X-Message-Number: 5432
Date: 15 Dec 95 17:41:27 EST
From: Mike Darwin <>
Subject: Debriefing

Carlotta,

Your comments are GOOD and welcomed.

I am normally very punctual with family.

This was the most disorganized standby/transport I have ever done.  
Terrible from that standpoint.  One reason was how freaked I was by the way 
Jim went down.  I was deeply diturbed when I should not have been.  It is 
sort of like someone giving me a 10 pound gold brick out of the blue or 
winning the lottery.  It threw me off guard.  Simple things like asking 
Edwin to plug in the CF monitor and push Run/Start would have caputed all 
that data.

I was NOT told Joan was leaving, NOR WAS SANDRA!!!!!!!!!!  I expected Joan 
to be there THROUGH Wedensday.  I thought she couldn't start the case on 
Wed because she couldn't be away Thursday.  Incidentally, Sandra thought 
the same thing and I believe told me Joan would be available for the whole 
case when I first gave her the time of Teusday, 2100.

I sorely missed my Transport Certified Staff.  This is NO reflection on any 
of you, you did GREAT.  But it points up the problems that could have been 
avoided by training.  The end of the transport course is a dry run for a 
case, and there are many hours (20 8 hour days of practice with 
equipment!).  The course is also highly structured.

I did try to call Naimoi down, but she could not come.  It would have been 
a REAL asset to have had either or BOTH her and Shawn.   Major mistake on 
my part.

The issue of the equipment needs to be discussed in round table in person.  
Steve will be here thru Sunday.  Can you make a Sat debriefing?  I'll check 
with Joan and Sandra if you can.

Finally, we were perilously short staffed because I was trying to save 
money.  I did not do this with ANY thought to compromisig care, only 
because I knew we could do glyc dogs with a skeleton crew and was 
overconfident.  I also knew how well you all work, and how smart you all 
are.  I just didn't figure in the fatigue factor or the fact that we were 
doing far more data collection than ever before.

The arguments in front of the family were unconscienable and I agree with 
you completely.  It is the FIRST time I have ever initiated or continued 
such remarks, and the first time I have trashed a staff member in that way 
in front of family.  It is inexcusable. But it is also a symptom of my 
gowing and rapidly becoming intolerable anger at Fletch for his lateness.  
He could have/should have brought a bottle of O2 up from the ambulance and 
he should have had that regulator there on time.  HE needs to be included 
in the debriefing, and I will try to arrange it.

Oh, one more point.  I was relying on Larry and Candy to show up during the 
AM.  They didn't for obvious reasons, but it made life a lot harder.

I too have much constructive to say and many ideas for the future.

Also, I've seen this phenomenon before; it is often the case that advance 
and optimum scenarios yeild the rockiest results.  Overconfidence?  
Disruption of normal planning schemes?  Psychological problems?  I dunno.  
But I've seen this before ans not just in cryonics.

Finally, a point from me.  I sincerely feel that staff should have been 
there all day on Monday to go through things and carefully rehearse 
details.  I flt that all weekend long and it was WHY I tried to reschedule 
for Wed.  I knew things would not go smoothly because I had a deep gut feel 
people needed to be focused and decompressed from the conference.  I had 
presumed they were coming back Sunday night and had said so, but not to the 
right people.  I should have INSISTED this happen and thrown a hissy fit if 
necessary.  Just having ALL those good minds at the home and going over the 
situation and thinking of details would have helped a great deal.  I should 
also have gotten Boon: no accident in the field would have occurred, but 
because of how Jim was going down and his high (cost 2K for him alone IF he 
could do it), I didn't.

Enough!  I still have many hours of prep work and tubing packs to cut and 
labs to get into SKB.

Thanks for everything.


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