Team Typhoid tackles CPR

Today the interns spent the day taking a CPR class with Amy and Terrence. CPR is a prerequisite for any Cambrian cavern diving trips. We were split up into two teams: Team Typhoid (apparently my mono is as horrible as typhoid): Amy, Tim and I, and the other team who was sadly nameless because they were all in good health- Terrence, Artie, Josh. Renee Power, Director of Publications and Volunteers at the Cambrian Foundation who works at Orlando’s hospital, generously donated her time and expertise, she took the day off to instruct the class. In the middle of our class, James called us out because Paul had “fallen off the roof and was unconscious.” Josh and I stepped up to the scene and started rescue breathing on the victim after analyzing the situation.

The Cambrian Foundation never fails to “give it to you real.” We were nicely surprised with a mouth full of pizza in the victim’s mouth (which is a lot more pleasant than what we could have encountered in reality) showing us that emergencies are rarely textbook-perfect scenarios, you have to be prepared for any kind of situation. We learned more emergency procedures, including how to use a defribulator, deal with spinal injuries, and heart attacks. After the class we went back to the Terrence’s house to start day one of the cavern course. Lee, Tim, and I were the only interns in the course. We learned about the difference between cave and cavern (“cavern is cave diving without all the fun stuff,” or exploration, says Terrence), and that it’s crucially important not to ditch your weights because the only place to go is up, into the cavern ceiling. Before calling it a night, we rigged our BCs so that they were stream-line and “cavern safe” for our pool test on Tuesday.