Temperature Control

Apparently my group brought cool weather and good internet with us when we came to Lunsar from Freetown. There are two housing options here in Lunsar, and I am staying at the Bai Suba Resort. I don't really know why it's called a resort, since I associate that with a beach, and there is no beach. But it's really nice. I have air conditioning, which I haven't quite figured out (thank goodness I brought my sweatpants), and a water heater, which I also have not figured out. Hopefully I make some progress with that tonight, because I'm refusing to shower until it's warm. 

We arrived in Lunsar Wednesday afternoon, and then Tim, the other nurse, and I went to the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) for a brief tour. They take your temperature before you enter, and I had to wait outside for a few minutes and let them recheck me, because apparently my first reading was "a little high." I haven't been told yet what "a little high" actually is, but I'm definitely curious based on the fact that at several police checkpoints the infrared thermometer has read me at 34-34.5° C, and the police seem okay with that. I know I'm usually cold, but that's a temperature reserved for therapeutic hypothermia.

Anyways, yesterday, six of us had a few hours of lectures on ebola from an epidemiologist. It was really interesting. And today our training continued with the donning and doffing of the PPE. We joined the group of local nationals who will be working in Makeni. I thought about writing out all the steps of the donning and doffing for you to read, but that would be really long, and I only want to type "wash hands" so many times. Maybe when I run out of ideas for what to post... 

We partnered up for this practicing, since you always have someone to help you get ready and make sure no skin is showing. At the end of the day, the epidemiologist told me that my partner is a survivor.

So the suit. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be! But we weren't in an actual tent, and everyone says we've had some cool days this week. But we put on the PPE and walked around outside for 10 minutes to build up a tolerance. Our trainers were expats from the Liberia ETC, and they said they only had one person pass out in the unit. But when the tip for avoiding it is, "Leave 10-15 minutes before you start to feel sick", I'm not sure what to do with that advice. At least they told us when to get out (or, leave so you can spend 10 minutes doffing): When your mask starts concaving with your breaths and/or you have to bend over to breathe and/or you think you're suffocating. Good to know.

In other news, Tim looked at my chargers and said I can use them without a converter. I was feeling brave, and it worked! No smoke or sparks. Not sure if that would've happened anyways, but sometimes I feel dramatic.

As I mentioned, we have internet periodically. It's just in the restaurant area where we get our meals. Speaking of which, tonight someone from home asked what I was eating. The woman who owns the resort, though born here, lived most of her life in the UK and is a fusion chef. So for supper I had shrimp and rice and cabbage. Always the rice. I know that sounds spoiled, but let me tell you about breakfast. Four slices of bread and gizzards. I thought another nurse was kidding when she said it. But she wasn't. And I knew I was putting the suit on today, so I had to eat something. It was a very big psychological obstacle for 6:45am.

Now I am going to go make a second attempt at getting my chair into the bathroom so I can be tall enough to mess with the water heater. I thought it couldn't be done, but Tim tells me he did it.

Looking forward to more training tomorrow and then supposedly being on the schedule Tuesday.