Final Scenario and then.....Haiti here we come!

I'm writing this exhausted and worn. Last night was our final scenario for RescueNet. And boy oh boy was it something. Our team of 14 people (some emts, nurse, and others with no medical experience) teamed up and split into groups to get ready for this scenario. This was it. This is where we put into practice what we learned over the past 2 weeks. 

So we all had our last class at the fire department in Santa Rosa. We were doing studies on calling helicopters in and setting up a landing zone. Crazy aigh? We finished our written final and then geared up for the scenario. I was put onto one of the medical teams after saying no to leading the entire operation. I like hands on and not staying on the radio the entire time. More and more now, I'm thinking I should have led it. 

This was the scenario. There was an 8.3 magnitude earthquake. We were called to a town where we didn't know how many victims there were. We arrived at a training facility where they train EMTs and Paramedics. We got out of the vans and hit the ground running.....kinda. There were a lot of people there! And our commander wasn't sure of himself. So it started out slow. I really had to control myself with not taking control and telling people what to do (I should have been the commander). We sent the search & rescue people out to triage. After they were finished, the medical teams were dispatched. We came up to a house that was tagged with two critical patients. The first one was a girl curled up in the closet. She was unresponsive and obviously in shock. So my partner Jared and I got her out fast to the medical zone where we treated her and passed her off to the nurses. We went back and found the other patient lying down in a tight room and breathing rapidly (40+). I did the assessment while others did vitals and held c-spine. We were in there for about 20 seconds when three onlookers came in and started messing with us and trying to get to the patient as well as the media asking us questions and taking pictures. Let me remind you that everyone, including the media, was part of the scenario. And boy did they get in the way. It was over the top, but the scenario was putting us in the WORST possible situation and forcing us to adapt and work with what we have. 

SO... this patient's vitals were badly trending. This told us something else was going on that we missed. We decided to get her out. So using a door, we rolled her onto it and strapped her down. This was tough, especially with all the other people getting in our way and us constantly having to get them out of the room. We FINALLY got the patient to the medical zone and went over her one more time. I found what I had missed earlier. She had a flail segment in her ribs which impeded her breathing. I should have caught it in the beginning! So that was frustrating for me no doubt. All in all, that was a frustrating patient and my team and I had to stop and take a deep breath before moving on. 

We went to the far house where we found a new room blocked by a deaf and mute girl trying to protect her brother who was unconscious and had a bad head wound. This one was tough! Whenever we tried to start helping the brother, the girl would get in the way, take our equipment, bounce on the bed, get in our face, hit us, etc etc etc!!! But my team and I worked together so well! We wrapped the wound, got him on the board, and carried him down two flights of stairs to his horror. HA. We rocked it in the face of just pure pandamonia. The scenario was truly stretching, and I learned a lot about myself and how to work with others. We all messed up somewhere, but we excelled in other places. 

I'm leaving to Haiti in about 4 hours. I'm excited to see what's going to happen! Thank you for all your prayers. If I can't keep this updated down there, then I'll definitely do it when I get back. Promise!

With Love,
Paul

We're Almost There!

Sorry about not updating this lately. But I didn't want to bore you with excessive blog updates on how my classes are going. So I'll probably break it up into two updates for these two weeks of classes.

There is a lot to learn in these 2 weeks! This is how a typical day is for me here at the RescueNet training. I wake up at 6:30 AM and take a shower, making sure not to touch anything, especially the ground with my bare feet, since the YWAM base opens up the showers to the homeless to use. Ick. We eat breakfast together at 7:00 and just hang out. Then classes start out with team/leadership training and worship for an hour. We then have different subjects for different days. And these classes go from about 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM with a few short breaks here and there! So it's just non-stop learning.

While we're here, there's a Discipleship training school going on as well. So it's nice to be able to go from hanging with people from RescueNet to people from the DTS who are more my age. So definitely a blessing!

So far, these are the subjects that we have gone over:
1. What is RescueNet
2. Christian Response to Crisis
3. Disaster Preparedness
4. Radio Communication
5. First Response Medicine (2 days)
6. Search & Rescue
7. Fire Suppression

Coming up:
Disaster Psychology
Disaster Child Care
Field awareness, Landmine awareness, Hostage Conduct
Team Organisation (Field Command)
Guidelines

So as you can see, there's a lot to cover in 2 weeks! As I write this, we have the nominated best fire chief in California talking to us about fire suppression!

Personally, I'm really tired. Not getting enough sleep plus all this learning just adds up. I think all the team is feeling the effects as well. The past few days we have started going into scenarios. These are supposed to put us into real life situations and force us to work as a team and put into practice what we have learned. For example, we had a bunch of the DTS kids volunteer to become victims. The proctors do all the make up and tell them what's wrong with them and pretty much create a multiple casualty incident (MCI). I was the leader on this last one for my team of 6. So we put into practice what we learned from search and rescue, to radio communications, and first response medicine. And it gets intense! But I love it! I love being overwhelmed in these situations and realizing what we can do better to make it all work. Out of everyone here, I'm one of the most learned in these areas. And I've found that I like to take control and do a very good job with telling others what to do in these situations and teaching them.

I have less than a week before we pack up and head off to Haiti! Then the good stuff will happen. I've talked with my leader, and asked if I could spend extra time in the clinics while I'm down there so that I can get as much experience as possible. I'll update this one more time before I leave. Pray for me and my team.

Thanks y'all,
Paul

And So it Begins!

I've been to San Francisco many many times, but each time I come back, I can't get over the sheer vastness of it. Walking down the street, you get marauded by different characters or homeless looking for a fast buck. All I know, is that I am no longer in Salem.

So I arrived at the San Francisco YWAM base as the Blue Angels flew above me. It was actually quite the welcome. I was further welcomed by some familiar faces: Rick Homeyer (Second dad), Rhoda, and Dave Mansfield. All people that I have crossed in my many outings. I got the run down of what this YWAM base is about and what they focus on. Even without being told, I could tell that they focus on the homeless. I got the grand tour and then found out what the next two weeks would look like. If you couldn't tell exactly what I was doing from the last post, I am doing a two week school here with RescueNet which is a first responder medical team. With this training and little bit more in the future, I'll be able to mobilize with them when a disaster happens in the world and go out and give mercy medical services.


Medical + Traveling + People = What I've always wanted to do!!!


So I'll be here for two weeks training. It'll be 10+ hour days of just lectures, studying, hands on, balls to the wall learning. It'll be more of a focus on urban disasters and what we will do. Example: If you were to come upon a house partially destroyed by an earthquake and you suspected people possibly trapped, you would proceed through the house staying to the left the entire time until you came back to the entrance etc etc etc. We'll then have final scenarios in the end and put what we learned into practice. And then Haiti will happen right after that.

Coming into this kind of thing is never exactly easy when everyone is new and you can't get too much interaction because of constant lectures. So it's all about throwing yourself out there and hoping you can get close to some people. It will come with time. And it's a fight to push away an overwhelming sense of loneliness in the midst of people. But that won't last for long.

First night is always the hardest.

PS. I'm going to say that God is amazing, and all the support that came my way made me tear up more than a few times. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and praying for me! I'll do you all proud and go all out! With love.

Paul

It's All Coming Together

As I sit here and type, the non refundable tickets that finalize my decision to go to Haiti are now bought. I'm going!

So a little background on why this is happening. First off, I'm a born and bred missionary kid. Traveling and being part of different cultures is in my blood. It's like food to me, and I begin to get antsy if I haven't been out of the country in over a year. When I was on my DTS in 2008, I was in Indonesia for 2 months doing the missionary thing, like speaking in churches and helping out in slums. One day, my team was in a bus driving to another church. While we were driving, I happened to look across the street right as a lady on a motorcycle collided with a car, sending her over the car, and landing on the street with a tremendous thud! She automatically went into convulsions and shock. Everyone in my bus wanted to stop, yet no one knew what to do. So we kept going and prayed for her. I can honestly say that that was the pivotal change in my life where I knew that the medical field was where I wanted be. Praying is awesome, and I believe God can heal, but I also know that he gives us the tools to help others with our hands. And I wanted to help not only in the spiritual, but the physical realm as well. Thus I pursued the field of paramedics and I am now licensed by the state as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

This is now the present. I have two more terms before my paramedic training starts, yet I only need one more term to finish all the classes that I need to apply for it. This left a good couple of months of me just twirling my thumbs. Ever since the earthquake in Haiti happened, I have longed to go and help with relief work. Then three weeks ago, I got a newsletter from a lady that my parents know talking about a medical team that she would be leading down to Haiti. I mentioned that I would love to do that. Weirdly, that next week, my parents met the lady, named Lori, who was leading and mentioned me. She called me up two days later and invited me to join them on the trip! I almost immediately said yes!

So this is how it is going to look. I'm going to travel down to San Francisco to go train with a relief program called RescueNet. They specialize in first response relief to catastrophes. They were one of the first first teams into Haiti and ended up finding a man under the rubble ten days after the quake! If I train with them, then I'll have numerous opportunities to travel with them in the future. I'll be there in San Francisco from October 9th to the 23rd. Then I'll travel with the team of 13 people to Haiti. And we'll be there till mid November. Unfortunately, I'll have to come back home a week early so I get back in time for paramedic interviews which are on the 12th of November.

While we are down in Haiti, we'll be doing clinics in different cities and neighborhoods. We will be bringing down supplies like vitamins that are sorely needed etc. We will also be putting on schools and teaching the Haitians about all things medical. I guess the best way to describe it would be that we will be loving on the people down there. And that's more than enough for me.

I'm going to try try try to keep this blog up to date! But the internet is, well, as you could probably guess, not the best down there. But you have my solemn promise that I'll do my best!