Literally.
Here we have one ICU bed, ventilator, monitor, and all other accessories included. Shipping time to Guinea - approximately 3 months. Taxes not included.
This last week was a busy one, with 3 patients unexpectedly requiring additional minor surgery, and only getting discharged on Monday, the rush was on to clean, pack, and secure the whole hospital for sailing.
While many nurses left the week prior, those of us that remained (about 20 of us) spent the week scrubbing and re-scrubbing every single itty-bitty surface on the whole dang deck. No bed spring or cupboard hinge would be left unturned; no trace of MRSA would survive our antiseptic onslaught!
The fumes get to you after a while...I still have a bit of a strange tickle in my chest when I take a deep breath. A bit of ABBA and some good company, though, and the time flies by! If I ever find out who stuck all that tape to those partitions at the back in this picture, though...I tell ya. I spent a good 2 hours and half a bottle of Goo Gone on those things!
Once everything was gleaming and glistening, we began to pad and wrap and tie down every bit of equipment, stowing the smaller items in boxes and cabinets. Our syringe-driver infusion pumps got a little nursery made up just for them in the spare ICU bed. Here we see Mary rocking one of them to sleep.
And...then we smothered them with pillows and mattresses.
The nice thing about packing up a hospital ward with all kinds of fragile equipment is that there are also plenty of soft, cushiony things around to protect said equipment.
Now that everything is safely stowed and secured, no worry of it rocking or rolling about, the final preparations are underway for the ship's departure from Cameroon. Within the next few days it will set sail, making a wide berth around high piracy risk waters, before making a quick stop in Senegal in preparation for a future field service (2019-2020). Then, the ship will continue to Las Palmas, Canary Islands for dry dock maintenance. After that it will sail to Guinea-Conakry for the next field service.
I'm writing this as I prepare to go on stowaway watch for a couple hours from 0200-0400. I figure it'll help me transition back to Eastern Time. The bow and stern of the ship each have a night watch for the days leading up to the sail, to ensure no uninvited guests attempt to sneak aboard via the mooring lines...or more creative means. A couple years ago two stowaways were living in one of the lifeboats for several days before they were discovered, and then the ship had to sail all the way back to turn them over to authorities. Obviously not ideal for anyone involved, so we certainly want to prevent that. For watch we get a spiffy orange hat, a radio, a flashlight that weighs about 5 pounds, and - inexplicably - a slingshot? The SSO didn't explain what we are expected to do with the slingshot, nor is any ammo supplied, but he did say we aren't supposed to take aggressive action. That's what these fine fellows are here for.
I must try to get a little bit of sleep in before my watch. I'll be flying home soon - in fact I'll probably be in the air by the time this is posted. It has once again been a whirlwind of a time, with new friends and old, and I'm already counting the days till my return.
Once more, Africa...
À la prochaine.
Love, D.
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