Going to Middle of Nowhere - what to take?

[hippocratical]

So I'm off soon to do some oilfield work in the middle-of-nowhere, northern Alberta.

For those of you who have done this sort of thing, any advise on things that I should take with me?

It's 2 or 3 weeks on, sitting in a truck or portable for 12hrs doing bugger all. It'll be great!

As a heads up, I'm not a wilderness noob and have plenty of weather gear. Same for tech stuff - 2.5TB of movies, books, games will come with me. I'll also be bringing my lovely 7kg of EMT books to keep me sharp.

I'm pretty sure I'm prepared, but there's always things that you realize you needed when it's too late.

One friend told me to bring a skipping rope to keep me exercised, but there's no way that I'm going to be using a skipping rope around roughneck riggers - wearing a tutu would be safer ^_^

 

[Shishkabob]

Candy!

 

[mycrofft]

Bug spray. Stuff to sell. Cash/change.

Usually lonely guys want postage stamps, girly magazines, junk food and a loan...or the modern equivalents. AA batteries I suppose. You could go home rich, or support a gambling habit if you have one.
Ham radio if you can get a license and buy one.
Wildlife identifiers, especially reptiles, insects, and plants including mushrooms. ("You ate what? What bit you?").
Pictorial guide to Rx pills and capsules. (" You swallowed what?").
Get a teaching certificate from red cross and teach guys first aid and stuff when you are all bored.
Locking trunk to keep your treasures in.

 

[Aidey]

Bug spray is probably not necessary in northern Alberta this time of year.

Cash. Extra things that break easily, like headphones. Beyond that I can't think of anything. Most of my list of stuff like that are things like hair ties.

 

[abckidsmom]

Usually lonely guys want postage stamps, girly magazines, junk food and a loan...or the modern equivalents. AA batteries I suppose. You could go home rich, or support a gambling habit if you have one.
Ham radio if you can get a license and buy one.
Wildlife identifiers, especially reptiles, insects, and plants including mushrooms. ("You ate what? What bit you?").
Pictorial guide to Rx pills and capsules. (" You swallowed what?").
Get a teaching certificate from red cross and teach guys first aid and stuff when you are all bored.
Locking trunk to keep your treasures in.

There's an app for that pictorial pill guide, and those wildlife identifiers.

Learn to knit. LOL, if the jump roping doesn't do you in, you can show them how satisfying it is to wear a wool hat or mittens that you made yourself.

 

[fast65]

There's an app for that pictorial pill guide, and those wildlife identifiers.

Learn to knit. LOL, if the jump roping doesn't do you in, you can show them how satisfying it is to wear a wool hat or mittens that you made yourself.

There's a few apps for them, there's iPharmacy and I believe Epocrates a pill identifier as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Aidey]

Yes, the free Epocrates has a pill identifier as long as you are using the Android or iOS versions.

 

[BrushBunny91]

Good Luck in Fort Man-Murry, why they call it that? because there are no women of course!
I hope your getting the nice big salary Ive been hearing about!

 

[hippocratical]

I think the ambulance/MTC has a CPS but as a geek, apps are always a good thing!

Fort Man Murry? Yes there are only dudes there, or at least a few women that look like dudes, but that should keep my wife from getting jealous!

On a similar theme, knitting may get me attacked, but I've always been keen on learning the guitar. I might even take up my snow shoes / cc skis to zoom around in any off time.

If I find that I have forgotten anything interesting I will post back here (cell service should be available, and I got a 6GB plan intentionally for that).

Thanks for the input!

 

[Tigger]

Nothing makes long, boring shifts more bearable than gum. Get a big box, keep it in the console.

 

[hippocratical]

Nothing makes long, boring shifts more bearable than gum. Get a big box, keep it in the console.

I thought that was what the narcotics cabinet was for?

 

[BrushBunny91]

Are you going to fort mcmurry?

 

[Handsome Robb]

Nothing makes long, boring shifts more bearable than gum. Get a big box, keep it in the console.

A few partners I work with would tell you to screw the gum and bring a log of Copenhagen.

 

[mycrofft]

Pill ID application

In a hurry nothing beats whipping open the PDR and looking at all those pills in front of you, color, near life size.
And you can use it as a doorstop, to start fires, or learn origami in the Great Northwest.

 

[mycrofft]

...and if the toilet paper runs out or gets burned....

...got it covered!

 

[BedpanCommando]

I don't know about Alberta but the oil fields here in Alaska are not close to any major population center so no need to bring much money. The catering crew, if there worth anything will keep you well fed and have a supply of candy on hand. So no worries there. Sports is almost always on the TV so if you don’t like it.....Too Bad. There’s very little time off and if you are like me, the only medic, you will not be given the opportunity to go skiing or snow shoeing. Sorry. Whatever you choose to bring remember, you have to carry it. You have to store it somewhere. Personally I bring. Movies on my computer, My Nook with a few choice books. My Pillow. (I hate the ones here) My Towel. (Same Reason)
Good luck. Welcome to the Oil Patch
:wacko:

 

[Aidey]

But as the medic you always have the chance of ending up on a medevac of some sort. Trust me you want cash when you end up in some place like Tuktoyuktuk and are waiting for a flight home. Plus it comes in handy it you forget something and someone else is willing to sell you theirs.

 

[mycrofft]

How about dental?

Would learning about how to spot serious dental conditions (i.e., abscess or tumor, as well as more obvious ones like pain, broken tooth, lost crown, etc) be of use ? I've used OTC eugenol filling material (such as Tempadent) a couple times when we had like a partial day to go or a filling was lost, no sins of infection, and the patient would be seeing a dentist within a week (or less)?

 

[Sasha]

Clean underwear, and lots of it! Without holes!

 

[hippocratical]

Clean underwear, and lots of it! Without holes!

How do you get you legs in? ^_^

Regarding the tooth thing, I'm aware that I have to not do anything out of my scope. I believe I'll have access to a big bag of OTC meds, but Albertan protocol is fiesty about "prescribing" meds. Even handing someone a pack of cough drops counts and a world of trouble could be yours.

I've been advised by friends in the field that the spiel to use is:
"You have a cough huh? Well I cant see anything life threateningly wrong with you, and I recommend that you see a doctor if you're concerned, but there's a bag over there with cough drops in it. I'm not prescribing them to you, but if you were to take a pack then that's your choice..."

Anyone else experienced these shenanigans? It reminds me of a movie scene (NL Vacation?) where the guy tries to bribe a cop, puts a wad of cash down on the policemans table and says "Well I'm gonna put this big wad of cash on the table and I'm not sure how much is there and I forget where I put things all the time..."