We Embrace Our NATO Colleagues

Kandahar, Afghanistan

Feting one of our Dutch NATO colleagues on his birthday

Or perhaps it is a mutual embrace?  We are a team after all, but the US Navy is technically running the show here at ROLE 3, after taking over from the Canadians last October.

Nowhere is it more obvious that we are a multinational organization than at "morning report."  At 0815 every day, all the physicians and chief nurses collect in the admin room, where the list of all ROLE 3's patients are on a white board.  I scanned the room this morning and noted physicians from the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, nurses from Denmark, and of course the US.  We run through every patient fairly quickly so everyone has "situational awareness."  Various accents take their turns, giving a three sentence run-down.  The surgeons and the trauma team then goes from bed to bed throughout our humble but important trauma hospital.

The XO is an affable, leprechaun-like man who always gets the last word at morning report, and he always comes armed with a joke.  He is Canadian and has a slight brogue, so the delivery is usually as entertaining to me as the joke itself.  Here was yesterday morning's joke:

"Three men living in the old folks' home had a heated discussion.  The first one said, 'I'm 70 years old, wake up every morning at 7am and go to the toilet to urinate.  It takes me 30 minutes to develop a stream!  The second man said, 'Ya think that's bad - I'm 80 years old, wake up at 8am every morning and go to the loo where it takes me 60 minutes to have a bowel movement!  The third man said 'I've got you all beat.  I'm 90 years old, urinate at 7am, then have a BM at 8am.'  The other two said 'What's yer problem then?' 'I wake up at 9am!' he said.  OK, guess you had to be there and hear it in brogue.

The new ROLE 3

Yesterday we got to tour the new and improved ROLE 3.  Exciting tour - the place sparkles.  There is a notable absence of equipment though.  Hard to believe we take the keys sometime next month.  Still, the chrome, mint green paint, flat surfaces without dust on them - the whole place has an "Aaaaah" feeling to it, especially when you've just walked out of the humble, old ROLE 3.  That humble place has saved many lives though.

The new ICU - love it.