It's been a while . . .

It's been a while since I've posted anything, I know. The dial-up connection in my room is very slow . . . there are over 1,000 people on station (74% male - not good, except for the women) and the public computers are very crowded . . . I was sick with the McTown crud for a while and I've been very busy since . . . the dog ate my camera . . . okay, the last one was a lie. But if you look to the left, you can see the type of photos my camera is taking. I tried restoring it, changing settings, connecting to the computer - probably not a good idea, it could have made my screen the same way, maybe - and finally contacted Kodak. They directed me to try all the stuff I'd already tried. So I sent them that photo. That's when they decided that maybe the camera had some problems. I'm not sure I'll send it in or not, have to find the receipt, no easy feat from down here, and by the time they get done and return it, well, I'll be headed off the Ice. I have another camera, non-Kodak, on the way but until then I'm at the mercy of other folks. The Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) was earlier this week. It's a drill to test the station's ability to handle an emergency with numerous victims that could overwhelm the station fire/rescue and regular medical personnel. People volunteer to assist in many capacities, stretcher bearers, security and medical recorders/observers among other things, and go through training. I really have been very busy with work, so I only volunteered for the walking blood bank, a list of blood donors should the need arise. However, for the MCI I also volunteered to be a victim.

The scenario was that two vehicle drivers were texting resulting in an accident. That isn't very realistic down here since there isn't cell phone service. No matter, there was an accident. About 20 of us were in the white vehicle, an airporter used to shuttle people to and from the air field. The other vehicle is a Delta with a passenger box mounted. It does the same job, but the box can be taken off and cargo hauled instead. Also, with those big, fat tires, it can go 'off road' out into the snow that hasn't been plowed or groomed. So, the Delta ran into the airporter resulting in injuries to all aboard.

As you can see, my arms and hands were badly burned. I'm not sure where the fire was, some folks had burns on their heads. Nor am I sure where the wood came from, there were several people with large chunks sticking out of their bodies. An Air Force or Air National Guard chaplain had a large chunk embedded in his chest as well as a lower leg bone sticking out of his boot. Naturally, there were shards of glass sticking out of people - one woman had a piece in her neck, she was ruled dead before she left the scene - and numerous broken bones and concussions, contusions, abrasions, and all that other medical stuff.

We were encouraged to ham it up and not necessarily be cooperative. Me? Uncooperative? Hey, the bus wrecked, I got burned, so I bailed out to find some snow to cool my arms. Eventually a fireman put me with a group of other victims, but then he left. So I did, too, wandering up the road in the direction of town and the hospital. The incident commander finally stopped me. He was the last responder between me and town. By then I was gettin' a little chilly so I decided to be more cooperative and catch a ride to town. Another fellow had been instructed to be totally uncooperative. It took three volunteer security/stretcher bearers to get him into the van and keep him there until we made it to the firehouse where the emergency medical center was set up.

Once inside, we went through triage. A tag listed my vital signs and labeled me as a category green - red was critical and black was dead - but for some reason I was put in the wrong area, laying on a stretcher on the floor. When the mistake was discovered, I was strapped down, and then four folks picked up the stretcher, hoisted it high to get through crowded areas and set it down on a frame about 4' off the floor. I could have walked, I'd roamed far enough, and the stretcher frame was across my shoulder blades. Anyway, in the photo above, you can see two volunteers checking me over. They said they administered pain killers and put me on oxygen, but I didn't feel any different and they expected me to answer questions. How do you do that with an oxygen mask on?

The totally uncooperative fellow was on a stretcher to my left, still carrying on, ranting and raving, trying to get away. I was like a lot of other folk, including my volunteers, having a hard time not laughing. Shortly there after, the drill was declared over. I'm not sure if it was a success; the responders all had a de-briefing session the next day. The victims? We were free to go get the makeup off, another not-so-easy feat. The special affects were fastened to us with putty. Putty gets pretty hard in cold weather and it really sticks to the hair on your arms.

This is a pre-disaster shot of all the victims. The three women in black in the center were the ones that made up all of us. The chaplain with the stake in his chest and bone sticking out is just to my left. The fellow all the way to the right with the white-rimmed shades was one of the uncooperative victims, although not the one I mentioned previously. So, the obligatory MCI is now out of the way. At Pole I was an observer the first year, a responder the second and now I've been a victim. Been there, done that, all over the continent. Hopefully my camera will make it in the next couple weeks. If not, I'll just have to go through the computer system common files to find some more photos other people have taken. That's where I got all of these. Well, except for that one up there on the left. Until next time - see ya, and I'll talk to you whenever.