Woke up on my birthday (November 14), ready to start my first official day on duty. Luckily, I woke up at 8:33am, and the shower was available starting 8:30. Oh yeah! Much needed. I wasn’t required to report until noon, so I had a chance to do some yoga in the hallway, right next to the bin of sheets, then headed down to the cafeteria, where I scored some free coffee and oatmeal. Seriously, very gracious hosts at the hospital!

Great guys from Florida, Maryland, and Colorado…and also bunk mates. Great to wake up to these awesome, smiling faces.

I worked in the pharmacy alongside Mark, a pharmacist from FL-4, who had been working 16-hour shifts and sleeping in the pharmacy (which he still does) for the past 5 days. It was a busy day, with a 2-minute crash course in EMR (electronic medical record), some brief introductions, and then we were off. First day, 12 hours. I didn’t get to celebrate my birthday, but it didn’t really matter. I saw some real patients with real issues, so birthday celebrations were lowest on my list of priorities.

NDMS (National Disaster Medical System) EMR

Mark from FL-4, my partner in crime (pharmacy)

Mark became a new (1st time) granddad right after deploying

I finished my shift around 12:30am and headed up to the berthing (sleeping) room. I was the first person off shift, so I showered and cuddled into my new sleeping bag. Oh my! My own personal cocoon…heavenly. I pulled it over my head and was lying there quietly as people trickled in, tired from a busy day (119 patients).

Nobody saw me watching, which was oddly fun and interesting. Once they discovered me, I snuggled all the way in, heard the first part of the team meeting (at 1:30am), and passed out half-way through.

Nothing exciting to report, which is not a bad thing!