Echo Frustrations

OK,this was an introduction to Bot-burocracy at its best. We met this AM after morning report, and in light of the huge backlog in echo needs, my usefuness in providing didactic lectures, and the need for me to freely consult, we agreed that an outpatient clinic presence was not possible to perform. Moreover, my time is limited to 3 months, so followup will be impossible. I'll consult on patients referred from the OPD but not primarily care for them in followup as I did in my practice. I befriended Matibine Matibine, the biomedical engineer who just returned from 5 years in the US (Drexel for training, and Boston for work....he never skied, but loved snowmobiling...wanted to know if I missed the New England winter...duh)
After morning report and a planning meeting this AM, I returned home to create an echo report to use for studies and retreive necessary items like 5kg echo gel, ECG electrodes, and the all-important bicycle cable lock.
I spent the afternoon in the OB clinic. This is where ulrasounds have been done in the past (obviously for OB needs, but because the same machine has been used for hearts, this is where, Tues and Thurs afternoons, I have the privilege of doing cardiac echoes. The time cannot be expanded, so I arranged to create a satellite echo lab in the male ward procedure room (all I need is a table, an electrical outlet, and a light switch). The room is a mess, and will take some doing to get cleaned up and acceptable to examine patients and do cardiac ultrasound.
This afternoon, the GE Vivd S6 was brought to the OB clinic from radiology. The plug was incompatable with the electrical system, which led to a prolonged recruitment of Matibine to make things happen. This included switching the plug to a Botswana-compatable connector, and changing the fuse in the plug when it wouldn't work. Finally, at after 4PM, I was ready to experiment with a totally unfamiliar echo system. The patient was rescheduled, so I imaged the next available person....me. I can make this system work OK, but will be happy to receive the Philips machine promised to me later this week. This will be the first time there will be availability 5 d/wk and actual reports!
We've had violent T-storms the past 2 days, but I'll take this over the daily snow falling in Maine this week.