MEDCAPs

Getting used to military life is a big adjustment. I have had to wake up between 4am and 5am for the past 3 days! I spent another two days at MEDCAP sites since the last post. When we work on MEDCAPs, we have to “muster,” or meet, at specified times that are usually around 5 or 5:30am. Then our transport boats (they are called Bandaid boats, hehe) leave a half an hour later and the ride to the pier is about a half an hour. There is a Japanese warship that is protecting the USNS Mercy and sometimes they send their transport boats to help. I got to ride in a Japanese boat one time and the ride was much quicker, only 20 minutes! It is very interesting that American citizens are boarding Japanese vessels to enter Vietnam, considering our circumstances only 40 years ago. So on Wednesday I was at Phuoc Nghi, and on Thursday I was back at Nhon Binh. Both of these sites are fairly large, and every day they treat between 500 and 800 patients. The days go really fast because we are constantly working. I hardly have time to look at my watch, so before I know it we are eating our MREs for lunch, and then we are packing up and ready to leave. I love working at the MEDCAPs because I feel like I am really helping people, and I also like to stay busy. The only bad thing about it is the heat and humidity. The heat index is constantly over 100F and it has been as high at 111F. On the second day in Vietnam one of the pharmacists actually fell victim to the extreme heat. He had been out in the heat for 2 days, and drinking about 8 liters of water each day. However, he did not increase his sodium intake to balance the water and by noon he had completely stopped sweating because his body could not afford to lose any more sodium. So his body overheated and he almost passed out before another worker made him get in the bus in the cool air conditioning. The medic started bags of lactated ringers and half normal saline and they took him back to the Mercy for treatment. His sodium lab came back at a level of 119 (normal is 135-145). This was a big lesson for all of us and we started carrying salty snacks like crackers and pretzels to eat along with the massive amounts of water that we are all drinking. The MREs have a good bit of salt in them too, however it’s not exactly the most luxurious lunch, and we often do not eat the whole thing. Instead, we walk along the streets that are nearby and the Vietnamese translators help us buy fruit. I have tried so many tropical fruits that I have never even seen or heard of before. There is dragonfruit, mangosteen, rambutan, litchi, and many others. They are all really sweet and delicious. But by the time we get on the bus to go back to the pier, we are all really hungry again. When we get to the pier all of the providers and volunteers go straight to the bandaid boats and go back to the Mercy, but the pharmacy staff stays behind in the warehouse to restock all of the medications for the next day, and to prepack more medications if necessary. This can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours and by the time we leave the pier we have already missed dinner on the ship. One of the days, the pharmacy sent dinners for all of us in a box because they knew that we would be at the pier for a while. There is nothing like eating a full dinner in the dark on a boat that is bouncing up and down with the waves. It was an experience to say the least. So today I was off and tonight I have my first night shift in the pharmacy, so it will be interesting to see how that goes. Hopefully I can make it through the whole night awake!