MedicNorth

If a swallow is unladen, is it actually a gulp?

Congrats!- 200 posts, and that was a fun one for the milestone. Have an interesting mental picture of all the people reading this thread attempting to lick their elbows. Could be the new aerobics! Keep practicing. Would like to see how you make out!

You are right - I can't lick the point of my elbow. Funny thing, though - sneezes do not stay attached to your mouth! A sneeze is a shotgun blast of ripe little droplets of bacteria and viruses. If I sneeze into my elbow it seems very likely that these projectiles will spread to the outside. Maybe bumping knees, or backs, or toes would be a better greeting..

Only a contortionist can sneeze on his elbow? That is nonsense! One of the most recent issues of National Geographic dealt with the issue of the next influenza pandemic. One of their recommendations? - sneeze into your elbow so it doesn't get onto your hands. I am not a contortionist, and I can sneeze onto my elbow without any problem at all. In fact, if you cant, you are probably malformed. The truth is, the pandemic will come. When it does, we will have the choice to stay in the profession with the BSI precautions we are trained to use, or to quit. Emerg service personnel are supposed to be vaccinated first - if it doesn't happen, the choice will be much more difficult.

I don't plan to quit, but the situation has not come up yet. I have definitely done some thinking about it - both my jobs (ems and teaching) entail a large amount of social contact. I don't know how I will react, but I do know that I won't be bumping elbows with anybody.

The poem says it all - Spell check can catch some things, but not all, and substitutions can be a larger problem. At least a misspelled word is still the same word - Spell check can, in its wisdom, substitute a completely different word, which is worse. Spelling ability does not necessarily relate to intelligence or ability. The larger issue, as has been mentioned here, is the perception that people get when reading any kind of report. We associate poor spelling with ignorance.

If you have a spelling problem, it only makes sense that you use every possible tool you can to get it right - spell check, dictionary, your partner. Practice the terms and words you have trouble with. Keep a sheet of words and terms that are difficult for you with you at all times - refer to it if there is any doubt. Add to it as needed. This is faster and easier than packing a dictionary.

This works with grade-school kids. Should certainly work with adults.

Good luck!

Pet peeves here:

1. People who discuss (often at length) procedures, equipment, conditions, and situations that they can't even spell yet.

2. People who degrade others simply because of the position they hold in the system. There is need and room for ALL levels in the EMS system from First Aider to Paramedic (Divine), as long as each is aware of his/her scope. It is counterproductive and elitist to base your opinion of someone on what they can't do in a situation. Use them for what they can.

3. People who pound the other Emerg services with a large hammer. Yes-there are incompetents in all branches, but none would be able to function properly without the other. I have had bad experiences with police and fire, but they have saved my lily-white more times than not.

4. Wannabes who have flunked the test multiple times and are looking for the easy way to pass it - the solution is simple -STUDY the stuff so you know it, or get another career.

Thanks for the soapbox, Rid

Dammit - some of this stuff IS funny. No, suicide is not funnny - it is pathetic and evil, but Rid's "black humour" post says it all. If we spend our lives without finding comic relief in some of the things people do, we will be completely unable to cope, especially in this field. If the general public heard some of the things that are said in jest during debriefing, on the way home, or over a beer in the nearest tavern, they would crap, but humour is the ultimate coping mechanism. If you can't laugh at the human condition, you probably aren't human.

Don't we all wish! The things that go through your head on-scene with the know-it-all bystanders would be enough to get us all canned if we voiced them. Have actually gone to the point of telling person to "Get the Hell out of here!", but have managed to refrain from voicing other opinions.

The police, or even the occasional firefighter, are very good at removing interfering peepenlookers. I find the worst are the sports trainers, who have a basic first aid course, and a "trainers" certificate that makes them into instant experts. Never mind the fact that they dragged the poor kid off the field or the ice so the game could continue before calling us.

Remember that stupidity is our biggest annoyance - it also keeps us working!

Trying to "be prepared" for an MCI can lead into the mentality that we saw on the "impossible scenario" thread. There is always a potential or actual one larger than you can handle. We tend, especially after 9/11, to concentrate on What Ifs and Maybe's. Yes we need to be prepared, but the basic everyday service is guaranteed to be needed - we have to make sure that it is not crippled in the face of escalating "what if's". Interagency cooperation, mutual aid agreements, and planning are the low-cost alternatives to large scale physical stockpiling of goods and equipment to deal with the possible.

As far as I'm concerned, if they can do the job, they can do the job. We have all come across people who are extremely mature at a young age, as well as those who never develop common sense regardless of their life experience. Forget the age limit - other than requiring them to essentially be an adult (18), the job of assessing performance belongs to the service they work for.

The evolution of this scenario eventually gets to all-out thermonuclear war. It gets to a point when there quite simply IS no right answer. Going home for a beer mught be the best one.

"Dispatch, this is Pumper X"

"Pumper X, this is Dispatch, go ahead."

"Dispatch, would you please call xxx -xxxx and tell my wife I forgot to take the roast out of the freezer?"

"Pumper x, Say again?"

Had one call that had me heaving, but saved it for later - elderly male with bleeding ulcers on both legs - had been bleeding for several days, catching the blood in plastic grocery bags which were spread all over the floor. Had his legs wrapped in similar bags. Had lost so much blood his bp was 44 / 20. We still refer to it as "the smelly call". The odour was about the worst I could ever imagine, and definitely did lose my lunch later, when cleaning my gear.

Have postophobia - absolutely HATE picking up the mail. At best its bills and junk mail - at worst its another letter from my ex-wife's lawyer. Post office calls my kids at school to pick up the mail after school.