First of all, days of the week don't really have much meaning out here. Many people farm their own food, and get the rest of their support from the tribe. So the Monday through Friday work week doesn't mean much. The pace is also a lot slower on the reservation, and it's not like taking a Tuesday off to go hiking is any different that taking a Sunday off to go hiking.
But at the clinic, it's a different story. Most people here actually do have a traditional work week. So on the weekends, it's just the Emergency Department staff and a few nurses taking care of the admitted patients.
To compound the deserted feeling of the place, we had an exceptionally small patient load. We had maybe three or four people come in to the ED today, which is about a tenth of the usual flow around here. We saw the usual bumps and bruises, and a few curveballs that required a larger workup. But all in all, it was a pretty sleepy day.
Early on, the ED clerk suggested that we all do something nice for lunch. Of course, there are zero delivery options around here, and the closest restaurant requires an hour drive. So we were clearly going to have to cook.
There's a small barbecue outside of the hospital, so everyone picked up a few things to grill from their houses over the lunch break. The paramedics would do the cooking, since when there weren't any 911 calls coming in (which there weren't) they didn't have much to do.
Here's Randy, one of the career paramedics, working on lunch in the ambulance bay.
While Randy was cooking, I used the chance to snap a few photos of the facility. Here are two of the four emergency bays.
And one of many of the routine exam rooms.
But that's not the most interesting part of the facility. The hallways and building entryway are actually pretty striking.
And, of course, it's got one of the best views of any health clinic in the world.
All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.
