OJT

I am saddened by the circumstances which have brought me to Haiti, but I am thankful for the training I am receiving. I don’t think I could buy training like this anywhere. In 4 days, I have practiced splinting arms and legs, treating burns, treated gun shot wounds, cleaned and debrided numerous lacerations, and I even assisted in delivering a baby. I am glad I got my EMT certification, and I am thankful for the opportunity to expand my knowledge and skills here. Today I treated a gunshot wound, and I learned it is not like Hollywood--unless you can see the bullet, you will do more harm than good by pulling it out, so you just leave it in there. The patient who I cleaned and dressed the gunshot wounds for was so thankful he gave me a kiss on the cheek when I was done. Additionally, I met my bravest patient today. I had an 8 year old girl with a huge skin laceration on her left leg. So much of her skin is missing that she is going to need a skin graft. When I started removing her bandages, she stopped me and wanted to do it herself. She also helped me put clean bandages on again. If I had that much of my leg missing, I don’t think I would even be able to look at it, much less help clean it. I think she might become a doctor some day.

Humbled by Haitians

In the past, I often wished for a nice bed in my own room not on a ship. Sometimes it gets old sleeping in a bunk bedroom with several other people. However, this experience has made me very grateful for what I have. I am so grateful that at the end of the day I have a hot shower and clean covered bed waiting for me. Additionally, it makes me sad to think of the trauma all the children I am seeing are experiencing in their young lives. My childhood was all rainbows and lollipops compared to what these children are living through. It is difficult to listen to screaming children all day as I treat them and to think of the sad circumstances in which some of the kids endure, but I am glad I can help. I feel like I am really making a difference here in Haiti.

Stork Pin

Today, I earned my stork pin. I actually got to help deliver a baby, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. The mother of the baby was extremely lucky. I had been thinking at lunch that someone might deliver a baby and we should be ready. I put together a delivery kit and set a table aside in the operating room. Sure enough, a woman in a truck whose water had already broken happened to find me. I brought her into the room and called Colonel Dominguez, the doctor in charge. This woman was about to deliver. I helped her through the contractions for and hour and a half, and at 535pm, a baby girl was born, but she was not breathing. I found an infant size bag valve mask to try to get the baby to breathe manually. One of the army technicians ran out to the helicopter pad. The helo was about 5 minutes from taking off. They unloaded all the patients already on the helo and put the baby girl in. She was flown to the comfort where she was intubated and started breathing again. Being able to help deliver a child was an awesome experience I will never forget. I thank God that circumstances were as they were, and we were able to help save the child.

Multinational Operation

“I thought of you out on the beach today when I was having champagne and wine on my ship”, the French commander said to the German commander and me. US ships are some of the only military ships not to have beer. As I rode the motor boat in to the beach in the morning, the German commander emphasized that he could not go to much longer without a beer. He is having trouble surviving with our American dry ship policy. He even told me all the solutions such as the French and Italian ships we are near. I think he is very funny. He makes me miss Germany. However, I am getting good practice at German. I try to sit next to him every morning and evening on the boat ride to and from shore so I can practice my German. This gives me 2 fifteen-minute conversations in German per day. I am becoming quite fluent again.

Loading Up and Sailing South

This morning I was up at 0000 to start our special evolution of taking on several marine craft and landing supplies with helicopters at 0200. I stood watch all morning, and by 0900, we were ready to head south at full speed to provide relief in Haiti. The amount of aid and planning being put together is awe inspiring. After more than a year of training and maintenance, it feels good to finally set sail on a real mission. I have high hopes for this trip. I volunteered my EMT skills should they be needed, but I have a feeling the captain will want me to navigate and protect the ship instead. As auxiliaries officer, I have several major responsibilities. I am responsible for air conditioning as temperatures soar quickly as we sail south. Just this morning I had to take down 2 of my 5 air conditioning units because I got holes in my sea water supply piping system. Additionally, I am responsible for providing potable water and laundry machines to several hundred sailors and marines so they can support missions in Haiti. Right now we have the capability of producing 35k gallons of fresh water a day, but we are still planning how to distribute that water in Haiti. It is exciting collaborating with so many different people to plan a relief effort for Haiti.

Change of Assignment

The day before we set sail for Africa, we were called upon to head south to provide relief in Haiti. As we prepared to get underway, several news crews and admirals came onboard to give us a big send off. They discussed how well we had done in all our training and maintenance and how ready we were to conduct such an important mission. As we pulled away from the pier I felt proud of our sailors and our Navy. I felt ready to take on the world and use the skills I have spent 3.5 years honing to contribute my best to navigating the ship and fixing auxiliaries systems. It is both an awesome and humbling feeling to know you are representing the most powerful Navy in the world. Every watch I stand, not only foreign officers, but also fellow marine officers come up to the bridge to see how we do business. It feels good to know the captain trusts me to represent him and to represent our Navy.

African Partnership Station

We have been tasked to train African navies and provide community service projects to Ghana, Cameroon, and Senegal. This mission is very different from my destroyer days of hunting Chinese. I love meeting new people and my ship is a conglomeration of marines and sailors, as well as numerous foreign navies. I like teaching other people about my world and I like learning how other people view the world. Our ship has been loaded full with supplies and we are ready to set sail.

Introductions

“What is that you are eating?” the Nigerian captain asked me as I took a bite of my Rice Krispies Treat. “It’s a cereal bar with Marshmallows”, I replied, quickly realizing that he had no idea what Marshmallows were. I was eating lunch with Commander Krasse (Germany), Captain Osinowo (Nigeria), Commander Lord (France), and several other foreign officers on a Saturday afternoon. I was the only woman and the only officer under 30, but the captain had put me in charge of the ship and introducing this select group of officers to American ship life. This lunch and the many interactions that followed reminded me of cultural differences I hadn’t thought much about since being a foreigner myself in Germany, Denmark and Japan. This cruise is my first time inviting foreigners into my culture rather than being the Auslander myself.