This post isn’t about the red stuff but about my weekend at Remote Area Medical in Gallup, NM.
A New Tool
When I bought my Jeep Wrangler in 2008 I liked the color but didn’t know it was called Rescue Green. I also didn’t know it would eventually turn into an actual rescue tool for the past decade. A month ago the engine started burning oil – after 406,000 miles – and since I had a big trip planned I needed reliable transport.
Now equipped with fresh (and more powerful) wheels I had a short time before it was pressed into a 1,700 mile round trip to serve again at a RAM event.
Team Coude
If you’ve read my previous posts about RAM, my niche is the 9 PM to 6 AM overnight crew, greeting patients looking for dental/vision/general medical care. As 1 of 4 in this role it was an important spot in the body of volunteers that comprise a RAM event. I know it doesn’t sound sexy like a DDS extracting bad teeth but try scratching your ear without an elbow. Like I said, a team.
By 3:30 AM on Saturday morning we had 49 cars lined up containing patients with Post-It notes on their windshields. Most of them were idling with their heaters on because a surprise spring storm was washing through the area with high wind gusts, snow flurries and temps in the teens.
I had snickered at heated leather seats in the new Bronco, since I was more accustomed to simply being glad the seats in the old Jeep remained bolted down but let me tell you they were nice to settle back into after standing outside and greeting a patient, explaining our services, answering questions and getting them parked.
I was able to head back to the hotel around 7 AM after enjoying a great breakfast burrito (a RAM breakfast staple!) and try to get some sleep.
Saturday and Sunday
The second night of check-in kicked off with a new security guard helping out. We were holding the clinic at Gallup High School and the area is patrolled to prevent vandalism. This guy was great. He introduced himself, gave us the lay of the land and then explained that he hoped the skin walkers would not hassle us since they didn’t like unknown people in their area. He went on to detail the funny things he routinely saw – floating orbs of light, moving shadows, things running around, etc. Lastly he explained that according to Navajo tradition you would wipe ash beneath your eyes to keep them from seeing you. And that he would cover for us all. Reassuring but I wasn’t worried about any sort of spiritual harassment.1
Around 2 AM, a really beat up Toyota camper conversion rolled in. W had driven 250 miles hoping for more dental care. He was decked out like he was going skiing so I surmised that there weren’t heated seats in that rig. I fished out a couple of hand warmers from my supplies and slid them over to him.
I caught up with him on Sunday morning while he was awaiting care and made sure to grab a photo. He was a musician and joy spilled out of his countenance like water out of a 5 gallon bucket. He really made my day.
That morning I again ran in to N as well, she was volunteering with a Baptist relief group and we had some great conversation.
Ten years ago she was in a auto accident and suffered some traumatic brain injury. She could no longer work as an accountant in the family business and had to retrain herself to walk, think, talk and produce in society. “I had to find my own new normal” she told me. Yet, here she was volunteering to help others. Turns out she became a good woodworker.
This is a “time out chair” she crafted for her daughter. Who is an adult. The shelf at the bottom is to store her Bible so that she can take some time out of her day to read and improve her spiritual posture. But if she needs to work, the entire chair converts into a step ladder.
What does all this have to do with bleeding? Its a metaphor for some limited component of our life escaping and in the process, causing harm. Often it takes active intervention of someone else to arrest it: a kind word, a long conversation, helping someone pack to move, answering the phone at midnight, delivering an unexpected meal… it goes on. I know the power of this intent because for years I was the guy doing it for others. In the past six months I received every one of the five kindnesses I listed.
And in the course of their lives W and N had their versions as well.
I previously made a big deal on this blog of “going first” as a signature of trust. Now I have also gone first in being humbled. I am certain I am more empathetic for it and had a few pointed edges chipped off. Indeed, all bleeding stops eventually as mine did.2
The totals from RAM were 259 patients served and $163,000 of medical services provided. It was entirely worth every time I jumped out of my warm car to greet an arriving patient. I’d do it all again (and I will!)
PS:
On the way out I stopped to help out a bunch of guys standing around their car with the hood open. They had to stop due to a low oil pressure light. They knew it burned oil and had a 5 quart jug to refill but couldn’t get the oil filler cap unscrewed. $3,000 of smartphones but no wrench or funnel. Such irony.
Dan D.
Half a drink will not quench your thirst, and half a meal will not satisfy your hunger, half a road will not lead you anywhere and half an idea will not give you the result. Half is the moment of your helplessness and you are not helpless… because you are not half human.
You are a human being who was created to live life, not to live half a life. – Khalil Gibran
As a Christian I have the Holy Spirit residing in my heart. And it was at His urging I was even there to start with. So, non-issue.
And so will yours. Email me if you need a listening ear.