Of Mice and CHU

Iraqi Wildlife: Part One

Across the vast expanse of barren wasteland called the Anbar province, there is little life to be found. An occasional fly can be seen seeking out the moist areas of your face--your eyes or mouth. Otherwise the hot desert sun keeps most creatures out of sight during daytime hours. When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, curiously fast lizards about 2 inches long from nose to tail appear everywhere. They scatter when you shine a light on the ground or wall. They are sand-colored, gecko-looking lizards and one lives on my window. His name is "Allstate" and he can be found every night stuck to the glass pane outside my CHU. I'm not sure what his mission is. I would like to think that he's there catching and eating mosquitos but I may just be hopeful.

Below the window where my lizard friend lives are several sand-filled barriers. The sides of these barriers are made of a wire netting and the tops are uncovered, exposing the sand and pebbles inside of them. On these barriers outside of my CHU live two mice. They are very small; their bodies measuring no longer than 1 1/2 inches. They are a grayish-brown color and quite cute. They scurry away behind the barriers at any sound or flash of light. As an experiment, I broke up a strawberry pop-tart and placed it on the top of one of the barriers to see if they would eat it. The next morning, every last piece was gone! Now when I come home at night, instead of scurrying away, the two mice sit on the edge of the barrier looking at me. I can't tell if they want another pop-tart or if they just aren't scared of me anymore. I am told by my Command that a lot of these 'field mice' have rabies. I have decided not to invite my mice neighbors in for tea and strawberry pop-tarts.

The most exciting creature I have spotted here was running across the gravel pathway between my CHU and the cement T-walls that surround our row. A small, thin, orange-and-white tabby cat ran from under my CHU to the next row without stopping to see if I had any tuna to offer it. This chance meeting happened during the day when I was coming back to my CHU for a drink of water. I was told later that other cats have been seen also--a gray one and a white one. The rumor is that the cats were released into our compound to control the mouse population so that snakes were not enticed into our living area. If that is the case, then I hope they release a few more cats here because I'm terrified of snakes especially the black cobras that have been seen around the hospital gate.

Stay tuned: I promise to keep you updated on the Iraqi wildlife I encounter here.

Chuck Norris and Me

When Chuck Norris went to Al Asad Airbase, his first goal was to meet SPC Olmstead (Magee). In true Norris fashion, he met his goal. He found his way to the hospital on post and proceeded to find this SPC. She was wandering around the hallways bored. When he saw her, he immediately asked for a picture with this lovely lady and his wish was granted.

What a wonderful day for Chuck Norris! :)

Update Email

Okay. I am pretty well settled in here in my little can or CHU (contained housing unit). It is pretty much a metal box or trailer that four of us live in. Each person is given a wall locker and a bunk. I was lucky enough to get a CHU that already had lots of extra things left in it. The previous residents left a mini-fridge, TV, DVD player, microwave, two bookcases, and plenty of plastic storage bins. We had to track down the previous residents and pay them for all those things but it was reasonably cheap--I can't complain. Some people here moved into their cans and the previous residents didn't leave anything at all. Like I said, we really lucked out. I have my area set up cubicle-style. In my corner, there are two walls--one with my bed along it and the other I have plastic bins stacked up. To make up the other side of my cubicle, I have two wall lockers and a bookcase that are arranged like an "L". It works out nicely. I'm not really good at estimating space, but I'd guess that I have approximately 6x9 square feet of living space to myself. I have a little coffee bar set up complete with an Al Asad Airbase mug that was given to me by the previous residents.

The electrical sources here are new and interesting to me. I have 220V power outlets in the CHU. The previous residents left a converter so that I can also use 110V power (that's what we use in the States). Its been interesting learning about the difference voltages. So now I have two different power strips under my bed, one for each voltage. Also, I had an interesting experience with an alarm clock I bought here at the PX. It was adjustable to either voltage and had an additional option for either 50hrz or 60hrz. I have never heard of that before. So, I assumed that if I was connected to 220V that naturally I would place the selector switch to 60hrz. I was naturally wrong! :) When my alarm went off the next morning at 0500, the time on my watch was 0634 and I had to be at work at 0700. That made for a fun morning. Anyhow, a nice girl in the hospital helped me out and now my alarm clock works just fine. Yay!

As far as living in Iraq goes, it's not much different than living in Kuwait. It is a bit cooler here than Kuwait, which is nice because Kuwait was hell. Haha. Mostly it is just windy and hot. Sometimes the sand/dust is picked up in the wind, sometimes it's not. It's very strange. Since I have been working nights, I have been avoiding the hot part of the day by sleeping in my CHU. On a side note, the other three girls in my can all work days and that a-okay to me! Anyhow, another difference between here and Kuwait is that you can see the stars at night here. In Kuwait, there was too much sand/dust in the air to see anything at all. I'm acclimated to this place already, it's really not that bad. We're headed out of the hot season now, so things should get continually better here.

Okay: my work. As I've mentioned before I work in the EMT section of our hospital. The EMT is just army lingo for ER. Currently, we are divided into two 12 hour shifts--I work the night shift. I volunteered for this shift and I really like the guys I work with. We are still working with the previous hospital unit. They are sticking around for a week or two to show us the ropes and then we are on our own. The hospital building is pretty nice. We have good equipment and plenty of supplies--I can't complain. My favorite thing is that the all the walls in the hospital are dry erase board!! So if anyone is at a loss of what to send me, you can always send me dry erase markers! That way I can leave fun doodles on the walls for the next shift. :) Moving on: The EMT is staffed with one doctor, 2-3 nurses, and 4-6 medics per shift. It just depends on how many are on duty elsewhere or have a day off. So far, we haven't been very busy. Most of my time in the EMT has been spent training on the equipment, paperwork, and SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). The previous unit will be leaving soon and then I will be able to see patients without anyone holding my hand. We haven't been busy since we arrived--mostly minor "emergencies". We did, however, have a canine patient the other night. Most of our patients come to us via a MEDEVAC helicopter and even though we are an Army hospital, we treat all military and civilians that come to us. Anyhow, the patient was a military working dog named Pattie. She suffered spinal trauma during a training exercise in Fallujah (I think). The veterinary team was here waiting for her. We didn't work on her, we just allowed the vet team to use one of our beds and some of our supplies. It was honestly not that exciting. Haha.

I'm not sure how familiar you all are with what I do as a medic in the EMT and I'm still learning myself. Mostly, I cut patient's clothes off, start IVs, obtain blood samples and vital signs, and do whatever the docs and nurses ask me to. I do a lot more over here than I could back home in the civilian sector. My scope of practice would be similar to a paramedic that mated with an LPN. Haha, that made me giggle. Anyhow, I'm not sure what to write here. I guess if you have any specific questions about what I do--just ask! :)

Well, I think that's all I can stomach for now. Feel free to ask me any questions--I promise to try to explain things here as best as I can. I will probably send out emails like this periodically, not consistently. :)

I miss everyone. I hope things are well for you and I can't wait to come back home.