker. Strip his wets and wrap him in that burritoesque warmer. Oh crap, monitor shows decreased respiratory rate. Exam reveal muffled heart sounds and decreased lung sounds on the left. Needle decompression ASAP. Monitor now shows V-fib. Who remembers ACLS pathway? Chest compression until we can remember the next step. Okay, shock 'em. CPR. Shock. Sinus!!!! Wait to go team!

Fifth simulation: Clay's in charge. Poor chap as this one requires administration of lots of drugs that I can barely remember but he does great with the prehospitalization stuff. Teen male comes in after acting goofy and drinking a "tea" with his friends. We're in a remote mountain clinic. Primary, secondary survey = ""blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone." Atropine poisoning. Intubate and pysostigmine. Stabilized.

As you can read, our team ROCKED IT! (God, intern year is so close. Yikes!)

Hypothermia experiment