#38 - Black out

#38 - The Black out

Well they have been talking about it for a while...The flash new generator.  The fortnightly quality checks require us to go out to the shed, and test the generator, fuel, water, oil, switches, battery condition.  The Island has a good power source, and so does the hospital.  The telephone and communications, computer system and PABX all rely on a continuous supply of electricity.  For safety the computer and PABX system is connected through a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) system as added insurance.

Well this tale started last week.  A power surge caused our UPS system to start beeping.  The beeping was an annoying high pitched tone emitted every 3 seconds, and after a week of it beeping had become white noise.  Though it signified a problem in the Big electronics box out the back of the clinic, it had been reported but every thing seemed to work, so it's urgency to be repaired or even looked at was considered low priority.

Last night sitting in this very spot, the power to the island went down.  Nothing.  No radios, no TVs, no lights.  Even that bloody UPS beeping had stopped.  Bliss.  Pitch black, dead quiet, just the breeze through the almond trees, coconuts and banana palms.  The waves gently lapping at the coral.

It was an eternity but probably only 15 seconds or so, but the Hospital generator kicked in, and lights, TV, and air conditioners blinked to life.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  If the generator had failed then all the Vaccines in the fridge at the clinic would have needed to have been packed in an esky with ice packs, and required hourly temperature monitoring over night.  So you can imagine my delight when that generator came on, and injected a spark of life into the clinic. 

I booted up my computer where I was updating this blog, and the computer wouldn't connect to the server.  I made a cuppa, and tried again...nothing!!!  Now there is not much more lonely a man can be without company , beer and internet!!!  Facebook and this blogger has been my contact with the outside world.  I rang my family at home, to let the princess Amy know I wouldn't be able to chat to her on facebook that evening.  Phones were dead.  Our phones in the clinic and units are PABX digital phones, that use the computer system, and in the power surge last week that damaged our UPS, then the blackout and Generator boost that occurred last night, our telecommunications were fried.

Then a chilling thought.  If I cant make a phone call out, and I had a sick patient; how was I going to contact the medical team at TI to commence a Medivac??  There is no mobile service here, so that was not a go.
These challenges are all part and parcel for a Remote Area Nurse, and I was thank full that when the going gets tough, I can always fall back on my assessment skills, and primary and secondary survey.

If I just maintain an Airway, Breathing and Circulation, then no one dies.  It seems to simple, and I have been teaching these principles of "Pink is good, and Blue is bad"  for the best part of 1 and half decades, yet in my isolation that evening, there was a twinge of anxiety as I had to give myself my own pep talk.
ABC..as easy as 1 2 3.

You know, I have spoken to so many young nurses who claim that they couldn't do this isolated practice Remote nursing.  They are scared of what they don't know, but at the end of the day, you just do your best, and follow those fundamental principles, and if you can just maintain ABC, then you deliver a live patient.  It is sometimes 8-12 hours before assistance and medivac can come.  I know in my heart of hearts that what I do is not special or even specialised, and whilst I do have experience and skills, it is the basics that helps me to thrive here in the face of adversities.

I will look back on all these experiences as fertilizer, for the garden that is my career...Grow little jungle...grow.