Hurricane Sandy Deployment- Day 2

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!

2012-11-015

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.

2012-11-018

NDMS (National Disaster Medical System) EMR

2012-11-016

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

2012-11-017

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!

 

Share