Yesterday we were working in an area that's a pretty decent drive from where we are staying. The area is poorest area that we have been to. The needs are overwhelming. This year a lot more people asked us if we had milk for their babies. It was hard to tell them that we didn't and somehow giving them a toothbrush didn't seem like enough.
We ended up seeing 142 patients, our highest for the week has been 143. It didn't seem like a lot, the pace was good but they came to triage as a "tribe." When the women managing triage poked her head in to see if we were ready for the next patient, she told me we have three families to see. I told that was fine, two triage stations were open and ready. She looked at me and said, one is a family of nine, the next has eleven and then seventeen. I didn't say this out loud but my inside voice was screaming, "17, 17, how in the world are we going to fit them in this room." I told her we can't have all those people in here at the same time and when I say people, the "tribe" was one parent and the rest children. Some how we did it. All three groups were triaged, seen by a provider and given the medications they needed. It all happened with as minimal amount of chaos that all those children bring.
On the way home, our bus got a flat tire. We pull over of the side of the road and our driver was amazing. Changed that tire relatively quick. We broke down in front of what turned out to be a some small military installation. It was up on the hill and we couldn't tell what it was. They drove down to make sure we weren't anything suspicious. It was a little bit of an adrenaline rush to have military truck rushing at you when you are in a different country. They were great tho. All ended well and we made it back safe and sound.
We ended up seeing 142 patients, our highest for the week has been 143. It didn't seem like a lot, the pace was good but they came to triage as a "tribe." When the women managing triage poked her head in to see if we were ready for the next patient, she told me we have three families to see. I told that was fine, two triage stations were open and ready. She looked at me and said, one is a family of nine, the next has eleven and then seventeen. I didn't say this out loud but my inside voice was screaming, "17, 17, how in the world are we going to fit them in this room." I told her we can't have all those people in here at the same time and when I say people, the "tribe" was one parent and the rest children. Some how we did it. All three groups were triaged, seen by a provider and given the medications they needed. It all happened with as minimal amount of chaos that all those children bring.
On the way home, our bus got a flat tire. We pull over of the side of the road and our driver was amazing. Changed that tire relatively quick. We broke down in front of what turned out to be a some small military installation. It was up on the hill and we couldn't tell what it was. They drove down to make sure we weren't anything suspicious. It was a little bit of an adrenaline rush to have military truck rushing at you when you are in a different country. They were great tho. All ended well and we made it back safe and sound.
