Recollections of my NS days
Once in a while, Id think back on the days when I've served my national service as an NSF. Most of my friends around dreaded their 2.5 years in green, that's probably coz they came from some siong units such as SIR or SAR. For me, it's a totally different and unique experience, and i actually kinda miss those days sometimes. If you haven't already know, i was a combat medic instructor back then, and my job is to train fresh Tekong recruits into medics before they are dispatched into their respective units. In my vocation, we dun do too much physical trainnings. And even if we do, it's never comparable to the stuffs others do in other combat units, such as commandoes. Our "trainning" sessions are almost completely limited to studying, from the books(which we call "formats") and lectures.Every typical day, after the usual morning routine of area cleaning, reciting the medical pledge and singing the medical anthem, we'd gather in the trainning sheds and begin the lessons of the day. The things we cover include topics such as Spinal Injury Management, CPR, Treatment of Haemorrhages (blood loss), Burn Management ... you get the idea. Day in day out, Id bombard my trainees with medical knowledge to equip them with the necessary skills for future services in their units. The "highlight" of our camp, will be the infamous IntraVeneous Infusion sessions. To the unenlightened, that'd be "injection with drips" in the civilian layman language. Once per week, the trainees are required to practice their IV skills on their subjects, which is none other than their fellow trainees. The "casualties" will lie down on the floor, while the medics infuse them. The needle we use is slightly smaller the size of that used for blood donation, and normally we'd call them the "Yakult straws". Haha, those were the times. Its fun to see fresh trainees panicky over their first infusion, the expression on some of their faces when they see blood is quite unforgetable. Some of them actually broke down, one almost fainted ... and I had to carry him far away from the bloody (and i mean bloody) infusion site to relax him.
Perhaps the most enjoyable session to me, will be the TCS (Tok Cock Sessions) with my trainees... We'd talk about girls, life etc etc. Sometimes to be an instructor, you have to be a bit guai lan. It helps them to respect you a little more, especially for the Ah Beng trainees. I remember a fun conversation i had while teaching the nursing tray lesson...
it goes like...
Me : And so, you pour liquid A into this compartment, liquid B into the next compartment, and fill the last comparment with liquid C. Take care not to mix the liquids, very important.
Trainee: Sah-Gent! Sah-Gent! Why cannot mix the liquid ah? In the end still going to be applied to the same area what?
*I didn't know the answer myself actually ... so i tried to get away with it*
Me: *stared at trainee* Later lunch time, you go cookhouse, you can take your rice, your soup, your ice cream, your drink, and your watermelon. Then you mix, and then you eat. Ho Seh Boh?
That invited a roar of laughter from the floor, and most importantly, it silenced the trainee. Phew, haha. It's moments like these which make those days unforgetable eva! There was once also ...
*Spotted trainee dozing off during my lesson in training shed, hot weather*
Me: Oie!! Ah Tan, sleepy ah? Last nite steal chicken rite??
Trainee: Wah Lau! Sah-Gent! The fan is sucking my energy lah, cannot concentrate.
*that moron trying to be funny with me*
Me: Is it? So serious ah, then i better switch off the fan. *walked to control and turned off fan*
*Remaining lesson was conducted with no ventilation, and everyone sweated like a donkey, including myself*
Muahaha, *snort*, that was just so fun.
Medics Foreva,
Behold the Red Cross!!!
posted by JaNuS @ Sunday, May 15, 2005
