The day started out with our normal routine, breakfast, (fruit, toast, juice and noodles) then off to the hospital via our van. Just like all the rest of the days; hundreds of people hoping to “win the lottery”. This is the hardest part of the day, walking through the droves of people in need of care, knowing that the chances are slim that they will be seen.
Today we did a lot of review and answering of questions. I taught an MCI class with START triage. After lunch we got into splinting. I found some old lumber under the auditorium bleachers, dug down beep into the old brain cells and taught traction splinting the old fashion way with a board and cravats. (When’s the last time anyone of us tried that?) You would not believe how they get into cravat usage. You also would not believe how vulnerable “the private parts” suddenly become once someone is secured to a backboard and defenseless. I’m also sure a few of the students have one longer leg due to excusive traction splinting. Good learning and a lot of fun in the process.
Some have asked about the food in Cambodia. I find the food to be a cross between northern Thai and Vietnamese ( go figure being we’re between Thailand and Vietnam) Not too much curry, a lot less usage of fruit and coconut milk and not as spicy as Thai, The main spice is green pepper corn, garlic, onion and small hot peppers. We all seem to have our favorites and old standbys, Jerry- fried rice with pork, Christina- Fried vegetables, Gary-Morning glory with beef, and me Fried squid with pepper. We do all share and sample each others dishes. I’m still in search of the perfect Vietnamese salt and pepper squid like I get in Portland.
I haven’t talked about the traffic. You know how we joke about Asians not being able to drive? Well it’s just that we don’t understand that they must be some of the best drivers in the world and long as there are no rules to govern what is done behind the wheel. Bottom line No driving rules. The vehicle with the most mass has the right a way. Center lines are a very rough guide line at best. Most intersections have no stop signs. The streets that are one way, have two way traffic. If you want to make a left turn, and you get to the right side in the oncoming lane way before the intersection and all of this with a zillion mopeds zipping between in all directions without control. The truly amazing thing is that it works! Constantly ( and I do mean constantly) we are no more the a inch from other vehicles, mopeds, tuk tuks, cyclones and bicycles all at the same time, coming and going from all directions at all speeds, and no metal bending. I wouldn’t even attempt to drive a moped here, let alone a truck or bus. We ask how many people live in Phnom Phen no one seems to know, but when we ask how many mopeds there are, the answer is one for every person. I know this can’t quite be true because we constantly see entire families on one moped, up to six people plus groceries. Rarely do you see a single rider on a moped and most often the passenger is a female wearing sandals riding side saddle and a male holding something very large (door, ladder, big TV ect) I’ve only seen a couple af mopeds fall over and all with no injuries.
If you want to read some of the other’s blogs you can go to http://www.oesp.net/ and see them there.
All for tonight
Andy
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