Off to the Happy Holiday Weekend

Hello once again from Hobart.
Slowly I m starting to settle in a little.
Caz my friend from Launceston (I met her two years ago at the Council Meeting of AMSA in Adelaide and a year later in Heidelberg) was in town for a couple of days.

My first week is over and I already got heaps and heaps of new images and ideas in my head.
Well let me start workingwise:
A lot of things are different to surgical theatres I used to be in in Switzerland or Germany. Hygenic standards are defined in another way. For example do people not change their boots over here. They enter the operating area with their regular shoes and maybe (only maybe) will they cover them by pulling over something like a little shoe bag...
Another gimmick are the hats to cover the hair. In that season they have imprints of christmas trees, poinsettas and stuff...
On the other hand the regim of i.v. access seems to be stricter. I am used to desinfected and just swipe, but here they work with a sterile set ...

Anyway. I started on the "labour ward" yesterday. And saw 4 babies, 3 mothers and 3 fathers and lets hope not more fathers were involved in that process :-).
The first baby had an assisted vaginal birth (vacuum cap, called kiwi cap). The second came all natural and the twins were born with c-section.
This morning I watched another c-section, and than I got in scrubs myself and assisted with two more.


Later in the morning, well actually noon time- we had a little Christmas Lunch with doctors and the midwifes from the antenatal clinic. People are so nice and I always was welcomed freindly. Everybody was supposed to bring a plate- and fortunately I was told that it's slang and means you have to bring something to eat- otherwise I might have shown up with an empty plate and fork and knife ;-)
In fact I was doing German Christmas cookies called "Vanillekipferl" and they were yummy and praised ... Everything was very delicious- from watercrackers and cheese to turkey, Quiche, sushi, salads, .... and cake and cookies of course....

Today there is also a Christmas Dinner and I think I will go ...