Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Do all the firetrucks have IED's?

Via official channels, Ramadi is quiet. There have been significant crackdowns by the Iraqi Police over the past week, and daily critical incidents are down.
However, maybe there's more truth to my post about "Police gone wild" than I first thought. Monday is the day we lost the child. He was hit by the Iraqi Police. Tuesday, another civilian came in with significant trauma. He was also hit by Iraqi Police.
He came in obtunded with a GCS of 8-9. Anesthesia secured his airway, we gave mannitol (osmotic diuretic to decrease brain swelling), and hyperventilated him. I flew him to Balad within the hour. I knew this was going to be a rough flight when we started giving him doses of epinephrine before I left--not a good prognosticator. Anyway, I was able to get him safely to Balad via Blackhawk. I was so busy managing his blood pressure, heart rate, and end-tital CO2 that it felt like the flight was only about ten minutes. As soon as we touched down, I raced ahead to give report to the ED physician. They asked me where I was coming from, and I temporarily blanked and said "Al Asad". After a few odd looks, it dawned on me that I was disoriented from the flight, so I quipped "I don't know: Iraq!". Always looking to break the tension whenever I can.

Apparently there were significant explosions outside the base while I was flying. As we were coming back to Ramadi, I saw a few fires burning in the distance and a lot of IP vehicle activity...as of now I have no idea what happened. Heard when I got back that several detonations were felt.

If this pattern of running over civilians sustains, I'm going to suggest the IP's switch over to mopeds or something.....At least a gang of AK-47 wielding moped riders won't seem as threatening to the trauma team the next time the front gate "accidentally" forgets to clear weapons.

We also toured the Camp Ramadi fire department yesterday to find out what equipment and capabilities they have. Impressive.
After the brief, one of our anesthesia providers "Bob" asked with all seriousness "So, do all of the fire station vehicles have IED's?" You could have heard a gnat scratching itself as the firemen all looked at each other. One finally said "I sure as h... hope not!" Bob had meant to ask if the trucks all had automated external defibrillators (AED), not improvised explosive devices (IED). I can't do justice to how funny that was.....

5 comments:

Bag Blog said...

It pays to have a good sense of humor. I've seen pictures of whole families all on a little motorcycle with a board extended out the back to accomodate more kids. Now I can just picture in my mind Iraqi police with guns all balanced on a moped.

Anonymous said...

A gnat scratching itself? That was funny!

Anonymous said...

A bunch of IPs on a moped. Hehe. That is an unusual mental image. :-)

Thank you for your blog. I'm really enjoying it; I've added it to my favorites. And today, I passed by a neighbor who had a bunch of tacky lawn gnomes, and I thought of you. I don't know if that's the kind of mental association you were trying to create with your April 1st post, but there it is.

Anonymous said...

Carl, email me back! -Jen Love yoo :)

Debbi (no 'e' on the end) said...

Carl....

Wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you all this Easter Sunday. Hope you all come home soon. Watch for a package....will be in the mail tomorrow.