6/6/6 - another typical day

We were having breakfast today at 7:15 when the news broke on the Greek newschannels (we were watching ET1) about attempts to rescue refugees who had been dumped overboard (per the typical smuggler procedure) in the sea north of Samos (opposite, remember, the Turkish coast at Kusadasi).

Now, sadly, this is hardly news over here. The Navy regularly hauls in smuggler boats (which promptly get ransacked for parts by the honest fisherfolk of Vathy) and takes the poor folks in for a medical, and then to holding (and thence a very grey existence in legaland..).

Last summer, M treated a batch of refugees who were so hypothermic from being in the sea for hours, they were purple and shivering in a 35 degrees summer day with the aircons to full heat.
And those were the hardy, lucky ones who made it.

However, as M is on-call today until 12pm tomorrow, she was understandably less than thrilled. Thanks to the chicken virus alert, medics have to don full biohazard suits to do their medical workup on refugees, while also covering the usual ward and ER workload.

Yeah, I will have my own salvage operation tomorrow.. and I just have to hope none of this happens on 01/07, the suits will just wreak havoc on the hairdo..

Update: We just found out that the refugees were being returned to Kusadasi by the Dutch cruise liner that had picked them up. Except one poor kid whose body was brought in by the Navy. The ominous date seems to have had its toll.

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