I Got Strafed!

Well, not exactly, but sort of. The cornfield about a mile to the west of me got sprayed by a crop duster today. He swooped up over the trees and flew over my house repeatedly. It was cool. I sat out on the deck and watched for half an hour. Then I decided that I ought to go inside since I could smell the pesticides.


The Aliens Have Landed!

Ok, so it's really hazmat techs in Level A suits being scrubbed down by a decon team in Level B coveralls. It was all part of a disaster exercise involving a simulated building collapse with hazmat contamination. We had about 100 patients with various injuries and the area county Emergency Management Agencies brought their toys out to play. Overall, I think the drill ran smoothly, but there were some hiccups as there always are. Nonetheless, it was a success, in my opinion.

Today's Disaster
Well, it wasn't really a disaster. Several people from the office went to observe a large metro health department simulate opening a POD (Point of Dispensing station). It was disorganized as these things always are. I took a lot of notes. They did some things well. Other things could have been done differently, but that's always the case with running live-scale exercises.

The day culminated with everybody from my office but me being escorted outside by security. I'm sure there were issues on both sides of that incident, but it certainly didn't go over well. Given that one of the persons escorted out was our new regional director, I'd say it's a safe bet that our department and their department won't be working well together any time soon. The director and the emergency planning coordinator were both livid. I missed the whole thing. I'm sure it will be re-hashed over and over again in the next week. I'll try to not let it affect my blood pressure.

OOPSIES!!!
I did a bad thing today. I forgot that my handy dandy smartphone was sitting in my lap on my fanny pack. So I stood up. Unfortunately the gravity bill was paid at that particular location, so my phone proceeded to introduce itself to the floor with some alacrity and force. This wouldn't have been such a bad thing if the floor had been carpeted or tiled. Alas, the floor was concrete. I'm not sure exactly how it landed, but I can tell you the phone didn't much care for it. Fortunately I believe in paying the monthly fee for phone replacement, so a new phone will be arriving next week. The phone insurance claim person, Clara, was incredibly helpful and very sympathetic. She said "Oh dear!" a lot and commiserated with me. I asked for her name and told her she was very helpful. I could hear her smile and possibly even blush. :o)

Another Interesting Overheard Conversation
Person 1: "Well, now you can see why there is such a high rate of STDs in XXX County."
Person 2: "You're right, there are a lot of black people there."

I hope my head didn't snap around in a noticeable manner. Person 1 did explain that that was not what they meant by their observation. I was shocked and even horrified that Person 2 seems to hold the belief that bad health outcomes are caused by being African-American. That would mean that there is no hope of actually improving the current health status of the county as long as the minority population resides there, which is a giant load of hooey.

Pool Progress!
Well, kinda. The good news is that the chemicals and pump that I ordered have arrived. The bad news is that the hose connections on the new pump aren't the same as the connections on the old pump. So I can't connect it to the filter. I'll have to go to the pool store tomorrow at lunch and see if I can get a hose with the proper connectors. Or get some sort of adaptor thingie. I really really wanted to get in the pool today or tomorrow too. It was a long week with the disaster drill. *pout!* (Knowing my luck, I'd get sunburned anyway, so maybe it's better this way. That's what I'm telling myself.)

IAP!!
I have been tasked with writing the incident action plans for the regional health operations center, should there be a disaster involving the health department. I also get to write the patient education presentations and other materials to be given out in the event of a disaster involving the health department. Cool!! It's good to have tasks.