Apart from a celebratory quest for adventure, one of the more practical reasons I came to Mexico was to learn medical Spanish.  With the help of my language school in Oaxaca, I was able to arrange an eye-opening, hands-on experience in the Red Cross emergency department.  The first night we removed a sewing needle from a punctured hand, sewed dismantled fingers back into place, administered various injections, reset a disjointed shoulder, placed dozens of stitches and juggled 3 car accidents and 2 attacks – a normal night in the ER under abnormal circumstances…

My heart ached at the lack of resources available to patients and staff at the Red Cross.  I found the doctors, nurses, paramedics and medical students to be well-trained and efficient, but due to the severe lack of resources, their creativity and resourcefulness is challenged by the hour.  For example, while I use a dozen pair of plastic gloves each shift, they have a limited supply that are washed and reused.  Although yellowed with age and iodine, everyone maintained sterile technique.  I learned you can go a long way with a little if need be. 

The Red Cross is not governmentally funded.  Each clinic, hospital or emergency department is purely funded by private donations and taxes within its perspective community.  Therefore, only 1 doctor and 1 nurse is scheduled for a single shift.  However, they act more as facilitators than as care providers.  ´Who takes care of the patients´, you may ask?  Students.  As a student nurse, I was terrified to have complete responsibility for my patients, but medical students here seem confident and capable.  Nursing school is 4 years and med school is 7.  Each require an additional one year social service, which is comparable to a residency.  I met some incredibly hard working, talented, intelligent young men and women, but the person who stands out the most is enfermero Jose.  His story begs to be told…

Jose joined the Mexican military when he was 16 years old.  On a convoy to a neighboring town, the vehicle he was in crashed and immediately killed 17 of the 20 people in the tank.  The other 3, including Jose, were seriously injured and his two fellow soldiers died a month later from complications.  Jose`s family thought that he too, had not survived the accident.  However, he was being cared for at the military hospital.  A young, beautiful nurse took special interest to her young patient.  Because the military hospital had little money and insufficient supplies, she would bring him food and changes of clothing.  Although Jose was immobile for almost a year, with therapy and special TLC from his personal nurse, he was able to recover.  When discharged from the hospital, he was still not strong enough to move back home with his parents, so his nurse took him into her apartment and continued to provide for him and nurse him back to health.  As he tells the story, they were destined to fall in love.  And did.  When he was almost fully recovered, he moved back to his pueblo to find work. Unfortunately, there was no work there for her, so they were separated for about a year, talking on the phone each night, determined to be together again someday.  One night, Jose received a call from the military hospital saying his girlfriend had been in an accident and suffered grave injuries.  Jose immediately made the 4 hour drive to the base, just in time to hold her in his arms as she passed away.  With tears in his eyes, he told me that this is why he chose nursing.  `To honor her and share her compassion with my patients.`  Jose has been practicing nursing now for over 20 years.  And he is a great nurse…patient, compassionate, quick-thinking and willing to go the extra mile.  He is currently studying for his masters in Healthcare Administration and works another job at a private hospital ´to pay the bills.´  He pretty much works without pay at the Red Cross.  It was such an honor to be his apprentice.

Each night we worked together, he gave me a memento.  Two gifts stand out in particular.  First, he gave me a mercury rectal thermometer because, quote, ¨It is in degrees farenheight!  You use farenheight in the states!¨  The second gift needs a little background.  We had one eerily slow night in the ER – only about 5 cases during a 10 hour shift, 3 of which were scorpion stings.  One was a 4-year-old boy who will forever have a fear of needles and blue-eyed nurses (I had to give him a shot in the butt that he said hurt more than the sting itself).  Anyhow, his aunt brought the culprit into the ER for the doctor to inspect and after the family went home, all the paramedics, firefighters, med students and doctors were playing with this live scorpion.  I don´t remember who, but someone had the brilliant idea to give it to me as a gift.  Jose said, ¨Oh, yeah!  It will be your memento from Oaxaca!  You can name it Cruz Roja!!!¨  I made some joke about immigration not being too happy with my new little friend and that´s when someone suggested I buy liquid amber and make it into a necklace or a pendent.  After an hour of hopelessly insisting there must be a better use for this live little critter, I accepted their oh-so-thoughtful gift.  So, I walked home that night with a baby food jar full of live scorpion in my scrubs pocket.  Never a dull moment.