Western Australia: RFDS and Volunteer Ambulance Crew Transfer a Patient from the Wheatbelt to Perth.

photos: by Dheborah Quirke

taken at Cunderdin airstrip, Western Australia
 on 26/10/2017

"We're fine"- After Hurricane Maria: Daily discussion with Marine biologist, Jack Sabados

Photo taken by RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP/Getty Images

PUERTORICO-WEATHER-HURRICANE-MARIA

A group of people walk over debris on the Vivi River to get access to the Rio Abajo community in Utuado, on October 17, 2017. The improvised pulley system is the only way to obtain supplies for the community since the passage of Hurricane Maria caused the river to wash away the only bridge that gives access to the neighborhood.

Our conversation  usually starts like this...and the strange secret is...we aren't chatting on the phone. We're not sending emails. I'm usually standing on a SIM in virtual reality world, Second Life...in a glass-walled room above Arteo. It's a graphical MUD on a MUD server...a multiuser domain...a MMORPG. We are connected by satellite. As we talk, I stand before a screen which blasts me with images of mankind travelling through the solar system and suffering cataclysmic devastation after a war... before suffering at the hands of aliens. Occasionally, a spacecraft glides on to a nearby dock and waits for someone to board before lifting off and gliding away. Sometimes I sit on a virtual chair with words and colour running past my feet as we talk. Other times, we stand on a small beach. For face-to-face moments, one of us asks to be teleported to where the other is standing. Hurricane Maria registered as an earthquake on a seismograph. In Puerto Rico, the phones are down. Power is down. I am in Western Australia. For Sabados, who completed his doctorate in San Diago, virtual reality is a reality...a reality in the world of communication. 

"Hi, how are you?" he says.

"Good. Que tal?" I ask.

"Bien gracias". he answers, "Vas mejorando en espanol".

"How is your garden?" I ask politely.

"More clear now. I will have to repaint and fix and plant," he says calmly.

"What can you buy in the shops close to you?" I ask.

"Good. I can buy rice, bread, pasta, tomatoes, bananas". 

I've tried to email one of the fruit plantations to ask if their wind power system was damaged in the hurricane  but their email service doesn't work.

"Great, " I respond, relieved. 

"Did you ever get to see what was inside the ration packs?"I ask. He's too calm, I think.

"Enter the basics-rice, milk, sugar, pasta, coffee, cereals"

"Do you think they've got to all the towns?"I ask, concerned.

"Yes, at least that's what they're trying to do". 

"What sort of things have you been doing lately?" I ask the shark researcher,"What is the coast like?"

He shows me some photos online of the collapsing coastal roads.

"I've been working all night. We've been helping the farmers," he responds.

"Are the curfews still in place?" I ask him.

"As a volunteer, I do not have a curfew."

Sabados shows me some photos on Yahoo of the primates on Monkey Island. I looked at a beach full of monkeys. They sat with their backs to the sea.

"They survived!" I state.

"Yes" 

Deborah Quirke
Western Australia.

How to Use a Satellite Phone After a Disaster such as Hurricane Maria

After some natural disasters, people have received satellite phones but haven't been  able to use them. Most satellite phones will need to be recharged before using them. Charge it straight away. It may come with a pre-charged battery. Calls must be made outside- you may have to try in different spots (e.g outside under a clear sky and away from buildings)*. You must use the international country code that you are phoning from as it is not linked to a local phone network. You will need the sky.

Three types of satellite phones:

Iridium
Thuraya
Inmarstat

To call an Iridium satellite from US : 

-enter international dialling code 011
-enter 8816
-enter phone number
(011 is US; 8816 is calling to Iridium phone; then actual phone number)


To call an Inmarstat satellite phone from US:

-enter 011
-enter 870
-then satellite phone number
(011 is US; 870 is Inmarstat type of sat phone; then phone number).

To call a Thuraya from US:

-enter international dialling code 011
-enter 88216
-enter satellite phone number
(011 is US; 88216 is Thuraya sat phone; then phone number of satellite phone).


To call from an Iridium satellite phone to land line:

-dial 00
-then dial 1 (1 is US exit number)
-dial 602 752
-then dial phone number you wish to reach

To call from an Iridium satellite phone to another satellite phone:

-dial 00
-dial 8816
then dial phone number you wish to reach.


For further IT assistance/knowledge base-

www.networkinv.com/how-to-dial-satellite-phone
www.iridium.com/floating/making calls.

The Waves this Morning.

08:10 WA time 05/10/2017

photo taken by dheborah at  Secret Harbour

How to Purify Water in an Emergency Situation.

* I extracted this information from 'wikihow'.

1. Strain

-strain debris and leaves through a soft cotton cloth or food strainer.

2.Sterilize in the sun: 

-fill a plastic bottle (one with a screw-n type lid)
-put on lid
-lay on side in full sun for 6 hours
-will kill most bacteria and parasites. and viruses.

3.Bleach

-strain water
-put 4 drops of bleach into a one litre jug of water (a quart).
-shake/stir
-leave for 30 minutes before using.

4.Drain through a clay pot

-rest clay pot over another container(large based pot over bucket of similar size will be less heavy as it is not rapid process)
-fill clay pot
-all0w to soak through and drip into bucket below
-this removes most bacteria

5. Boil and cool all drinking water if possible.

6. Iodine tablets for water sterilisation are available but taste terrible.

Emergency Food Choices when Little Money is Available.

1. Oatmeal porridge- is cheap and nutritionally loaded.

-you can add salt and butter.
-you can add (if you have them) milk, any fruits or honey, molasses,condensed milk.
-a small amount will sustain you for hours.
-can be eaten on its own if really necessary, in emergency situations, once cooked.
-can be used to make biscuits.

2. Rice or pasta- not so nutritionally loaded but

-you can add absolutely anything to it.
-it will ensure your food supply goes further.
-can be added to soups.

3. Popcorn

-Extremely cheap and just need heat to prepare
-can be eaten with salt, butter or sugar.

4. Freeze-dried peas or potatoes

-easy to transport and light-weight.

If sea water is used, dilute with one part sea water and two parts fresh water. If water is not clean, boil before adding food.

5. Seaweed chips

-cut flat seaweed into small pieces and sprinkle with oils and salt.

-grill or place over fire

-cool & eat when crunchy

6.Add sesame seed

-can be sprinkled on every dish or vegetable as a protein to give energy.

7. Remember that mushroom and coconut is a protein