Training and Trauma

I know it’s been a while since we’ve posted.  And don’t expect this post to bring you up-to-date on everything that’s been going on.  Although mainly life’s been pretty routine as we wait for Jack to come.

A couple of highlights have been some training I had last week.  The first class was called SOS (Security Overseas Seminar) that Kristen also took in April.  We learned a variety of interesting things that hopefully we’ll never have to use but if we did would be extremely useful.  The topics ranged from what to do in a hostage situation, a fire, or a WMD situation (they didn’t tell us what to do if they all occur at once!).

The other class was Emergency Medical Trauma, which was really interesting.  The basic premise of the class was what you can do if a mass trauma incident occurs.  Examples would be a plane crash, a multi-car pileup, and a terrorist attack.  If something occurs, you should triage everyone by spending less than 30 seconds on each individual to tell whether 1) he is breathing, 2)  he has a pulse, and 3) he responds logically to questions.  If the person isn’t breathing, you skip the rest of the steps and move on to the next person.  Once you’ve triaged everyone, then you can go back and help “patch” them up while you wait for professional medical help (which in some countries could be a long time).  The techniques they taught us were common sense and they encouraged us to improvise when it comes to medical supplies.  I mean, I’m not expecting a box full of pre-packaged, sterilized guaze pads if we were in some countries.  They also provided each of us with a kit full of supplies, which is in our car, awaiting any trauma incident involving Jackson being delivered in our car.  We’re almost at 37 weeks, so you never know.

We also recently bought a camcorder and have it right next to our pre-packed hospital bag.  In general, I think we’re ready logistically for him to come.  We’ve got his room pretty much set-up at this point, Kristen’s washed some of his clothes, and we have diapers ready at a moment’s notice.

We’re also ready for him to come.  In the sense that we just can’t wait to meet him.  We ask each other every day when we think he’s coming, and we’ve promised that we’ll tell the other person if one of us figures out when he’s actually coming.

Kristen’s holding up very admirably, especially considering that for over a week, Jackson’s been sitting right on her sciatic never.  Which causes excruciating pain whenever she walks, rolls over in bed, sits up, or does just about anything.  It’s basically like having a pinched nerve which will most likely last until he comes.  In fact, last week she told me that she’s officially ready for him to come.

And if anyone else knows for sure when he’s coming, please let us know.  Kristen’s sciatic nerve and I would love to know!


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