Despite my use of the "Q" word in the last blog we weren't slammed. We had a few pts from the cannery and one of the cod boats, but nothing to be attributed to the curse brought on by using the word "quiet".
Despite our brief period of nice weather, we still haven't had a plane - too much fog. Now the wind picked up again from the north, so it'll be another few days (or weeks). People are starting to run out of meds again, and many of them are things I don't or can't stock in our machine. This forces me to either come up with an alternative or they do without unless they can borrow from somebody else. Either way, not ideal.
Yesterday after work I went for a nice run on the boardwalk and did my wii active thing in the living room. Trying to avoid getting in the "plop in front of the tv" rut as soon as I get back to the apartment.
Later...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
12/13/09
Today will be the 12th day without a plane - meaning nobody in or out, no mail, no meds or supplies shipped in and no labs getting out. Several folks are trying to get to Las Vegas for a wedding next weekend and a couple people had their medical appointments in Anchorage re-rescheduled due to not being able to get out. The wind has died down, now it's fog that's keeping the plane away. No boats are running between us and Dutch Harbor regularly, so people are just plain stuck. We've had planes 2 days in the past 5 weeks. All part of the Aleutian charm, I guess.
Things have been quiet at the clinic. (I'm not afraid to use the "Q" word.) We had our organization's Christmas (holiday?) party on Friday. The larger sites had catering and bigger celebrations, so we put together small presents for the kids and made pepperoni pizza for the kids at school and included them in our party. The kids had a good time and liked getting the afternoon off. Eastern Aleutian Tribes gave all the employees a nice winter jacket embroidered with the logo as a gift.
Things have been quiet at the clinic. (I'm not afraid to use the "Q" word.) We had our organization's Christmas (holiday?) party on Friday. The larger sites had catering and bigger celebrations, so we put together small presents for the kids and made pepperoni pizza for the kids at school and included them in our party. The kids had a good time and liked getting the afternoon off. Eastern Aleutian Tribes gave all the employees a nice winter jacket embroidered with the logo as a gift.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
12/6/09
Weather's been pretty windy the past few weeks. We did get a couple planes in in Tuesday to get caught up on a fraction of the mail, otherwise nothing. Winds have been constantly in the 40-50 mph range with gusts easily hitting 80-100 mph. Lots of debris in the yards, seaweed blown up from the water, shingles blown off roofs. This typhoon is supposed to hang around for another week or so. All the snow is gone because the wind is carrying rain instead of snow and the temps have been in the 40s. Here are a couple stories about the winds we've been enjoying:
http://www.adn.com/aleutians/story/1042218.html
http://www.adn.com/aleutians/story/1038525.html
Things have been slow in the clinic - mostly influenza vaccinations. Once planes arrive we'll have plenty of suplies to take care of. Not much else to do around here - satellites have been knocked offline by the wind and my Netflix have been watched. I've been playing lots of Scrabble on the computer and trying to study for recertification next year.
Later...
http://www.adn.com/aleutians/story/1042218.html
http://www.adn.com/aleutians/story/1038525.html
Things have been slow in the clinic - mostly influenza vaccinations. Once planes arrive we'll have plenty of suplies to take care of. Not much else to do around here - satellites have been knocked offline by the wind and my Netflix have been watched. I've been playing lots of Scrabble on the computer and trying to study for recertification next year.
Later...
Monday, November 30, 2009
11/30/09
Sorry it's been some time since I posted anything. Between being busy at work and having lousy internet connection at the apartment the blog thing hasn't happened in a while.
I got back to Akutan on Trident's freighter "Eastern Wind" a couple weeks ago, otherwise I'd be stuck a while longer. We hadn't had a plane here in almost 3 weeks I think. We finally got a couple Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, so some mail came in and folks got meds they've been waiting for. I got a COD box from Walmart to replenish some cannned goods. The kids have been enjoying the snow - lots of sliding down hills and pelting Darryl with snowballs.
I've been catching up at work with people waiting to see me once I got back, and end of month reports. I also carried back some H1N1 vaccine, so we've been getting people vaccinated, too. No cases in Akutan of H1N1, but once Trident starts bringing people back for the "A" season in January I'm sure some bugs will be carried over with them. We get people on the island from the Phillippines, Africa, Central and South America, so there is quite a diverse region represented. Trident's PA is gone now, so I am covering for any issues their EMTs can't handle.
I was busy all this past weekend. I had a few patients to see Thanksgiving and Friday and wound up having to Medevac somebody out on Friday. They're ok now, but we just can't take a chance on certain things. There are too many bad surgical things I can't do anything about here. The Coast Guard came in from Cold Bay and transported as far as Dutch Harbor where the Medevac flight took over and transported to Anchorage. Pricey ambulance ride.
I've been trying to get out and run on the boardwalk. Yesterday we had winds from the SE at about 60 mph - maybe more, but I don't fixate on the weather. Too much breeze to jog - I'm not very aerodynamic. I did 30 minutes in the snow today - much better weather to run in. I've run in -20 in Duluth so cold isn't a deterrent. I got a wii fit and active for an early Christmas gift while I was home, so I'm giving that a shot. I don't feel very graceful with some of the activities - I'm glad there is nobody to tape and put it on youtube.
Not much to take pics of with the crummy weather. I'll keep an eye out, though.
Later...
I got back to Akutan on Trident's freighter "Eastern Wind" a couple weeks ago, otherwise I'd be stuck a while longer. We hadn't had a plane here in almost 3 weeks I think. We finally got a couple Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, so some mail came in and folks got meds they've been waiting for. I got a COD box from Walmart to replenish some cannned goods. The kids have been enjoying the snow - lots of sliding down hills and pelting Darryl with snowballs.
I've been catching up at work with people waiting to see me once I got back, and end of month reports. I also carried back some H1N1 vaccine, so we've been getting people vaccinated, too. No cases in Akutan of H1N1, but once Trident starts bringing people back for the "A" season in January I'm sure some bugs will be carried over with them. We get people on the island from the Phillippines, Africa, Central and South America, so there is quite a diverse region represented. Trident's PA is gone now, so I am covering for any issues their EMTs can't handle.
I was busy all this past weekend. I had a few patients to see Thanksgiving and Friday and wound up having to Medevac somebody out on Friday. They're ok now, but we just can't take a chance on certain things. There are too many bad surgical things I can't do anything about here. The Coast Guard came in from Cold Bay and transported as far as Dutch Harbor where the Medevac flight took over and transported to Anchorage. Pricey ambulance ride.
I've been trying to get out and run on the boardwalk. Yesterday we had winds from the SE at about 60 mph - maybe more, but I don't fixate on the weather. Too much breeze to jog - I'm not very aerodynamic. I did 30 minutes in the snow today - much better weather to run in. I've run in -20 in Duluth so cold isn't a deterrent. I got a wii fit and active for an early Christmas gift while I was home, so I'm giving that a shot. I don't feel very graceful with some of the activities - I'm glad there is nobody to tape and put it on youtube.
Not much to take pics of with the crummy weather. I'll keep an eye out, though.
Later...
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
11/17/09
Stuck in Dutch - day 3 today. I was supposed to get back to Akutan early from time off due to an emergency, but could only get from MN to Dutch Harbor. The last 30-40 miles are the toughest to complete. Weather is snowing or blowing. In the meantime I'm babysitting the swine flu and other vaccines in an ice bucket in my room, replacing ice through the day. No refrigerators in the room and didn't want to rent one for $25 a day.
I will not go into details about the emergency. Some things are private and should not be divulged to the world in graphic speculative detail. Had I chosen to tell the world all of Akutan's business there was plenty to talk about over the past month, but there is something to be said of discretion. Some things should be kept low key and local. If the shoe fits.....
Out here
I will not go into details about the emergency. Some things are private and should not be divulged to the world in graphic speculative detail. Had I chosen to tell the world all of Akutan's business there was plenty to talk about over the past month, but there is something to be said of discretion. Some things should be kept low key and local. If the shoe fits.....
Out here
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
11/4/09
I was not supposed to leave Akutan until today, btu weather came in on Monday that looked like it was going to linger a while, so I called Trident and asked if there was a boat headed over to Dutch Harbor. They told me to be there at 2 am. So I got a coule hours sleep and hitched a ride with the Alaska Spirit out of Kodiak. They were offloading crab, loading bait and then going to Dutch to switch captains out. The captain asked before we left if I was "ready to get my ass kicked". What was normally a 5 hour trip took 8 hours - up and down, back and forth. I had a trash bag in my pocket to hurl into, but didn't need it.
Once into Dutch I made a flight yesterday evening and arrived in Anchorage at 9 pm. I'm working on some lab paperwork and going to Whittier tomorrow to check their lab equipment. My ATLS class is Friday and Saturday, then home on the Sunday AM redeye.
Below is a pic of the Alaska Spirit - thanks for the ride and experience!
Once into Dutch I made a flight yesterday evening and arrived in Anchorage at 9 pm. I'm working on some lab paperwork and going to Whittier tomorrow to check their lab equipment. My ATLS class is Friday and Saturday, then home on the Sunday AM redeye.
Below is a pic of the Alaska Spirit - thanks for the ride and experience!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
10/28/09
Things have been busy as usual at the clinic. I'm unwinding by catching up on some recreational reading and studying in the evening and pounding the boardwalk with my not so svelte frame on my runs. I leave next week for a couple weeks' training and R&R.
Apparently crab is for sale at Trident. They have 20 and 40 lb packages at $9 a pound. I dont' like crab that much - maybe if they had a 5# option. For the DC a couple familiar boats passed each other in the harbor this evening enroute to and from Trident. (see below) I guess Wizard was here a couple days ago.
Later...
Apparently crab is for sale at Trident. They have 20 and 40 lb packages at $9 a pound. I dont' like crab that much - maybe if they had a 5# option. For the DC a couple familiar boats passed each other in the harbor this evening enroute to and from Trident. (see below) I guess Wizard was here a couple days ago.
Later...
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