Week 25--A Typical Day

There is no typical day at a forward surgical hospital. It's like working in a big city emergency room/trauma center 24/7/365. There are slow days where I get to the gym and the bazaar and hang out with the guys. There are other days where it is busy from dawn until late at night with traumas and surgeries and patients on the ward. And there are lots of days in-between. But every day is an adventure.

This week was crazy. Lots of days with lots of traumas. A few deaths. And a few quiet days.

There was one landmark today; Our longest-stay patient, Azad, has moved to our Afghan surgical hospital. He's doing very well and his family is visiting him now. His youngest sister in 17 days old. His family is looking forward to going back home. Their gratitude is overwhelming. The gratitude of all our Afghani patients is overwhelming.



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And we continue to improve the current hospital, even as we build a new one right next door. Last week we had a flood in the ER. So, we replaced the floor in the ER, raising it enough to so the next flood will go below, not above, the floor.







And every day the new hospital gets a little closer to completion. Soon, we'll be out of the tents and into a hardened structure.





No, there is no typical day here at the Salerno Hospital, but there are few boring days. Overall, it's a great place to serve Soldiers. If you like taking care of patients, there's no place better.

I'll try to be a more reliable blogger.

I'm sorry to the lack of a comment button. It went away, and I don't know how to get it back! :-(

The comment button is back. Thanks for all the advice.
Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Phillips, out.