Emergency evacuation from Guerrero Negro

One of our family mottos is "Everything happens for a reason". When Sirenita was recovering from a difficult birthing in the Guerrero Negro hospital, a nurse used a blood pressure cuff that was inaccurate and showed her blood pressure much higher than it really was...which caused the doctor to keep her in the hospital another day...we were really bummed as we wanted out of there so were very glum all day...I tried to get a voluntary release but NO GO!

About noon, a nurse came and whisked me away to the emergency room where they had just admitted Bill Gilmour who was vacationing at San Franciscito. He had severe abdominal pain and didnt speak any spanish and no doctors or nursed spoke any english.

So I managed to help out by determining his medical history...which was very...colourful and current condition..symptoms etc. They took some X-rays and were VERY concerned. They had no idea what the probem was...maybe burst apendics but not likely at his age...they needed to operate to see what was going on in there but didnt want to risk it because of the shape his heart was in. Luckily a good amigo of mine..the coroner in GN took me into the hall after seeing the xray and said "Shari, you gotta get this guy outta here...NOW cause he wont make it if you dont". Oh crap...after nearly losing my daughter a few days back and sleeping (sort of) on the hospital floor for days...I wasn't in the best of shape to organize a life saving effort.

But I rose to the task and began to investigate how to get Bill Medi-vac'd out of GN. He had Kaiser insurance who after an hour of phoning around said they could send an air ambulance.

The problem was that is was then after 2:00 in the afternoon so by the time they arranged for a plane, it would have been too late...GN runway has no lights and socks in with fog around 4:00 so he wouldnt have gotten out till the next day...keeping in mind what the coroner said...i conferred with the patient who had been stabilized and asked what he thought of my Plan B..which was to hire a plane from GN...he gave me a thumbs up so being sunday the office was closed and nobody had their number so I went to Capt. Chongs house to see what could be done.

His wife runs the business and she is one efficient lady. Within an hour they had a plane that could take a stretcher ready to roll... the GN doctor gave him some more pain medecine and a new IV..I called the Red Cross who came in their spanking new fancy ambulance and Bill and his companion buddy were in the air and TJ bound by 3:30!

They were met by another ambulance 2 hours later at the TJ airport and met at the secondary inspection station by a USA ambulance and taken to the closest hospital. He made it and his buddy flew back the next morning to GN to retreive his car.

Some things I learned were...medi-vac air ambulances are slow to respond because they have to get clearance, planes ready etc. so unless it is arranged before noon, the patient probably wont get flown out that day. In an emergency where time may save a life, i wouldnt hesitate to just charter a local plane, particularly in mid baja where there are no big airports for medivac planes to fly in and out of.

Next time, I would just go straight to plan B and not waste time. The cost of the plane was 55,000 pesos or $4,500..a hefty ticket but nothing if you can save a life...medivac was $14,000. It looks as if the insurance may pay for it too as it was a commercial airline evacuation.

So after that ordeal...we werent so glum...we were happy we were there to lend a hand. I left my card in emergency and said if they ever need help translating to just call.

Any of you who vacation or live in mid baja might want to have Aero Guerrero Negro phone # in thier wallet by their medical info....just in case. They could have flown right into san franciscito and saved him having to travel over that awful road in his delicate condition!
Their number is 615-157-0132 or (0137)...tell em shari sent ya!
Here is Bill and his buddy loading into the new ambulance...they dont charge but ask for a donation!

Shari to the rescue ...... again.
Shari you ROCK !!!

Do I understand correctly- Aero Guerrero Negro will land on dirt runways ?

That would be HUGE!

We maintain International Evac insurance, Binational Emergency membership, US insurance, a satellite phone since we rarely have Telcel service and Skype is unpredictable on sat. internet, and have a few contingency plans in case of emergencies but the hitch in all of our well-laid plans is how would we get from here in the boonies to where an evac plane could land and could we make the 3hr drive on the washboard and potholed roads to the nearest hospital??

I never thought about using a local, or semi-local, charter service.

I've picked up some useful info on Nomad over the years, but this by far may be the most valuable ever. I can't thank you enough for your story Shari.

And I love how your coroner friend told you "you have to get this guy out of here". Nothing like a little pressure.

Buen trabajo

Wow! What a week you had. Good work! I have printed out the information for my wallet and also added this sting to "my favorites" in The BajaNomad.

Thank you, Shari!
Tony

Thank you Shari!

Oladulce...yes, this IS big...I learned so much about air-vacs and was looking forward to sharing it with you all...especially those in the central baja...the fish and surf camp folks. I wasnt looking for praise (but it sure feels good to get it!!) but this info could save someones life.

The fact that Aero GN is a registered airline is helpful...only drawback is if you want a doctor or medic to accompany you...you pay extra. The owners of the company are very professional..stop by and see them at their office across the street from Malarrimo and tell em Shari sent ya! They would be happy to answer your questions about available planes they operate.

I'm told I have pretty good bedside humour....I got Bill to smile when I told him the news about being home for dinner!!

Uhhhh, that would be "Studette"

Something Works in Mysterious Ways

GREAT JOB SHARI - HUGS GIRL!

he's BIG and I'm sleepy!! hehe we are both doing very well ty, I have not done much posting since most of the time my hands are occupied but all is well so far!

I'm one proud girl to have a mama such as mine, and I can only hope to be as good with Izaak as she is with me!

It takes time and lots of patience to get through the systems down here but where there is a will there is a way! Good job mom!

You'll do just fine. You've had a good teacher.

Thanks for the update... Kaiser rocks!

Thanks, Shari, that makes total sense. Same thing happened to me when I was 3 years old and the pediatrician poo-pooed my mother's concerns on the phone saying it couldn't be appenicitis at that age. "Give him an enema. It's just gas" Luckily she didn't but the pain intensified until it burst and the diagnosis and surgery was immediate when we went to the emergency room. The attending doctor could tell as soon as he put his hand on my abdomen. Don't remember much from that age but I do remember the pain.

Good on you Shari for acting quickly and helping to save this man's life!

Demand investigation of airplanes that crash

Awesome ........

Hi there. Here's a sunrise perspective from today-



and one of my employees preparing for the day-



I have lived in many places throughout the US and I have to say none of them are like this place. I thank everything to have this opportunity and I thank the sun, moon, stars and spirits that I and my family are cien porciento healthy. I think there are things that can be done to prevent illness and that those things are abundant right here if you can find them. It must be done on an individual basis and cannot be learned. The tricks are to slow down and enjoy what's around us and maintain a good sense of humor, be strong and have a good sense of survival, be able to change plans when needed, etc. Many of these things are part of what we bring here and this keeps us together and discussing.

I have a unique medical experience. I hate hospitals and avoid them like the plague, I can think fast and study a lot, so... when I was with child the first time in 2000 I found out that most women in Loreto have their babies in Ciudad Constitucion, or La Paz. Well I thought the nearest is two hours away and what if the baby comes out on the road at some point in between? So I bought some books to prepare for the event. I connected to the internet for advice and decided to stay away from the people (usually women) who feared child birth.

I hired a doctor and did regular check-ups with periodic ultrasounds. This was in Ciudad Constitucion as there was no ultrasound in Loreto. At the same time I hired a midwife in Loreto. And of course I was studying and could deliver my own kid if I had to. I was impressed at the accuracy of Susanah's (midwife) description of the position of the baby inside me after seeing an ultrasound then going to to her afterwards. My baby was due near Easter Sunday. Well to make a long story short, Damiana decided she wanted out on Easter Sunday. Susanna was bailing on me and headed for La Paz and I had her in the hospital in front of the PEMEX station. I hate hospitals so my memories aren't too fond of the process but the nurses were wonderful. They really helped me learn how to start Damiana on breastfeeding and I carried this on to my next child. My one night stay and charges were 500 pesos and a case of cold Tecate that my husband and the doctor who worked on Easter Sunday shared after his duty was through. Damiana was born just before midnight and the new shift started at midnight, how convenient was that? Well for me it was 19 hours of labor and a hell ride from colonia Zaragoza to the hospital.

Enzl was due in late September 2002 and Susana wasn't going anywhere. I had been to the doctor in Constitucion for check ups and ultrasounds but I was relying on Susanah. She was very accurate on when he would come into the world and although the doctor predicted September 29th, Susana told me September 19th.

06:59 September 19th- I didn't have any boats out and I had fished for Dorado the day before and early in the morning I heard this annoying dog barking so I got up to chase it away. On the way back to bed I felt that very familiar sensation. Some call it pain but its more like an intense wave of strong energy, then it came again and I grabbed my watch. Again, they were coming a consistent 1 and a half minutes apart. So I told my husband to get out of bed and get Susanah.

He was in the bathroom when the water broke and I was looking out the bedroom window at a sunrise that looked a bit more intense than todays was. There were some large storm clouds and they covered the sun when Enzl was born. I asked Damiana who was two and a half at the time to go and get me a large ranch blanket. And I told her to send our curious doberman outside for awhile.

When Francisco got out of the bathroom I told him to go and get Susanah and take Damiana with him. I still heard the truck going down the bumpy road up the hill when Enzl's head popped out. I put a firm hand on his little cabeza then the rest of him slid out. He was still blue as he had just left a life of suspension in amniotic fluid, so I cleared out the inside of his little mouth turned him over on his stomach and gently massaged him over the heart. The pink rushed from his heart and his chest up to his head and his limbs. I've seen calamari do this. Then he opened his eyes and yelled for a few seconds, took a deep breath and then cried consistently. It was 07:19.

His cord was so short, thick and still pulsating that I could only hold him near my knees. So I sat on the floor and then my neighbor walked in. She heard some weird noise like someone moaning and I told her to come over and have a look. Was a surprise for sure. Then Susanah, Francisco and Damiana came in right behind to see the little package I had to show off.

Susannah dealt with separating us, she cleaned up my house and drank a bottle of rum with Juanita my neighbor. She injected me with ergot to help with clotting after the placenta came out. And she wouldn't let me go out fishing. I wanted to go fishing just to say I could, because I felt absolutely no pain and I could have hiked Las Parras cañon that day. Susanah made me rest and lay down with the baby she said this would be my last chance to do this for the next 18 years and she was sure right about that!

Getting Enzl's birth certificate and legal papers were easy because there are still ranch women who have their children in the campo. Susanah always had ladies ready to "explode" around her house in colonia Zaragoza. Susanah was also a curandera and she was very knowlegable about the local medicinal properties of our native plants. She passed on a few years ago but I sure wish I had gotten to know her better.

The ladies who have had less in life are the ones with the healthiest attitude on childbirth and health in general. It seems as though the more people rely on synthetic meds, machines, and then add on stress and a rate race standard of living, the health problems become more of an issue in life. The best thing is to slow down and enjoy everything all around you, watch what goes into your body and keep your machine in good shape, your mind ans spirit too. I can't think of too many other places that I could have settled and found this.

edited an image file then went for coffee



[Edited on 6-29-2011 by flyfishinPam]

I would also like to step up and commend my Mexcian doctors and doctoras as well as the nurses and everyone else that was there when I had Tristan in San Quintin.

I will find the thread if anyone needs a refresher

How we became a BajaFam...or how we had a baby in Baja!
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=42620#pid4677...

How We Registered Mister's Birth - or Some Facts You Should Know About Documentation
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=42821#pid4708...

Here I am on September 18th, 2002 day before Enzl was born. Don't mind the clothes I am a size 4 and I could only wear huge t-shirts and my husbands futbol shorts

I will look up the film. Yes it certainly is a business that reminds me of factory farming. Boo on the baby formula and double boo on circumcision a totally unnecessary procedure.

to shorten the hospital birth story, as it was Easter Sunday I was the lone patient in the hospital that night and I did a few things out of the ordinary: I insisted my husband stay by my side (usually a serious no no), and I refused to lay down (a totally stupid position) until the last minute to let gravity do some of the work. During the most intense part I did ask for pain meds but they didn't have any, I even asked for Tequila but they told me no.

I was one of two patients, my husband was there the whole time, no questions asked, as was such with my daughter, who was 2 1/2 at the time and stayed with me overnight (hubs slept in the car with the dogs - although he could have stayed with me had he wanted to). I must confess that this was in a private hospital, not in an IMSS facility, although we had looked into the one closest to where we were staying and it was very nice.

Formula has it's place, but should NOT be offered unless medically necessary. It happens in the states and I was saddened to have it happen in Baja - after being born and not even a half an hour into this world and already an attempt to force feed formula. I just took the bottle, smiled and nodded. My daughter was formula fed (and I blame the nurses in the hospital for forcing formula on her within the first hour!) but I refused to have the same thing happen to my son. I was determined to feed this baby naturally!!

Circumcision, on the other hand, is very, very, very, very rarely medically necessary and that is all I will say about that