The first Friday Night

Yesterday ( typing this Saturday around midday ) evening a man was brought in by ambulance suffering an acute anterior myocardial infarct. Stabilise while on the ambulance trolley, await the two person crew's arrival, transfer to Cairns to be met on the way by ambulance intensivists along the way ( its about a 57 km trip via road from Babinda to Cairns ) with the plan to thrombolise the patient on the trip to Cairns. This is definitely not a level two facility and worlds apart from the experiences and resources one gets to take for granted in a Melbourne eastern suburbs private hospital ED.

Last night at about 1:30 am a 16 year old drunk, involved in a fight, presented for clean up and repair of full thickness lip lacerations. Not a bad repair I thought, but arranged for him to have his stitches out at Cairns Base in five days for a wound check and make sure my repair was in fact satisfactory.

Young woman brought in late afternoon with gastro, but not holding down fluids so I used one of my two acute care beds to look after her overnight ... nothing in itself unusual but her mother asked whether or not this was leptospirosis. Last time I dealt with leptospirosis was back in Shepparton with the goat herders and meatworkers. Apparently the rats piss on the bananas in the plantations and plantation workers are at higher risk of getting leptospirosis. That's my reading for the evening.

This is the house I am staying in while at Babinda. Upstairs living areas, down stairs "office space" and under the house a laundry - I am washing clothes right now, three days worth. I figure its prudent to wash every 2-3 days to keep ahead on clothes. Indoors at the hospital is relatively cool, and the house is air-conditioned, but outside the warmth and humidity is something that is not an experience had too often in Melbourne, but commonplace here. Its not yet summer or wet season.

The "green-ness" is quite intense. This is my view from the back door of the house. It's almost at the edge of rainforest, as you can see.

These are few shots from inside the house. Very nice facilities, three bedrooms so would suit the family coming up if I came back at a time that would suit this happening. Walking distance to the main street .. well walking distance to anything in town really. I just stocked up on fresh vegetables today, and this morning the shopping strip has street stalls all along ... home made cakes, BBQ, local vegetables, plants and crafts. I was a nice feel to be walking down the street.

Final picture is a view of my welcoming committee on the hospital entry steps if I need to go into the hospital after dark.

Yep - cane toads, and lots of them. Nothing I saw that was bigger than a frog, but literally dozens of them on open ground around the hospital and car park. They get much bigger than this.

Okay - that is today's chat. I will probably send to my blog this evening when I go back into the hospital for a ward round, and check up on my one acute care patient who I am hoping will be well enough to go home this evening.

Ciaou.