A great day

This morning Sos had a visit from a relative of his from out in the village area were we went last weekend. She told Sos of the village that is “really poor” she said they have no wells and don’t even have houses. I gave Sos money to put in a well and some money that they will use to buy some clothes. Together we gave Sos enough money to drill four wells in the area. He thinks they will be put in as soon as next week. He also says a house in that area costs about $150. Looks like I may buy a house in Cambodia and change a families life.

We had a great day of training! To day we stopped on the way to class and bought several “sticks” about 5’ long. We also rounded up several long backboards and some rope. When we arrived at class again bad news: no ladder truck or fire engine hat could draft water. On the EMS side it was full on practical hands on training utilizing materials and equipment available on site. All those wilderness medicine classes are coming in real handy. Even though we are not in a wilderness area, improvising with supplies on hand.
We built stretchers using the sticks we bought and rope. Moved patients in and out of windows, over obstacles and under vehicles. The Australians have been teaching search and rescue techniques to the fire group utilizing many of the same skills. So you can guess what had to happen: fire -vs- EMS in moving patients through an obstacle course. I have never seen such fierce competition with so much laughter and so many smiles. It was a great way to practice the skills learned and build teamwork. The Australians are always doing some teambuilding exercise, we’ll hear laughing look out and see their class down to their underwear putting all their clothing end to end to see which team can form the longest line. Despite all the equipment and facility issues the students are learning a lot and gaining valuable skills.

Jerry after three or four years is also making progress, meeting with officials concerning communications and emergency phone systems. For an example if you dial “119” (the emergency EMS number) the call goes to Calamed Hospital. There is only one line, without call waiting, answered by one person between 10:00 and 20:00. In the off hours the line does not get answered. And we complain at home about our dispatch.

Gary also has some good meetings and made so valuable contacts with the hospitals and some NGOs.

We still have some of our equipment sent over, that has not cleared customs, and hopefully it will clear today.

My thoughts are at hope as the memorial services occur at home. I’m sorry that I am not there to say good-bye.

Tonight we had a great dinner, “Italian” go figure, and it’s probably the most authentic Sicilian restaurant I have ever eaten in. They fly in the meats and cheeses daily from Italy and the cost for my meal was under $8.00. To be honest I would still rather have Cambodian food.

Tomorrow the national TV news network will be at class to film for the evening news. Unfortunately we won’t see it we will be on a bus to the beach for the weekend.

I also bought a cheep cell phone so we can problem solve between classes and ect. So if you feel so inclined to call me my Cambodian number is 011-548-206 I’m not sure what the country code is to access Cambodia, you’ll need to look it up. Look forward to hearing from you I have 400 minutes to use in the next two weeks. Phone and calling card all for $20.00

Andy