K-9 Flight Gear

This K-9 has been outfitted with his very own goggles for flight.

This picture was taken at a base northwest of here.

Hey, I didn't say it...

Clothes Donations

Last weekend we spent over 8 hours organizing all the clothes donations that we have recieved. What you see here is only a fraction of what we have. When patients (military, civilian, adults and children) are brought to us, their clothes are often already destroyed, or cut off by us. This is so we can quickly evaluate what is wrong and where the injury is. With these donations, we are able to outfit the patients with clothes to wear when they leave us. Along with clothes, we have been recieving toys for the children, who are very appreciative.
We have not been seeing as many civilians as we used to, so we plan on giving any extra clothes we have to some of our military members who have contact with the Iraqis, so all clothes will be used.

Baghdad Mosque

The picture is a little fuzzy, it was taken through a dirty helicopter window. This is a HUGE mosque in Baghdad that is under construction, you can see not all the domes are in place. It is hard to see, but just look at the size of the building in comparison to the other buildings around it. Some of them look to be ~5 stories tall, but they are tiny in comparison...

Iraqi Ambulances

The ambulance below reminds me of the one from "Mother, Jugs and Speed", which only EMT's will understand the reference...

Update on Helicopter Safety in Iraq

Here is an article (CLICK ME) in today's USA Today on the spate of Helicopter incidents when we 1st arrived here, and what has been done to make our flights safer.

Stars and Stripes Photo

Here is a picture that was printed in the Stars and Stripes article in the 1st couple weeks we were here (see March 20th).

All of Us

A penny if you can find me...

Ward Meeting

Each morning the Nurses and Ward Corpsmen meet for patient turnover and to hear whatever may need to be passed. There were no patients on the ward, so we met here versus our normal location in the building
Recently our ward census has been very low, I hope this is a reflection of the improvement in the local area as it becomes more and more controlled by those Iraqis interested in developing their country peacefully.

10th Flight

Had a rather unique transport recently. I escorted an Iraqi VIP with significant recent trauma, in both a helicopter and a large airplane, in order to get him to a neighboring country. This was so he could receive a higher level of care in a civilian hospital. I have few pictures I can share, but the country I took him to looks just like Iraq. All Sand.
The flight involved 4 bases, one helicopter, one C-130 plane, and 7 hours. The picture is from the C-130 enroute to our destination.

NASCAR fan

This is a picture of one of the helicopters here, the pilot is obviously a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Normally the Commanding Officer's helicopter is numbered '00', but when you are in charge, you can change things up. Along with the number, the major sponsors for the car are included, and inside there are chrome kickplates. I have never seen chrome on a helicopter before, it was apparent that the flight crew took great pride in this bird.

Touring a Helicopter

Part of our quest to qualify for the Fleet Marine Force Officer Qualification is to get signed of on being introduced to a helicopter, and being taught how to properly egress in event of emergency. Boy, somewhere in my Flight Nurse Training I think this was covered...
Here I am with LT Stuart H in the back of a CH-46.
We started on the same ward at Portsmouth, Virginia 6 years ago. Small Navy.

And it's still May.....

A Bird's-Eye View of Iraq

I think I'm getting a little better making these things...

9th Flight

Had my 9th flight last night. Took an Iraqi Army guy to Al-Assad. He had a gunshot to both lower legs, the surgeons did a great job restoring circulation to his feet, which the initial injury had interrupted. Flight was smooth, no problems.
The heat has really come to the forefront when planning for how we package out patients for transport. When we first arrived here, we needed to take action to keep our patients warm. Now, just being outside will warm our patients, even in a helicopter with the doors open and strong draft. If you would like to simulate riding in a helicopter, I'd suggest sitting in front of 4-5 hair dryers, and turn them on (on low for a night flight, high for a day flight.) After sitting in front of them for ~30 minutes, you have now simulated a flight.

Yellow Air

About 2 weeks ago we had some high winds during the day, which in the desert means a sandstorm. After the winds died down, this is what it looked like outside. Quite unusual, I have never seen yellow air before. It is around 4:30 in the afternoon, several hours before sunset.

Welcome to the Desert.

And it is only May 6th.

The Nurses of TQ

It's a girl!

Huey brings a patient

Here is a picture of the 3rd kind of helicopter that brings us patients. I believe the official designation is UH-1, and has been around since Vietnam. We do not do any Nurse flights on this bird.

TQ Night Life

A group calle Bandshe stopped by to give a concert for the base. MWR (morale welfare recreation) does a pretty good job around here keeping different events available to keep busy. From bringing in the occasional band, having footbal players stop by for autographs, movie nights, sports tournaments, etc.