Friday, November 2, 2007

Masa Il Kher

First, EMS finally got there website up and running. They were supposed to come to me for editing issues prior to launch, but we went ahead and launched it. Next week I get to spend a day editing it to make it grammatically correct. I even made the site...I am teaching on the training page...check it out.

http://www.hmc.org.qa/qas/


So, I know it’s been a while…but it has been crazy. I am in the thick of things now. I am kicked it into high gear. The supervisors told they have noticed a change, the people at R and A (Regulatory and Accreditation…an entire department that is supposed to work on policies that have let 40 of ours go for over 4 months…sound familiar) do not like the timeline I have imposed on them. We are kicking some ass. I figure that either I will get stuff done or I will get deported…either way, I win!

Ok, first some insights into the country. Everybody hates regulatory agencies, I myself are included in that mix. However, when you move to a 3rd world country (which I firmly believe Qatar is…A friend of mine put it as a 3rd world country with a lot of bling) you see the benefits of regulatory agencies. You cannot get your car’s body worked on over here if it is damaged unless you have a police report. Even if you back into a pole at the mall. However, you can pass numerous cars going down the road that do not have tail lights, the doors are tied on, shooting out tons of exhaust, etc. When you buy an electrical appliance, you have to take it out of the box before you leave the store to see if you need to buy an adapter before you go home. Kids are bouncing around the car like it is a playpen, yet EMS gets complaints that we did not treat well enough last month when some local got into a wreck and their kid was ejected 50 feet and died. You think addressing is bad in WV? You have no idea…this is a slippery slope. If the road has a name, and if it has a sign, and if the people actually have numbers outside of their house, you might get an address…but more than likely not. We are starting to address this because someone finally realized that it is jacked up. Information from home phones will soon come up when you dial 9-9-9 like in the US. Information will also come up when you call 9-9-9 from a cell phone. All phones here have GPS capabilities…and that information is supposed to be transmitted immediately to the 9-9-9 center when called. We will see how that works out. No one has addresses because all mail in the country goes to PO Boxes…actually they are out of PO Boxes now and there is a waiting list. Instead of adding more, they just make a waiting list. Until then…you get no mail.

I spoke of RNA above…but here is the reader’s digest version of what happened. We submitted them in June to the department (before I got here) The director when on leave (for over a month)…then the Assistant Director went on leave…then it was Ramadan, then Eid…then when I approached them about them..they had no idea where they were. The finally looked at them the day before our meeting which I had to schedule to get some of these jackasses working. These policies were reviewed numerous times and compared to JCI standards again and again. We have new protocols that are going online basically the 1st of December…many of our new protocols (that were approved)…related to policies. Like Death in the Field, Undeniable Death, Medication Administration, etc. These have to be in effect before them. This RNA group told me that we had to wait until Jan until an actual JCI person looked at the policies. Whatever. I gave them a week to approve 10 policies at a time and I am going to set up camp in their office to make sure they get it done. It is going to be hard to move a certified West Virginia redneck from your desk without help. We will see what happens.

More work stuff…our Medical Director (another UPMC guy) and I just completed a very comprehensive document that I think would be very beneficial to do at Mon EMS. It is called the 4R document. Recruitment, Retention, Remediation, and Release of needed staff. We analyzed EMTs, EMTIs, Paramedics, Supervisors, Communicators, and Critical Care Paramedics for Australia, South Africa, US, UK, and Canada. We analyzed every part of what was wrong, why we needed it, what we need to continue operations, including salaries. It was really difficult and challenging, but I think it really gives administration something to sink their teeth into. We all know you have to use smoke and mirrors with them to get stuff done, but when you have weeks and months of research to present and defend everything…it is a very good weapon to have in your arsenal.

Ok…so one more work related item before I get to me. We had a guy the Head of Engineering that was very helpful to the UPMC project and everyone else at HMC, a good British guy. We are doing some actual physical changes in addition to the flow and process changes. This guy has been here 25+ years and is a really go to guy. The only problem in an Arab world is that no one will make a decision without the consent of their boss. This causes major issues as he was very integrated in many of our projects and his assistants and stuff were not. Last weekend he was on the treadmill at his gym and he collapsed with a massive infarct. He was Asystolic when EMS got there. That is a huge loss for not only the corporation, but the project and the hospital as well. This guy was doing so much for so many…and now no one knows what all is going on. The moral of this story is to delegate. In all that you do, make sure someone knows a little about what is going on so they can carry on if you need to. Tell your next in line about projects, tell your sister where you keep your will, teach your wife to write checks….etc. Sorry…I digress….Anyway…a huge loss for all.

Good news for egg lovers….

So last week after work one day I went to Rydges with a Dr. that I don’t get along with too well…(actually I called him a dick in a recorded, minuted, meeting)…and another nurse. It was OK, but there is only so much I can handle of I am better than you stories. The big kicker is that I know the way around…I am in the field working with supervisors 2 days a week…We were heading away from our house and it took me 5 minutes of arguing with him that we were going the wrong way home. He kept saying..if we stay on this road we will get home…I was like “If you stay on this road we will see Saudi, the US, and Hawaii before we ever see home” Anyway…the fish and chips were great and the nurse and I found we had a similar like for 2003 Harley’s…He plans on buying one when his contract is finished.

So, last week I went to Oktoberfest held at the intercontinental. It was a freaking blast. They had every type of food you could imagine (German, that is)…German beer and wine, a band that kicked ass and was in the crowd. They had a guy that would chug the 1 liter beers all night long. It was absolutely awesome. I am going to post some pictures and video. You will enjoy. Too awesome to list all of it.

Lastly, you would be surprised how much certain people keep up with US politics. The Australian guys are always talking to me about Bush, the Presidential race, etc. They know very deeply some of the things going on there…and it amazes me that they know it better than some people that actually have a stake in the US. These guys stopped by my office and were talking about the fires, I got emails if I knew anybody in the bridge collapse. That just amazes me. I couldn’t tell you who the PM of Australia was or what the first thing going on down there is. I guess that is just reinforcement that the US has the eye of the world on it…and we need to take that responsibility seriously.

Well, I am going to go watch some TV…then maybe a swim. Have a good day. More to come soon.

No comments: