This ship has a hospital
Remember last weekend when we had a few days with no posts and then Holly wrote a message to y’all? I was out of commission because I punched some furniture with my face (don’t worry I’m somehow perfectly fine). So let’s talk about medical emergencies on the ship!
The nearest hospitals are days to weeks away from us. There are 2 EMTs onboard (emergency medical technicians- the same as the people that come in ambulances to an emergency). Just like the other crew, there’s a single EMT on duty noon to midnight and the other one’s on call midnight to noon. Being an EMT is a side job for each of them- one is in IT and the other is a marine tech.
When I got hurt, Holly went and found the EMT on duty (remember Holly’s my best friend but also my roommate, and work- and roommates end up being default safety buddies in this environment). The EMT checked that I was movable and got me up into the hospital, on the 02 deck. The hospital is well-stocked and has multiple beds with cranks to raise and lower my head and feet. He gave me an electric blanket, which I will miss every day until we disembark and I get home.
I told the EMT some jokes while he was working because I use humor to cope, which he endured because he said it meant he’d be able to tell if I blacked out (I didn’t- lucky him). I was very fine but I stayed in the hospital until lunchtime the next day, "for access" said the EMT. This really means that just in case I wasn’t actually ok, they had hours to monitor me, figure it out, and make it better easily and quickly. There was a phone nearby so I could call in case things changed and the EMTs could check on me in the hospital without having to come into our cabin and bother Holly.
Just like in any crisis situation that’s been well thought through, there’s a system of structured decisions that the EMTs have to make when someone needs medical care. Does the off-duty EMT need to be woken up to help, or just told once awake? Is the injury mild enough that the patient can be treated on the ship? Do they need a consult with an on-call physician at a US Antarctica station?
10 out of 10 but do not recommend this experience- the EMTs made me feel completely taken care of, but let’s not do it again. I cannot emphasize how important these medical facilities are. If anyone gets seriously injured, the mission of the entire ship would become steaming to a research station on the continent with an airstrip. If we didn’t have the promise of medical care onboard, we could not do any of this science.
🏥 Virginia
The hospital! That one light doesn't turn off for safety reasons, which is my only complaint when I'm trying to sleep in the middle of the night, but I guess if it's for safety then I'm hateful grateful
Imagine me composing messages to you from this spot on the bridge, which is the only place I can function on transit days. My desk spot in the belly of the ship, by all the science labs, doesn’t have a great window and I get so distracted and anxious about missing seals and penguins that I can’t work.
Someone asked how long the transit was in real time that I posted the video of yesterday- it was about 3 hours.