Color: Y - Condition: exposed femur fracture, fractured ankle...

So, I had quite the adventure on Thursday. I participated in a training exercise with the Port of Seattle where they have to put on a mass casualty exercise every three years. Katherine and I arrived at SeaTac airport at 6:00 in the morning and signed in. While we were in line waiting for our "causualty cards" which tell the aid crew what our condition is, one guy was asking around if anyone wanted any specific injuries. Katherine and I volunteered and her condition was to be paralyzed from the waist down, and I had an open femur fracture and a fractured ankle. Unfortunately, to get that, I was given probably the gaudiest thing I have ever seen IN MY LIFE!!! It was a skirt/blouse outfit probably made targeting the older, larger, black women crowd. It had a rediculous red, black, white, and blue pattern. I thought it was pretty funny and I wanted a leg injury so I agreed.
After getting changed and decked out in makeup we got a briefing on safety and what was planned to happen. We were then placed ourselves out in the field with mylar blankets, sunscreen, water and food. We waited 15 minutes for the drill to start, another 15 minutes for the primary fire crews to get to us and classify our injuries, whether we were red (critical), yellow (immediate), or blue (delayed). It then took another 15 minutes for the aid and fire units to arrive and start carting off the reds. When the crews finally got to me I had been lying in the field with my mylar blanket covering me to protect me from the sun for an hour and a half. By then the firemen weren't even playing along with the drill. I mean, how much fun is it to play like you have a broken leg? I remember playing firemen and victim a lot when I was a kid....actually playing that my right arm was dislocated for the first time... anyway
So the guys were teasing me about the fact that though my leg and ankle looked nasty, I must be playing around with them. They suggested cutting my leg off with a pocket knife right there and looked at me funny when I tried playing the part of an INJURED PERSON!!!
Then they strapped me to a backboard (and I commented to them that I was VERY glad I didn't actually have a broken leg because all that josteling would have been VERY painful). They then laid me on a mat out in the parking lot with the other yellows and left me in full sun, still strapped to my backboard, for at least five minutes. By the time they came to pick me up and put me in an ambulance I almost threw up because of the sun. They then took us to a drop off point where we would be picked up by busses to be taken to the Weyerhaeuser hangar so we could eat lunch. I got out of the ambulance, sat down in the bus, stood up again, walked out of the bus, and threw up. This was repeated twice more. The last time I was cleaning out my mouth (again) and the bus left without me! I had to wait another 20 minutes for the next bus to arrive and take the last of the volunteers to lunch. Actually, it was probably better that way. I don't know if I could have handled a long bus ride right then anyway.
So we drove to the hangar and instead of eating lunch I slept through it because I wouldn't be able to keep anything down anyway.
Now by this point you may be thinking "well, why did she go and do a thing like that anyway!". Let me tell you, I had a great time! I got to be part of a safety drill to help train our fire and aid units, I got to dress up in an outfit because of which everyone knew me, I got to pretend like I was in a lot of pain during which the medics couldn’t tell the difference between acting and actually being hurt, I got to be put on a backboard in the first time in my life, ride in an ambulance for the third time ever, and have a great bonding experience with my sister at the same time! Now tell me that I didn’t enjoy myself!
On top of that, I got to go and see Batman Begins for the first time with my mom and dad that night. I am going to buy that movie!! What a great day!!
I'm going to have to update you on what happened Friday and Saturday tomorrow...I have to go to bed!