Today's Message Index:
----------------------
1. 02:18 AM - List of Contributors Coming Soon! (Matt Dralle)
2. 07:59 AM - Lou Tran (Robert Steele)
3. 11:57 AM - Re: Lou Tran ()
4. 12:31 PM - Re: Lou Tran (Robert Steele)
5. 12:44 PM - [PLEASE READ] Lists Pummelled by Cashette.com Debacle... (Matt Dralle)
6. 12:55 PM - Fallujah (nico css)
Message 1
| INDEX | Back to Main INDEX |
| NEXT | Skip to NEXT Message |
| LIST | Reply to LIST Regarding this Message |
| SENDER | Reply to SENDER Regarding this Message |
|
| Subject: | List of Contributors Coming Soon! |
--> Commander-List message posted by: Matt Dralle <dralle@matronics.com>
Dear Listers,
There are only a couple more days left until the official end of this
year's Matronics List Fund Raiser. At the end of the month I compile and
post a list of all the members that made a Contribution to support the
Lists. Won't you take a moment and make sure your name is on that
list? Its your support that keeps these Lists up and running 24x7x365.
The List Contribution Site is easy and fast and most importantly
secure. You can make your donation with a credit card, PayPal, or by
sending in a personal check. For complete information, please see the URL
below:
http://www.matronics.com/contribution
Thank you!!
Matt Dralle
Email List Administrator
Matt G Dralle | Matronics | PO Box 347 | Livermore | CA | 94551
925-606-1001 V | 925-606-6281 F | dralle@matronics.com Email
http://www.matronics.com/ WWW | Featuring Products For Aircraft
do not archive
Message 2
| INDEX | Back to Main INDEX |
| PREVIOUS | Skip to PREVIOUS Message |
| NEXT | Skip to NEXT Message |
| LIST | Reply to LIST Regarding this Message |
| SENDER | Reply to SENDER Regarding this Message |
|
--> Commander-List message posted by: "Robert Steele" <bob.steele@kzf.com>
Does anyone have a telephone number at which I can reach Lou?
Thanks
Bob Steele
bob.steele@kzf.com
Message 3
| INDEX | Back to Main INDEX |
| PREVIOUS | Skip to PREVIOUS Message |
| NEXT | Skip to NEXT Message |
| LIST | Reply to LIST Regarding this Message |
| SENDER | Reply to SENDER Regarding this Message |
|
--> Commander-List message posted by: <service@commander-aero.com>
Lou Tran 734-782-6604
Gary
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-commander-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-commander-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of Robert
Steele
Subject: Commander-List: Lou Tran
--> Commander-List message posted by: "Robert Steele" <bob.steele@kzf.com>
Does anyone have a telephone number at which I can reach Lou?
Thanks
Bob Steele
bob.steele@kzf.com
Message 4
| INDEX | Back to Main INDEX |
| PREVIOUS | Skip to PREVIOUS Message |
| NEXT | Skip to NEXT Message |
| LIST | Reply to LIST Regarding this Message |
| SENDER | Reply to SENDER Regarding this Message |
|
--> Commander-List message posted by: "Robert Steele" <bob.steele@kzf.com>
Thanks Gary!
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-commander-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-commander-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of
service@commander-aero.com
Subject: RE: Commander-List: Lou Tran
--> Commander-List message posted by: <service@commander-aero.com>
Lou Tran 734-782-6604
Gary
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-commander-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-commander-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of Robert
Steele
Subject: Commander-List: Lou Tran
--> Commander-List message posted by: "Robert Steele" <bob.steele@kzf.com>
Does anyone have a telephone number at which I can reach Lou?
Thanks
Bob Steele
bob.steele@kzf.com
Message 5
| INDEX | Back to Main INDEX |
| PREVIOUS | Skip to PREVIOUS Message |
| NEXT | Skip to NEXT Message |
| LIST | Reply to LIST Regarding this Message |
| SENDER | Reply to SENDER Regarding this Message |
|
| Subject: | [PLEASE READ] Lists Pummelled by Cashette.com Debacle... |
--> Commander-List message posted by: Matt Dralle <dralle@matronics.com>
Listers,
Just a quick note to say that I've caught the great Cashette.Com debacle of
2004 and have tried to clean out all of the pending List email queues of
all the "you are not yet on my Approved List" messages. There were about
117 of them queued when I noticed what was going on.
In a nutshell, this guy signed up for all of the Lists and had a "register
with my site" spam filter enabled on his account. When his account started
receiving List messages, it started sending back, "you need to register"
messages back to the various Lists which in turn went to the Lists which in
turn got sent to the same spam filter which in turn sent back a message
indicating that the List needed to register, and so on and so on until, I
suppose, the Internet just blew up! Sheeze, some of these spam systems are
so brain dead!
Anyway, I've cleaned out all of the messages generated by this thing and
put in a permanent block from this cashette.com website so that this
shouldn't be a problem any longer.
Back to Airplane Discussions! :-)
Matt Dralle
List Administrator
Matt G Dralle | Matronics | PO Box 347 | Livermore | CA | 94551
925-606-1001 V | 925-606-6281 F | dralle@matronics.com Email
http://www.matronics.com/ WWW | Featuring Products For Aircraft
do not archive
Message 6
| INDEX | Back to Main INDEX |
| PREVIOUS | Skip to PREVIOUS Message |
| NEXT | Skip to NEXT Message |
| LIST | Reply to LIST Regarding this Message |
| SENDER | Reply to SENDER Regarding this Message |
|
--> Commander-List message posted by: "nico css" <nico@cybersuperstore.com>
This is on good authority, folks. I know the people.
Because I have received this opportunity to aid in a proper understanding not obtainable
from most media, I have decided that I should. Please understand that
- having once been a naval communications officer - I have removed those parts
that might put someone in some jeopardy.
14 November 2005
Camp in Fallujah, Iraq
Dear Friends,
I know it's been some time since you've heard from me in this format. We have
been very busy with the push into Fallujah. The most of our work increased on
the morning of Tuesday (date removed). Right after morning rounds they started
rolling in. Wednesday was even busier, and it stayed that way for about a
week. At this point we've treated hundreds of casualties, both American and Iraqi
Army fighters, many insurgents and a few civilians. We here at Surgical
have treated the majority of all the casualties from this particular assault.
I've seen things I never dreamed possible - both in the positive and the negative.
The positive is the fighting spirit of the American Marine and soldier.
The first question they ask is when they can get back to the fight. The next
question is to find out how their injured buddies are. They may well have gone
a day or two without sleep and a long time without eating. They come in dusty
and dirty and bloody and with earnest trustfulness that we will make them better.
Invariably, when I tell them what needs to be done, the response is "just
do what you have to do, doc." We get that response even when we tell them
that they will probably lose an arm or leg or need surgery for other wounds.
The positives I see is a team of folks - many of whom have never been in an operational
billet, and most of whom have never treated trauma victims - rise to
the occasion and sustain the commitment and dedication this situation requires.
Several corpstaff worked for 48 hours without a break on the first wave -
as they cleaned the trauma bay to get ready for more incoming casualties, they
still had a sense of humor - and I've got a photo to prove it. Our surgeons
have done literally dozens of surgeries per day - some of them with only minutes
notice. We admitted and discharged and medevaced hundreds - with no patient
lost or misplaced or without all the right records. I'm not aware of any medication
error or patient complaint. Most of the staff are working 18-20 hour
days and despite this, I have not seen a single loss of temper, an argument or
emotional outburst. This team has maintained collegial respect throughout all
of this.
The negatives are the ones you could imagine as well as I, except that I have seen
it with my own eyes. I have seen it and felt it and smelled it all; I've
felt the burden of pronouncing more Angels than I ever want to do again. I've
lived the tragedy of seeing someone come in with wounds so severe that I know
their life will end this day. There is an ache that comes with seeing these
losses - I think of who will be receiving this awful news in the next several
hours and how they will find strength to cope and grieve and get back someday
to a place where they can see joy and beauty in life. I wonder how we will accept
completely the man who is incomplete - having lost arm, leg, eye or multiples
of all of these - and how that Marine will cope after being in perfect physical
shape with new scars and an imperfect body. I grieve for the insurgents
that are left to die by their own people and come in days later with rotting
wounds - they must feel a sense of betrayal, or perhaps they see only their martyrdom.
I would like to be able to talk with them and ask what they think and
feel as we gently and respectfully care for them. Do they still want to see
us dead?
Our work will probably continue at a very busy pace. There will still be pockets
of resistance and American casualties. We will probably see many more insurgent
casualties as our troops find them abandoned and forgotten in sheds, houses
and fields. The adrenaline that has driven the company will soon run low
- people are learning to take short naps whenever they can - and do so without
guilt. I took a short nap and could not sleep longer, so am writing this.
Our lives are somewhat constrained through all of this. In some ways we hardly
notice it as we've just worked continually. We are in flak/Kevlar anytime we're
outside and that limits our ability to run outside. The gyms were closed
for several days and are now open; the phone tents remain closed. Internet has
been limited to emails within theatre - that may have been lifted today. The
chow hall has been closed except for take out at breakfast and dinner. Lunch
is MREs only. The base is exceptionally quiet with most of the troops somewhere
deep in the city of Fallujah.
21 November 2004
I got busy with other things and set this aside for a few days. I took a day "off"
and spent it at the pool doing nothing but drawing and enjoying the sunshine
and fresh air. I promised myself I would not go back into the hospital after
I finished rounds and the morning work. It was a nice vacation - thankfully
quiet enough that we did not need extra people working.
The weather here is perfect Indian summer. Highs are probably 80's-90's and the
nights are cool like San Diego, but still pleasant enough for just gym shorts
for the walk to the shower trailers. We had rain several days ago and it washed
the dust off plants and encouraged new growth. I understand that we eliminated
the electricity for Fallujah so the night sky is even more spectacular
with little extraneous light. I probably haven't seen stars like this since childhood.
Things are generally back to our routine here. It's interesting to see the evolution
of war wounds. I suppose your average general surgeon has an intuitive
feel for this, but I'm watching and learning many things about wounds and healing.
I know all about frags, as we call them. Let me get you up to speed on
frags. You could call frags schrapnel but we've learned that schrapnel technically
refers to a specific type of grenade-type weapon designed by General Schrapnel.
The term frag refers to all the various types of fragments that can
injure a person, whether from a grenade, and IED or mortar. A frag is usually
metallic, so we use a lot of Xrays to look for them under the skin. A frag wound
may be large or small; we've seem some Marines look like they've been peppered
with hundreds of tiny fragments; some Marines may have a few large frag
wounds that could be fatal, and there are variations in between. When we find
a frag under the skin, we don't necessarily remove it - in fact we won't go after
it surgically unless it's in a joint or impairing nerves or blood vessels.
They may stay in that soft tissue for a lifetime; they may gradually work their
way to the surface and get extracted. All frag wounds are considered dirty
wounds - they track dirt and debris with them - so there is a chance of infection
in the wounds. We have to wash them out to clean them; sometimes that
means a trip to the OR to put them to sleep to wash out deep wounds, but it may
mean just a trip to the showers to soap down and then cover with dressings.
Everyone gets a shot of antibiotics to help prevent infection. Depending on
the severity of the wound, the Marine may need to be medevaced for longer wound
care - we medevaced literally hundreds of Marines for this. In slower times
we keep these same patients in our hospital and return them back to duty when
they are healed, but we could have filled our hospital to almost 10 times the
capacity if we'd kept all of them.
It's now several days since injury for many of these Marines and they are coming
back for wound checks. I'm learning that the pain from these soft tissue injuries
can last for a long time - it takes a while for the body to develop a "scar"
around the frag to reduce the irritation it may cause. All of these guys
are impatient to return to the fight and try everything to convince me that
they can still shoot their weapon and are ready to fight again. I suspect that
for every wounded Marine that we see there are several out there that simply
don't own up to having wounds so they can stay in the fight.
We are back to planning fun events. We have a corpstaff appreciation breakfast
this Saturday in which the officers will serve breakfast to all the corpstaff
in the chow hall. We're planning a dinner for all the doctors from the local
Battallion Aid Stations to show our appreciation to them. Each of them spent
many long hours with us during the surge - they were not required to do that
but they worked side by side with us resuscitating everyone that came in. It
was a good experience for all of us - some of these guys were interns a just few
months ago and now they are running trauma codes on critical patients and doing
a superb job. We've got another slide show set to music almost done - this
one will be simply fun! There are 5K, 10K races, bet pools for our departure
date, talent shows and plans to go Christmas Caroling in a 7-ton..
I want to thank everyone for their generosity in letters, cards, emails and care
packages. I've gotten letters from strangers and they tell me that one of you
has passed on the stories I've sent you. It's incredibly heartwarming to get
a thank you note from someone I've never met. It's a wonderful feeling to
know that there are many who believe in us. You may agree or disagree with the
politics of the war, but I see that those of us here have simply answered our
nations call to serve. I hope that someday the only call to serve in a foreign
land will be to fight hunger and poverty and that our only weapons will be
food, medicine, books and goodwill. But for now, the call is to a war with brutal
realities. I've received wonderful love and support in care packages from
(name removed) (2 really great collections of goodies), (name removed) (excellent
toiletries and inspirational items for the whole company), (name removed)
(I've already used the watercoloring kit!), (name removed) (coffee creamers
were the best! low-fat popcorn is a godsend!), (name removed) (several boxes
of pillows and pillow cases for patients, rechargeable penlights for the company,
and the much-coveted coffee cups), (name removed) (business cards, great CDs,
paper, photos, fruit, thumb drive, CD label maker), (name removed) (beautiful
Christmas stocking, book, Santa, and candy), (name removed (Christmas cards,
pillow cases, mags and toiletries), (name removed) (jelly beans, exercise gear!
DVD, CD, calendar and energy drinks), (name removed) (real silverware, candy),
(name removed) (heavenly Harry and David snacks - wonderful!), (name removed)
(pressed flowers, Halloween candy), (name removed) (a luxurious down throw,
peanut brittle, lollipops and cards and fall leaves), (name removed) (bath
set - mmmm!), (name removed) (magazines), (name removed) (a great box of teas),
(name removed) (Christmas cards), (name removed) (homemade cookies - to die
for!, jerky, candy, Christmas cards, toiletries, magazines) and a great card
from (name removed) representing the Northwest Navy Nurse Corps Association (everyone
knows that my best friends are nurses!).
I learned that I am living in the same room that T once lived in. T is my friend
who served here from _____ until ______. She's the best Physican Assistant
there is and I learned a great deal from her experience here. It's wonderful
knowing that I'm living in the same spaces she did - it's good karma.
I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Take time to breathe in all the goodness
around you. I believe that God will make sure that we shall not lack - for anything!
My love to all,
M
Other Matronics Email List Services
These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.
-- Please support this service by making your Contribution today! --
|