Happy Easter!!
I have been waiting for this holiday to tell you the story of the chocolate bunny on my desk in the clinic, and after that perhaps you will understand the nature of this post.
Since I started work here at Bagram, there has been a slightly eaten chocolate Easter bunny on my desk. The face is bitten off, and someone had also taken a bite out of its ear. After seeing quite a few IED blasts come through the ER and onto the ICU, I couldn't help but think that my little bunny had - before I arrived, of course - suffered an IED blast. I mentioned this to one of my colleagues, and it has since become quite a joke in the clinic. Numerous patients have asked about the bunny, and I tell them that he was hit with an IED. It gets the conversation started, to say the least!
IED blast injuries are very common in theater, both for the bad guys (who often present with bilateral hand amputations and facial injuries after the blast has gone off unexpectedly) and the good guys (who are often tr avelling in a vehicle when hit by an IED near the road). Since we are the referral center for nearly all med-evac flights in Afghanistan, we see a large majority of these blast injuries on our ward and ICU. The ubiquitous nature of IED blasts makes them, at times, a source of jokes and laughs. This does not mean that the health care providers take them any less seriously; the jokes and laughs are just how we survive the day-to-day grind of caring for patients with devastating injuries.
With that small introduction, I would like to provide you with my first attempt at composing Easter songs. (Well, I didn't really compose them, but rather modified them for my current situation.) I encourage you to sing them out loud, as the beats and rhymes will make more sense that way. There is a glossary of terms and acronyms at the end of the songs for those civilians who might not be familiar with the verbiage.
Sung to the tune of "Peter Cottontail"
Here comes Peter Combat-tail
Rollin' down the convoy trail,
MRAP, HMMWV,
Better look both ways!
Wearin' all the bad-ass gear,
Minus one chocolate ear,
Helmet, M9,
Better stay away!
Takin' out the Taliban,
Knowin’ soon they'll be gone,
C4, grenade,
Soon enough you'll pay!
Teachin' all the girls and boys,
IEDs are never toys,
CCAT, dust-off,
Need them both someday!
Sung to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”
I'm a little bunny missin' my face.
My ear was blown off without a trace.
When I see an I.E.D
My tail does shake!
And then, of course,
A bite it takes!!!
Sung to the tune of “London Bridge”
Bunny has no face at all,
face at all, face at all.
Bunny has no face at all,
Left I.B.A.
His ear was blown off Easter Day,
Easter Day, Easter Day.
His ear was blown off Easter Day,
By I.E.D.
Glossary:
MRAP - Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (a type of wheeled vehicle used for mine sweeping)I have been waiting for this holiday to tell you the story of the chocolate bunny on my desk in the clinic, and after that perhaps you will understand the nature of this post.
Since I started work here at Bagram, there has been a slightly eaten chocolate Easter bunny on my desk. The face is bitten off, and someone had also taken a bite out of its ear. After seeing quite a few IED blasts come through the ER and onto the ICU, I couldn't help but think that my little bunny had - before I arrived, of course - suffered an IED blast. I mentioned this to one of my colleagues, and it has since become quite a joke in the clinic. Numerous patients have asked about the bunny, and I tell them that he was hit with an IED. It gets the conversation started, to say the least!
IED blast injuries are very common in theater, both for the bad guys (who often present with bilateral hand amputations and facial injuries after the blast has gone off unexpectedly) and the good guys (who are often tr avelling in a vehicle when hit by an IED near the road). Since we are the referral center for nearly all med-evac flights in Afghanistan, we see a large majority of these blast injuries on our ward and ICU. The ubiquitous nature of IED blasts makes them, at times, a source of jokes and laughs. This does not mean that the health care providers take them any less seriously; the jokes and laughs are just how we survive the day-to-day grind of caring for patients with devastating injuries.
With that small introduction, I would like to provide you with my first attempt at composing Easter songs. (Well, I didn't really compose them, but rather modified them for my current situation.) I encourage you to sing them out loud, as the beats and rhymes will make more sense that way. There is a glossary of terms and acronyms at the end of the songs for those civilians who might not be familiar with the verbiage.
Sung to the tune of "Peter Cottontail"
Here comes Peter Combat-tail
Rollin' down the convoy trail,
MRAP, HMMWV,
Better look both ways!
Wearin' all the bad-ass gear,
Minus one chocolate ear,
Helmet, M9,
Better stay away!
Takin' out the Taliban,
Knowin’ soon they'll be gone,
C4, grenade,
Soon enough you'll pay!
Teachin' all the girls and boys,
IEDs are never toys,
CCAT, dust-off,
Need them both someday!
Sung to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”
I'm a little bunny missin' my face.
My ear was blown off without a trace.
When I see an I.E.D
My tail does shake!
And then, of course,
A bite it takes!!!
Sung to the tune of “London Bridge”
Bunny has no face at all,
face at all, face at all.
Bunny has no face at all,
Left I.B.A.
His ear was blown off Easter Day,
Easter Day, Easter Day.
His ear was blown off Easter Day,
By I.E.D.
Glossary:
HMMWV - High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (a military Hummer)
CCAT - Critical Care Air Transport Team
IED - Improvised Explosive Device
IBA - Individual Body Armor
Dust-off - Slang term referring to the medevac hangar
(Some of you only thought I was crazy. Now you know for sure!)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.