Midterms and guarding

The past two weeks have been a combination of mid-terms and guarding.

When we first got to the base on Sunday, we started studying for our midterms as well as start a new lesson topic on surgery. In case there is a war, doctors throughout the country are called up to go into the field and set up a field hospital (called in Hebrew Tzevet 10 or team 10.) Because the doctors come from many different specialty fields (skin, heart, lungs, brain, etc.) they might not remember how to do a basic surgery. This is where we come in, as helpful reminders walking them through the process. For example, we are taught how to perform a tracheotomy (however, we are not allowed to perform the surgery alone) in order to help a doctor whom might have forgotten how to do one.

We also spent the week doing triage exercises. Instead of us working in groups of three (where one guy is the medic, one is the injured and one is the checker), we worked in groups of five, where three people were the injured, one was the medic and one was the checker. The exercise was hard because there is so much you need to keep in mind and you usually get confused between what to do to whom when.

This training and learning class took us through Tuesday. Then that night, the commanders told us to go straight to bed and not worry about the midterms the following day because sleep was more important. Of course no one listened and we all stayed up till 12 learning. By the time I was done with my shower and made my bed, it was already 1 in the morning. Then at 1:15 (I looked at my watch because I thought that I had slept for a while) we had an "attack." All the commanders walked into our sleeping area and told us that we had 7 min. to get dressed, with our gear and our guns and follow them to an attack site that just took place. We all got dressed quickly and we eager to start. The commanders then lead us to a well light place and told us welcome to mid-terms. We all took terms trading positions as medic, checker and victim. Of course the commanders were overlooking us and grading us as we went along. The scenarios that took place ranged from a regular victim with a bullet wound, to a soldier on guard duty who was attacked with a white phosphorus grenade, to a guy who is suffering from hypothermia. The training went till 4:15 in the morning. Then the commanders told us to go to sleep till 12, where we finished the mid-term with a written test. Luckily I passed with flying colors.

Then next week and a half was spent doing guard duty. Like all my other guard duty times, the time went by fast but was very uneventful. The shifts were tough (2 hours guarding, 2 hours on the readiness team and 2 hours to our self.) The only exception to this was:

On Saturday night I was coming off a guard shift at 11 at night (the shift started at 9). We then went to the readiness team room to sleep a little before our next shift. While we were there sleeping (not long, only maybe 20-30min) there was an attack on the base. This time however was not a drill.

What happened was that four soldiers had gone out for the weekend (when they were supposed to close for the weekend) and came back to base in civilian clothing. The problem was not that they had left but that they decided to enter through a hole in the fence. The guys on patrol saw the guys and told them to stop. Once they ran, the patrol called us (the readiness team) and we went into action. We sent the next 3 hours closing down the base and putting everyone in a room. We then did a room to room search looking for the soldiers. Of course, we were told that they were four civilians and we didn’t know they were soldiers. At around 4 in the morning, we called the patrol into the room, where everyone was, to see if the intruders were there. It turns out that not only were they in the room, but they had changed back into uniform and acted as if nothing was going on. After the people were caught, instead of going to bed, I went straight to another shift and ended up pulling a 16hour shift with only that 20-30min sleep the night before.

As I’m sure you can tell, this weekend has been nothing but a sleep-in weekend, where I’ve been catching up on sleep the whole time. On top of that, I have been also monitoring my phone in case we get a call up to go help out in Haifa, with the fire. Please keep all the victims in mind this week, as we (Israel) continues to battle the blaze and stop the fire.