4 x 4 Madness
We spent two days learning how to drive and maintain Landrovers with Graham (Mr Landrover Belize). As well as being wicked fun and very useful his unending enthusiasm converted us all to being Landrover fans…we put the landie through its paces with off-road driving, river crossings, very steep winding descents and hill starting without cracking an egg behind the tire. We also got under the hood to learn how to fix things when they inevitably go wrong! We managed to complete the course with no accidents and only a few rally driver style scary moments.
Jungle Survival Training and Belt Kit Nights
Ten days of….trap building, fire lighting, shelter building, fishing, cutting down trees for food, learning about medicinal plants, killing venomous snakes, lobster trap making, hammock making, endless cups of yummy tea vine … all under constant attack by sand flies and mosquitoes.
One night our guide had to kill a fer-de-lance that was near our camp…he layed it out over a log, only to return the next day to find it was gone. A careful search nearby found a very angry looking snake with a sore head curled up nearby…after much mocking of Marcus (the guide) the snake was killed…again.
We all had an amazing, although very tough, time on our two belt kit nights…we were allocated our own little spaces about 300m apart on the river bank…the entire first day was spent building our individual shelters from 50ft cohune palm leaves. We all had a pretty uncomfortable first night getting munched by sandflies…despite our best efforts to deter them with our cohune nut fires. Frankie spent the day fishing and caught his own dinner, whilst not far away a cohune palm was being massacred…2 ½ hours of macheting later had enough for one meal…was it really worth it?!
We all made some home improvements to our shelters in order to have a more comfortable second night…although there were a number of spooky encounters with Mayan jungle spirits. Kent slept on, unaffected by jungle joo-joo.
Wilderness First Responder
One night our guide had to kill a fer-de-lance that was near our camp…he layed it out over a log, only to return the next day to find it was gone. A careful search nearby found a very angry looking snake with a sore head curled up nearby…after much mocking of Marcus (the guide) the snake was killed…again.
We all had an amazing, although very tough, time on our two belt kit nights…we were allocated our own little spaces about 300m apart on the river bank…the entire first day was spent building our individual shelters from 50ft cohune palm leaves. We all had a pretty uncomfortable first night getting munched by sandflies…despite our best efforts to deter them with our cohune nut fires. Frankie spent the day fishing and caught his own dinner, whilst not far away a cohune palm was being massacred…2 ½ hours of macheting later had enough for one meal…was it really worth it?!
We all made some home improvements to our shelters in order to have a more comfortable second night…although there were a number of spooky encounters with Mayan jungle spirits. Kent slept on, unaffected by jungle joo-joo.
Wilderness First Responder
We have previously completed parts of our medical training with Marcus so to finish the course we had one week of lectures followed by a mammoth day of scenarios to test our skills and knowledge.
Step forward medic number 1…got the IV in, treated a pneumothorax and stretcher carried the patient out of the jungle. We thought we were done for the day…but Marcus had other ideas. Next up….we were joined by a team of Belizean trainees and were set the challenge of a double casualty scenario in a cave. We had to administer IV, put on neck braces and spine boards and float the casualties out on a kayak. Again, we sat down satisfied that we’d successfully finished the task. But no, Marcus had more in store. Next we had to swim the casualty a mile and half down the river…while they repeatedly went into shock and cardiac arrest. The exercise FINALLY finished at midnight…cold, soaked and knackered we headed home for hot tea, toast and bed.
To achieve our qualification we then had to do 50 hours experience at Belmopan Hospital. We kicked it off on the Saturday night with a 12 hour overnight shift in the Emergency Room. One hour into the shift, our first stab victim was bought in…followed by a machete wound to the head and a non-stop stream of screaming babies. Following this we opted for day shifts! Throughout our time there we assisted the doctors in treating, dengue fever, swine flu, diabetic emergencies, fractured and dislocated limbs…and chronic hiccups.
We all had a great, if a little nerve-wracking, time and learnt a lot by practicing in a real life situation…just feel a bit sorry for all the patients we practiced IVs on.
Back at Field Base
Step forward medic number 1…got the IV in, treated a pneumothorax and stretcher carried the patient out of the jungle. We thought we were done for the day…but Marcus had other ideas. Next up….we were joined by a team of Belizean trainees and were set the challenge of a double casualty scenario in a cave. We had to administer IV, put on neck braces and spine boards and float the casualties out on a kayak. Again, we sat down satisfied that we’d successfully finished the task. But no, Marcus had more in store. Next we had to swim the casualty a mile and half down the river…while they repeatedly went into shock and cardiac arrest. The exercise FINALLY finished at midnight…cold, soaked and knackered we headed home for hot tea, toast and bed.
To achieve our qualification we then had to do 50 hours experience at Belmopan Hospital. We kicked it off on the Saturday night with a 12 hour overnight shift in the Emergency Room. One hour into the shift, our first stab victim was bought in…followed by a machete wound to the head and a non-stop stream of screaming babies. Following this we opted for day shifts! Throughout our time there we assisted the doctors in treating, dengue fever, swine flu, diabetic emergencies, fractured and dislocated limbs…and chronic hiccups.
We all had a great, if a little nerve-wracking, time and learnt a lot by practicing in a real life situation…just feel a bit sorry for all the patients we practiced IVs on.
Back at Field Base
Colin and Boo now have us working hard at field base preparing for the arrival of the Trekkers in November…it’s all looking really exciting now, we can’t wait for them to arrive and to get back out into the jungle!
