We are en route to Liberia for another 2 weeks of working at JFK. The team for this trip includes Dr. Diego Holguin and Dr. John Dussel, both residents at Waterbury Hospital who have been on previous trips; Dr. Jonathan Laryea, a former Waterbury Hospital resident who is now a colorectal surgeon at the University of Arkansas; Dr. Larry Kim, a surgical endocrinologist at the University of Arkansas; and Dr. Tom Fineberg, an anesthesiologist at the University of Arkansas. We are all on the plane together except for Dr Kim, who will hopefully arrive on Tuesday. He plans to go to Nigeria after being in Liberia; apparently there was some hang-up with his Nigerian visa, so he had to go to Dallas yesterday to get it released, and as a result couldn't get to NYC to make our flight.
I had an interesting experience with the TSA yesterday at JFK airport. JFK Hospital has a digital X-ray system donated by the Government of India a couple of years ago. In order to minimize electrical current fluctuations ( I think) the power is run through a bank of rechargeable batteries. These batteries are similar to those used for scooters; they are 4" X 6" X 6" rectangular shaped items that weigh 5 pounds each. Apparently the hospital has been unable to get replacement batteries in Liberia or in Ghana, and so last March they asked us to bring 14 with us, which we did. Then they said they needed more, so I brought another 12 on my July trip. They still needed more, so I obtained another 10 to bring this time. The problem is that at 5 pounds each these are heavy, and they quickly cause an excess baggage weight problem. In July, I decided that I would bring a couple as carry-on baggage, but I wasn't sure if they would be allowed. These batteries are sealed, leakproof, lead-acid type; I looked very carefully at the manufacturers website as well as the TSA website to see if there would be a problem, and I couldn't find anything saying it wouldn't be allowed. When I went through security with them in July, that bag was hand-searched; the TSA official asked me what they were for, and then let me bring them on board. Yesterday I increased the load by having 6 of them in my carry-on, each one individually wrapped in plastic. The TSA inspector said I would have to go back and check them as they were not allowed; when I objected they brought over a supervisor who agreed that they were not allowed as cabin baggage. I explained to him that I thought he was wrong, and that I had combed the TSA website looking for a prohibition, but there was none. I explained that these are lead-acid rather than lithium ion, which is a big difference. After a conclave of a couple of inspectors and the supervisor, they then called a super supervisor, who apparently informed them that I was right ! So they are in the overhead bin above my seat as I write, and I am feeling pretty happy that I fought the TSA and won ! One of our projects on this trip will be to help the hospital people figure out what the problem is with the X-ray system, since this seems to be an inordinate number of batteries required. In the meantime, they haven't had a working digital X-ray system since February.
Albert and Moses picked us up at the airport, and brought us to the bungalow which Cedric and Brian greeted us. John and Diego will be staying in the dorm; they came over for dinner, and then we all went to bed fairly early. Unfortunately there is no running water for bathing and flushing at the bungalow; they hope to remedy that tomorrow. And the air conditioner in the generator bedroom isn't working, so I slept in the big double room with Jonathan. They expect the a/c to be fixed tomorrow also.
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