Cruz Roja Chapala Delegation — A Tour Jan 2010

Presenting . . .Cruz Roja Chapala

 

Entrance.  Come on in!

 

The 4 bed receiving room...

. . .at an abnormally slow moment.

Nurses Nena and Paty and future nurse Sandy begging me not to take their pictures.

Didn't work.

Casting Room.  Oweeee

X-Ray  

Don't move, don't move!!!

La Sala de Expulsion with incubator.

No, seriously, that's what it's called.  

Oweeee.

The We're Watching You Room and Curación area.

Cubiculo de Shock

This is the really really really sick room.  

Sort of our Intensive Care.

With LifePak 12

Nurse Adriana cleaning airway equipment.

Supply Room

Dr. Armando charting.

Speaks English

ACLS certified and works in Guadalajara ER when not working at CR.

Good doctor!

Paramedic Quarters and Communications

 

Dr. Armando talking with medics on the way in.

There it is.  Stop on by and say hi if you're in the area.  

Drop a few pesos in the donation box, they subsist solely on donations.

Or, PayPal your donation to me and I will deliver it.

If you have used medical equipment that is good and still servicable or

medications that have not expired that you have no use for . . .

Cruz Roja can put them to good use.

Cruz Roja motto:

Seamos Todos Hermanos

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. . . Jan 2010

Whaaaa????

I told you.  

You can't make this stuff up.

My Father Was An Ambulance Chaser Jan 2010

BEING WHERE THE ACTION IS

And he wasn't even a lawyer!  He just liked to see the action, I guess.  I used to go with him, so I was just as bad.  Not much of a stretch that I became a paramedic.

The catch is, like most of what I've done in my life, I did it the hard way.  I decided to change careers from the food business to medicine at the tender age of 46.  A whole generation older than almost all of the people I worked with.   Just look around next time you see an emergency scene, average age about 25?  Not counting the old guy with the clipboard.

In 1986, when I first went to work on an ambulance, we had gurneys that had to be lifted off the ground simultaneously by both medics in order to load a patient into the ambulance.  Then once the patient was airborne, we side-stepped in unison until the front wheels of the gurney were on the floor of the ambulance.  

In order to get the gurney and patient up off the ground, both medics would stand on either side of the gurney, squat down, grab the lower rungs of the gurney legs, and on the count of three with both eyes glued to your partner's eyes. . .lift straight up at the same time.   Using only your legs, unless you were looking for a back injury and lifetime disability. . .

Now, with the modern gurneys, all you have to do is wheel the gurney in place with the front wheels above the floor of the ambulance, and then simply lift the undercarriage up to slide the patient and gurney into the ambulance.  Pretty sweet.  

Steve Berry from I'm Not An Ambulance Driver 

The first time I ever did this, in real life, was in the middle of a leafy tree-lined neighborhood street where a lady had fallen.  My partner and I squatted, grasped the lower rung, and 1 2 3 — lifted.  Well, at least I did.   I fell over backwards in the middle of the street.  Good thing the news wasn't there.  

My partner Keith had paused on the mutual lift technique, leaving me the bulk of the weight of this patient and gurney.  Cute.  Funny guy.   Thus was my intro to ambulance work.  

Note to self:  Trust no one.  

More 911 tales to follow as they resurface. . .

Growing Up Hawaiian Jan 2010

We did things differently where I grew up.

Not only did we do things differently, we were woefully
"behind the times".
Everything we had took five and a half days to get there by ship
— if you could get it at all —
not counting loading and unloading the docks and shipping strikes.

The latest movies and records were ancient history
by the time they got to us.

We didn't care, we were happy and life was good.

"Lucky you live Hawaii",  everyone said.

It wasn't until I got all grown up and moved to San Francisco that
I found out how different my growing up really was:

You played stick-ball in the alleyway after school. . .

we ran down the alley to the beach for a swim before homework.

You ate Jujubes when you went to the movies. . .

we ate Li Hing Mui (preserved plum) at "da' show".

You went on interstate vacations with your family. . .

we went for a ride-around-the-island and ended up back home in
3 1/2 hours.

Whether we wanted to or not.

You were named Jim and Bob, Smith and Jones. . .

we were Kuulei and Kimo, Sakamoto and Ka'anehe.

You went on picnics with fried chicken, potato salad, and jello molds. .
we ate "plate lunch" with mahi-mahi, rice, and macaroni salad
on the beach.

  L and L Hawaiian BBQ 

You wore penny-loafers. . .

we wore flip-flops.

While Americans debated whether to call

African Americans blacks or Negros. . .

we were called "The Melting Pot of the Nation"

and teased each other relentlessly about our ethnic and cultural differences.

Because of all that — I have the great good fortune of not seeing
people in colors.

 Kinda like this guy.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. . . Jan 2010

Nothing says


"pull-me-over-I'm-stoned-

and-I-have-20-kilos-in-the-trunk"

quite as well as this. . .

Happy Holidays and All the Best For 2010 Dec 2009

Nochebuena (Poinsettia) Christmas Tree 

City Hall, Guadalajara.

 Isn't it beautiful!

The Nochebuena is native to Mexico and was taken 

to the US by Joel Robert Poinsett.

Poinsett was the first ambassador to Mexico (1825 - 1829)

If you had told me last Christmas, that by this Christmas,

I would be writing a blog, and LOVING it - I would have said you're nuts!

I don't even READ blogs, why would I want to write one!

Well, here we are and I would like to take this opportunity to

thank each and every one of you for reading my humble musings 

and for sending such nice emails and comments.  

I absolutely love doing this and sharing my Mexico with all of you.

Meeting and interacting with fellow Mexican bloggers

has been the icing on the cake!

A very special thank you to the people who have trusted me

and supported Cruz Roja Chapala and La Casa de la Sagrada Familia

with their donations.  

I am humbled by your generosity and kind words.

I was inspired by a blog post written some time ago 

by Sparks that told of being lost in Mexico on a road trip

and stumbling upon a town called Santa Maria del Oro.

(Read all about it by clicking on the above link.)

 This simple blog post, resulted in 64 joyful comments!

Most of which were written by Mexicans living in the US, 

who were born in Santa Maria or had family there, 

and resulted in the networking of many many

friends and family members through the miracle of cyberspace.

My goal for 2010 is to attract homesick Mexicans from small rural villages, 

who are now living in other parts of the world, and reconnect them 

with updated pictures and news of their hometowns here in Mexico.

If you know of anyone who fits that description,

please forward this blog to them. 

Don't forget to leave comments, I love to hear from you!

Bloggers love comments.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR!