Palau

In one word, Palau was wonderful! The local people were so happy for us to be there. The roads were so much better than Chuuk, and the overall infrastructure on the island was much better. They were also probably the most financially stable country we visited, which likely contributed to the good infrastructure and road conditions. I was part of the Advance team, arriving a few weeks ahead of the ship. We worked hard confirming events and meeting people face-to-face that we had been communicating with via email for the past few months. We also had the opportunity to play hard. I, of course, took the opportunity to scuba dive. There are multiple dive charter businesses in Palau including Live-aboard vessels. We utilized Cruise Control dive shop, and they were absolutely amazing! Between our Pre-deployment site survey in February and our time there on mission, I made 21 dives with Cruise Control in Palau. The sea life and coral reefs are absolutely stunning! We saw giant schools of fish, multiple sharks, and best of all, we got to dive with Manta Rays. These majestic creatures are about 8 feet across and about 6 feet long not counting their tails. We would get down on our knees in the sand, and they would swim right over the top of us close enough one could reach up and run one’s fingers along their underside. Diving with Manta Rays was one of the activities on my diving bucket list, and now it is checked off 😊

Interestingly, we were in Palau during their National Independence Day celebration. The ironic part of it was that they were celebrating their administrative independence from the United States. Their celebration included a parade, fireworks, and boat races along the waterfront to name a few of the events.

In Palau I oversaw ventilator training for the national hospital’s nurses, instructed 2 BEC courses as well as a Train-the-Trainer BEC course, oversaw a Medical Evacuation exercise that involved the hospital Emergency Department, local Fire/EMS service, and Pacific Aviation which is the local provider of Aero-Medical Evacuation from Palau to Guam. Our exercise followed a patient (role-played by one of our Australian medical planners) from the ER to transportation to being loaded on the aircraft at the Palau International Airport. The Fire Department ambulance even ran lights and siren through town to facilitate a real-life timeline for transport. I was able to follow the ambulance through town in my car which was also followed by our Japanese contingent vehicle, which made for a convoy that drew the attention of a local police cruiser which joined our convoy until we made it past the edge of town and the police cruiser broke off and returned to the center of town again. At the airport we entered through a side gate and drove right out onto the tarmac to meet the plane. It was certainly a unique experience.