Hi-ya Everybody!

Just finished an amazing 3 weeks at Joyo’s Surf camp in the jungle: fractures, firing Speedies, fungus & fun times! Here’s a quick update of what went down…

Kicked off with a serious 7 day flat spell when we first arrived at G-Land during which time we explored alternative activities to ward off the insidious cabin fever: snorkelling the reef, flying kites (badly), extremely competitive pool competitions, muddy jungle treks and general lazing about with Bintangs (something I excel at…).

Tom Longworth, barrel hunter & final year med student from Newcastle, helped me undertake the massive task of cleaning out the old medical cabinet & kitting out the new infirmary, which was freshly built earlier this year during the Surfing Doc’s Conference (thanks Tom!). We’ve done a pretty extensive stock-take, bringing a new load of long-overdue medications out to camp (my bag was so much lighter going home).

I did a bit of research in Kuta re: what medications you are able to get over the pharmacy counter, and you’ll be surprised! Most medications are easily available & cheaper than buying in Aus, but there are some exceptions worth noting; Flucloxacillin, Ciprofloxacin, Benzodiazepines, Morph & Ketamine are not available. Laurenz is still attempting to work out an arrangement with a local doctor to enable us to stock some of these essential medications safely at the camp for the season. Another new addition is an official Stock-take Book (please fill out at the start & end of your stay so we can keep track of supplies) and a Consultation Book (to record medical notes on people we treat at the camp). If these records are kept accurately, they will no doubt yield valuable information for future improvements to our clinic. Sink, desk, fan, lights, new cabinets are in place and a bed is on the way – almost fully operational!

Rat poo infested cotton bandages binned behind us we eagerly awaited a big swell hit on Sunday 11^th July. We woke up to smoking 8-10ft Speedies barrels – yee-haw! The only casualties that day were 15 broken boards, but when the swell pulsed again on Wednesday, one chap was not so lucky. Whilst bottom-hand turning Speedies he got hit by the lip in the back & twisted his ankle between board, reef and a few ton of water. With some crafty boat skills, Capt Agus got him back into the beach were we assessed the damage. I was hunching a guess on a left trimalleolar fracture given the deformity & the amount of the crunching it took to reduce & backslab it, all of which he endured like a trooper with the help of the little green whistle (Penthrox). Since our stoic mate had no insurance, once we’d stabilised the fracture, it was a matter of co-ordinating a return to Bali via 4WD, which arrived 4 hrs later. The lads knocked up some jungle crutches to help him move about and padded with pillows & painkillers we sent him off. 3 days later we’re happy to hear he’d made it home to Puerto Rico to have some heavy metalwork put in and is healing well. We are looking forward to seeing the X-rays soon bro! Check out the below link for further details & some gnarly pictures of the day’s barrels:

http://www.swellnet.com.au/galleries/708-speed-and-risk/

Apart from this there was plenty of reef bites & infections, urchin removals, perforated eardrums, influenza, Bali-belly and strange rashes to keep me busy over my stay. The dreaded skin fungus struck again but with the weather drying out, it was mainly limited to one suspect Yoga-instructor’s underarms (not that it stopped him spraying it around some epic tubes with style). Thankfully there is enough Ketoconazole to smother a small nation in the clinic now.

There was another incident before I came out during the Quiksilver event in early June. I believe it was a suspected lumbar spinal injury in a body-boarder from Bobbies camp flown out by helicopter, which although no doctor was present, was expertly handled by joint camp staff. If anyone has any further details, it would be great to hear how it went down. See the attached photos care of Willy, Joyo’s Camp resident photographer….

Both incidents highlight the importance of the service we are trying to provide at G-Land and how valuable travel insurance REALLY is! I’ve immensely enjoyed my time out in the jungle and hope to return again next year for another stint. I think the next big step for Surfing Doctor’s is to start thinking about the KEY MEDICAL EQUIPMENT we should install at the clinic, so I encourage everyone to get busy thinking/discussing/fundraising/sourcing in the next few months! For any Doc going out in the near future, be assured that Bobbies camp does have some equipment we are missing (such as Laryngoscope, Stretchers, Oxygen) and as evidenced recently, we have been working well together in adverse times.

Peace out all

Dr Wendy

There are 3 comments, Leave a comment »

Howdy folks, a brief update from the jungle in Java..

We had an epic day in the surf yesterday with some 6 foot bombs coming through on the launching pad.. And then reeling off down speed reef.  On some sets the ellusive cobra showed its coiled neck.. Today there was a slight drop off in swell but conditions were perfect..

The surfing doctors conference drew to a close last night with an extremely festive closing ceremony.  All delegates have had an awesome week and there are numerous photo’s being loaded up on our Facebook page..

A big thank you goes out to all the staff at the Jungle camp for looking after us so well.. And Laurenz the camp owner for ensuring a seemless hitch free week.. 

We will be planning another one for next year..

There have been some great characters in the jungle, keeping us entertained, including “Storming” Norman from NSW, whose lateral approach to life is a breath of fresh air.. Also spotted was “Daddy Cool” who was snagging all the bomb sets yesterday – good on you..!!

In closing I would like to thank all the delegates who attended the inaugral Surfing Doctors conference, you have all been legends this week and I hope to see you all again soon..  (would love some feedback from the fast boat trip out this morning.. ha ha)

Cheers

Dr Phil

Leave a comment »

Howdy Folks

We are reporting in from the Inaugural Surfing Doctors Conference, where we have been engaged in the huge task of organising, planning and educating the enthusiastic group that have come on this journey to the Plenkung Reserve..

While the lectures have been interesting and educational, the action after hours has been highly entertaining.. Just last night we had some “rock n roll”  wrestling around the pool table..!!  Dr Dennis “the Menace” was found on the recieving end of the pool cue.  Undeterred, he delivered an eloquent lecture on Malaria, with a brief interlude that deviated into Lesbian love and sex toys.. !!! Say no more..

Breaking back to the surf scene, we have had some epic days in the surf, albeit only in the 3 – 4 foot range, still, Doctors cant be choosers..  Today kicked off with a solid tropical rain storm, which flushed a large contigent of Euro Trash into the water, lacking manners and co-ordination.  They proved themselves a nuisance to us all.  The day ended on a high note with some glassy perfection in the evening.

Finally back to the title.   Where due to the excessive moisture, humidity and non stop rain, while host of skin conditions seem to have afflicted most of the guests, some more so that others.. !!  This particular fungus attacks at random and no appendage is safe.  The rash is somewhat vesicular, painfull and disturbing to all the diseased crew, almost reminiscent of the days when leprosy afflicted the unclean and smocks and bells were the order of the day..!!

Regardless of all this fungal insanity, spirits are still high as we head into our final day of the conference and we are expecing a huge night of festivities tomorrow for our closing and fines function..

Signing off from the jungle..

Dr’s Phil & Simon along with Jim Parko (OAM) + Corey the surf guide

Leave a comment »

Howdy to you blog loving Doctor types..

Just a quick question… Being a rather rotunderous, fun loving, lump of a guy and a real lover of chocolate.  The last few days have seen me inhale the odd “bakers dozen” of lovely little chockie bunnies and maybe a couple of eggs too.   Now me being a lover of sports, with my main focus being surfing and the fact that it has been live on fuel TV all Easter weekend, I have really taken to this new water ballet , albeit I have not left my bum hugging couch a lot over the past few day..

I must say, you surfing folk are great to watch and have really given me hope to one day leave my comfy couch and head down to the beach, but therein lies the problem.. I am one Fat Bastard and I have zero motivation.. Well, I suppose I do have some.  I get a little from deep fried food shoots and I will even hop in the car and drive down to the corner shop for a solid dose of dim sims and crumbed sausages, however the other things that motivate are private… , just between my computer & I.

So, lets cut to the chase.. What is it like when you are not only a life saving doctor but also super cool, tube riding, travel around the world, blog writing, super human, who exudes oodles of motivation & focus..?

This cholesterol laden, chocolate impregnated, dim sim infested, fat bugger would like to know how to attain some of this motivation & focus.  Is there any hope for me and my many sofa surfers?? 

Cheers from the couch..

Da Fat Bastard

Leave a comment »

Well guys , I must say I’m finally getting the amp up for this conference .

It’s been a long time coming , but , by the 28th of April we should have a solid contingent of Medicos ,

Nurses , and Med students , and various other loose units headed for the Plenkung Reserve in Java .

The conference programme is in the pipeline , and will be published soon .

I just need to extract myself from the ER salt mine , and focus on the task at hand .

I am also hoping to revive this communication channel that is the Blog , and get good friends , and fellow

surfdocs involved . We will be getting into all sorts of daily dilemmas , both medical and surf related .

I’ll sign off now , but , will hopefully be back with more news regarding the Plenkung get together .

Cheers for now ,

Dr Phil

Leave a comment »

Hi all,

Just a message wish you a good festive season, I am sure you are all
celebrating it an appropriate fashion….

Thanks to everyone for the progress of the SurfDocs this year… we’ve
made huge progress…

First big shout out to Webguru and legend Shannon, without whom we
would be logoless, websiteless, blogless, and well, generally nowhere-
thanks mate for your hard work, patience with the IT Philistines that
are me and Phil…and general all round good eggness. Ta to John Dutts
of Vortex Margaret River for helping out with the awesome shirts, and
Pa Chapman for the poster and card printing… (shout if anyone needs
posters etc, I will send)

Secondly the G-land roster- this is the first year it as been covered
virtually seamlessly so cheers everyone who was on the rota for giving
us your time in exchange of barrels, bintangs and other jungle
happenings… Same same (but different) next year…

The blog has been a great success as well, and we can actually see a
rise in the number of page views when the blog is active- so if even
if you’re not at G-land and have a tale to share, please email me and
let me know, we can get you on there… keep spreading the
word…Cheers all the blogging contributors this year, I’ve
particularly enjoyed Dr Phil’s bintang fuelled left of field lateral
jungle storytelling…

The First Aid and Life Support at the Beach session in Jbay was also
well received and we hope our relationship with Jbay Boardriders
continues to grow. We’ve also started the First Aid Box initiative-
details on previous blog posts…again contact me if you are thinking
of starting something similar at your local break…

Cheers also for all your articles, which have been published on our
website, theBOMBsurf.com and also in the Physiology section in the new
BOMB surf wetsuit guide (check it out on their site). The A-Z of
Surfers Health is starting to take shape too. There are still many
articles needing an author and other surf sites/mags wanting our
input, so if you have time to pen something please give me a shout…
peeps with outstanding articles to write should get in touch with me
asap to confirm what they are up to….

The conference at G-land 28th April- 5th May 2010 is also coming
together, and those of you still to book please could you do so asap
so we can get an idea of who and how many are attending… there are
some slots for some talks free, so if any one who’s going to be there
wants to take a lecture slot, again let me know… I’m thinking a few
of you have got some adventures to share (Kirstie, Joe Starke, I’m
looking at you people)

Plans for next year- G-land infirmary, Project in Peru, and other
collaborations…

I will keep you posted.

Aloha for now, amigos…

Preeti

Leave a comment »

Following the successful evening of First Aid and Life Support At the Beach talk in Jeffreys Bay, the Surfing Doctors in conjunction with Jeffreys Bay Boardriders Club have organised 2 first aid boxes as a first port of call for
surfers and other beach users who are injured at Supertubes or any of the other nearby surf spots.

The boxes (one basic, one advanced) will be located at the African Perfection Guesthouse Reception, 20 Pepper Street, Supertubes Car Park, which is open every day.

As well as first aid equipment and guidelines for basic life support
(CPR), there will be a list of emergency numbers for ambulance, local doctors and hospitals as well as a map.

Within the first 24 hours of the box being set up, Dr Preeti was
around when a young chap from PE was on the receiving end of the fins of his board at Supers, and needed 7 stitches in the back of the head, so already we know that this is a useful initiative.

If you would like any further information about this new set up, are keen to donate money towards the upkeep and restock of the box, or would be interested in setting up something similar at your local break, please contact Dr Preeti Nirgude via email
preeti.nirgude@gmail.com, and check out the Surfing Doctors website

Cheers all, it would be great if you guys can spread the word so that people know, even more important than the kit, the numbers we need in order to summon help are all there in the event of an emergency.

Preeti

Leave a comment »

A big thanks to everyone who came to the First Aid and Life Support at the Beach talk at Potters Place on 19th November… Again thanks to everyone at Jbay Boardriders who helped organise it.

We also discussed organising a first aid box and info sheet at Supertubes, and we’ll let you all know once we’ve sorted it out.

Cheers,
Preeti

Leave a comment »

Shame about Bunbury morale- maybe they should think about working here!

So, the day starts at 5am with a cholera outbreak visit to a local village, that doesn’t happen! No matter, as there is plenty in ED to keep me entertained, Screwdriver attacks, splenic trauma and worse from domestic violence (a 60% high here), the odd pyrexia and malaise (anti-malarials and broadspectrum antibiotics are all the rage), and a lab that may make up the results! Death adder snake bites seem pretty common with not enough magic in the old local blackstones! Well samo samo. Time for G&T and news from Hawaii.

Kx

There is 1 comment, Leave a comment »

Here I am in PNG, just finished 2 weeks of teaching on an Emergency Medicine Diploma for health workers over here. Interesting – challenging, but awesome. Kinda been working in the local hospital since then- bit of an eyeopener and I was left to work in the ED on my own on my first morning-humm…. a good experience anyway.

There has also been a recent outbreak of cholera in the country, including Madang. With MSF involvement, they are working hard to contain it, but with limited resources, it could spell trouble. Here in Madang, things are just about under control, and a separate cholera ward has been setup, but I’ll keep you posted.

The health secretary of PNG and other ministers came to Madang for a meeting to approve a new medical school here. Weirdly we all went out for dinner, and well, not many people can say the minister for health sang happy birthday to them on their 30th! One to remember eh?

I’ve been doing a bit more surf doctoring as well. Went to a new local surf camp Tupira, Ulingan Bay near Madang. A great community project assisted by PNG surfing association, and with all the right ingredients for a perfect stay. You are made to feel very welcome, just like a long lost wantok. Here’s a couple links, so you can check the photos- not very many waves but be proud I paddled muchos!

http://www.surfingpapuanewguinea.org.pg/pdf/news/tupira_surf_club_madang.pdf

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php

www.pngsurfing.com.au

We ran some impromptu drowning/CPR and snakebite sessions for the village, which was translated into Pigin. The village is currently trying to fundraise for a local health post, so any surf doctoring will be gratefully received.

Sorry its taken a while Phil, but now I’ve finally worked out the blog, there maybe a few more comments to come- I might even try and work out how to add photos! Any suggestions….?

have fun,

Kirst x

There is 1 comment, Leave a comment »