ShowMeBlog

First Responding–Triage and the ER

  
  The New York Times today has some stories that interest me.
  One is about the shooting last week in Tucson and how when something like that happens what happens when the first responders get to the QTH and what takes place and how it moves to a hospital ER.
  I have done all that…I have been the first responder and I have been working in the ER when those things end up in the hospital.
  My first night as a police officer, out on my own, and I was the only officer on duty and I found a car accident when one young teen dead in the car and his brother in bad shape.  I called for the fire department and EMS and did my best.  I had in my mind how in the hell am I going to write this report because it was going to be a big report and I could not even tell what kind of car it was it was so smashed up.  Then after a few minutes I saw a Missouri state patrol officer and then I remembered that I had driven out of my city to find the accident.  The MHP officer looked like he was 14 years old but he knew is job and how to do it and I was off the hook.  Except I had to drive back into my small city and tell a mother and father that one of their sons was dead and another was on the way to St. Joseph Hospital.

  I was working at Research Medical Center (security) when the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel walkway collapse  took place.   On July 17, 1981 114 people died and 200 were injured.  Kansas City and everyone did a great job.  I am glad I was not at the collapse site.  Those police, fire and EMS and citizens did a great job.  The Kansas City hospitals did a great job.  We did a great job at Research Medical Center.
 
 

  I saw a lot of things over the years.  First responders, citizens, police, fire and EMS are great people and a God send when you need them.  Hospital workers, all of them, are just excellent. 
  The news media I think are just a pain in the ass.  I guess we need them.  We need for the public to know what is going on but they were nothing but problems for me and many others.
  In my first incident as a police officer I was all alone and never saw the new media.  I did not need them and did not  miss them.
  On the Regency Hotel collapse from my little view of it.. The press fucked up.  At least one radio station told people to go to the hospital and donate blood.  KC hospitals did  not collect blood.  We had lots of good citizens showing up demanding to donate blood.  We told them that we did not take blood and where they needed to go (to a blood center) but many of the citizens were upset and pissed and yelling at US because a radio station TOLD them to go to the hospital.
 
  I don’t miss those days.   But I do have a lot of memories of those days and a lot of stories. 

All roads lead to Russia

  Is this story for real?

“An airport in Tampa, Florida, has had to temporarily close its runways to keep up with Earth's magnetic north pole, which is drifting toward Russia at a rate of 40 miles per year.

Fox News reports that the international airport was forced to adjust the signs on its busiest runway Thursday because pilots depend on the magnetic fields to navigate. The runway will be closed until Jan. 13, and will re-open with new taxiway signs that indicate its new location on aviation charts, the Tampa Bay Tribune reports.

Paul Takemoto, a spokesman for the FAA, says the Earth's magnetic fields are constantly in flux -- but rarely so much so that runway signage needs to be changed. "You want to be absolutely precise in your compass heading," he told Fox. "To make sure the precision is there that we need, you have to make these changes."

[Rewind: Scary gaffe adds to week of airline mishaps]

"The Earth's poles are changing constantly, and when they change more than three degrees, that can affect runway numbering," FAA spokesperson Kathleen Bergen told Fox News. It's unclear whether any other airports will have to adjust their runways. ..”  

Yahoo News

 

  I knew there was a shift but 40 miles a year?  Wow, if I were a Republican I would want to go war with Russia for stealing the North Pole or something.  But then Republicans do not believe in science.  They think the earth is only 5000 years old and they do not believe in other facts of science.
  Fox News is the source for the story which makes me wonder if the story is even true.

$1 for each time nigger is said

  I signed up the other day for Audible.  The first book I took was “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” (unabridged) I have listed to part 1 but still have a lot of hours to go.

I also got “The Water is Wide” by Pat Conroy.  I loved the movie made from the book.  The movie was “Conrack” which I can not even find on Netflix or Hulu or anyplace else.  I have seen the movie a number of times. 

I do not remember the word “nigger” in the movie. I suspect it was there a few times.  But the book is filled with the word.  If I had a dollar for each time it is used in the book I would be a rich man.

  I listen to the book on my computer.  When I get an android cell phone I will select it as a mobile device and I can listen to the books on the cell phone. That would work out good when I am walking, riding the bus or waiting in the doctor’s office.

  Jon Voight stars in the movie.  When he was young he was about as left wing and liberal as you can get.  Now in his old age he is right wing and about as crazy as you can get. 

    Jon Voight said on April 27, 2007 about President Bush: 
   

"And they — what I hear, you know, talking about our president. When I hear people saying quite unthinkable things about our president, when I see our president defaced, which is defacing our country. He's the leader of our country. He's the leader of the free world. It — my heart is very heavy."^[20]

    Jon Voight later said about President Obama (2009): 
   

"I'm here to validate all the millions of people who are opposed to the Obama healthcare. We're witnessing a slow and steady takeover of our true freedoms. We're becoming a socialist nation, and Obama is causing civil unrest in this country...
"The stimulus didn't work.... We're being told what cars we can drive, how much we can make....
"Obama has made this [healthcare] a personal crusade now.... As we can see it really is about him. He is arrogant and he's adamant that he's going to get this passed....
"He's trying everything, even the so-called God card. If you love God, he tells us, then it's your duty to vote this healthcare bill in....
"They're taking away God's first gift to man. Our free will."^[23]

Christmas Eve 2010

  The Post Office will be open today but will be closed on Saturday December 25th for Christmas.

  When I was living with Jim and Betty, my father and mother, we opened our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve.  I got married when I was 26 and Darlene and I had four children so we opened our gifts on Christmas morning because of the kids.
 

My family, mother and father, were middle class. We had money for Christmas.  My father was a boilermaker (welder) and my mother was a nurse (LPN).  They both worked full time.
  When I was little it was standard for me to get two or three gifts.  One was marked from Santa and the the others from my father and mother.
 
  During the time that I went to Holy Name Grade School, grades 1st through 4th, I had a lot of friends and we played outside all the time.  I think all of those families had lots of kids.  I was an only child. 
  I can remember on more than one Christmas day when I went out to play the other kids asking me what I got and I would change the subject.  I was embarrassed because I got one or two gifts.  The other kids would have a long long list of gifts. I guess because of having a big family.
 
  I forget what Christmas it was but I am not  sure if we had a tree up.  I would think we did but there was no gift under the tree for me.  Jim and Betty told me that the gift was coming via the mail or UPS or something.  It was December 24th when it was delivered and I was home to get it.  It was not in gift wrapping or anything. 
  I opened it and it was a cap gun.  It was a pretty neat cap gun.  It was a revolver and you actually had to open it and put in bullets and you had to put a single cap in each shell.  So you only had six shots and you had to reload like a real gun.  I was not happy that it came on the 24th and that was the only thing I got but I did like the cap gun.
  I had a lot of toy guns over the years.  You got to remember back then that our heroes were Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, The Long Ranger and many others.  They were good heroes.  I think you were a better boy from listening to their shows on the radio and even watching them when they came to TV.
  I am not sure now days who kids have for heroes.  That may be the problem that we are having now days.
  I will be 70 in March.
  Glenn Beck is 46 years of age so who would his hero have been?  I think if Roy Rogers and Gene Autry had been his heroes he would not be the the low life scum that he is now days. 

  My heroes never killed bad guys.  My heroes were honest, truthful and clean living.

  Rush Limbaugh is 59 years of age.  I would hate to think that he had the same heroes that I had as a kid.

  I am not sure if religion played a part in kids my age or not.  I was Catholic.  I went to Catholic school all my life.  We had pray and religion all day long.  I was an altar boy at least one entire school year and I would assist the priest for early morning mass and then walk over to Holy Name school.  (The church was not next to the school at that time. It was  a few blocks away.)
 
  I suspect that movies, like John Wayne movies, had more to do with making people my age decent because of the cowboy ideal.  That would be funny and strange if fictitious cowboys made us decent Americans more so that Jesus Christ and religion.

  Marry Christmas everyone.

My Home Electricity Usage Report

  Pretty neat new service for us from TXU energy.  They are going to send me my home electricity usage report each week.

  This is the first one I got.  Notice the temp at the top.  They also send additional detailed weather information with the report.  TXU just put in some new meters in this area that allows them to do this sort of thing.

A Barbie Doll for Pedophiles!

  I saw a headline on CNN about a Barbie doll for pedophiles.  So I was wondering what in the hell could that be about.  I was thinking is it a doll that a pedophile gives to a girl with his name and address and phone number on it saying call me sometime for fun.

  Well it turns out it is Barbie doll made by Mattel with a built in camera in the necklace and the girl can use it as a camera and view the video on a computer. 
  The FBI has issued a WARNING!!!
 
  The FBI says they have seen cases of pedophiles luring victims with Barbies and then using a hidden camera to produce pornography.  Oh fucking Jesus Christ…  I am sure that pedophiles use anything they can to get victims.  I have never heard of a doll being used but I have heard of candy, dogs and everything else being used to get to to a victim.
  This is just crazy.  So a company should not put a camera into a toy that a girl might use.  My guess is that it is OK for Mattel to put a camera in a GI Joe, a police car, a fire truck and everything else.
  Someone at the FBI has way to much time on their hands.  In fact if I was management I would be taking a close look at the guy that came up with the idea that a Barbie doll should be used like that. 

Swimming Nude in America - Are the photos fake?

  I get a lot of hits to ShowMeBlog because of a blog post that I made on April 23 of 2008:  Swimming Nude in America. 
  It is about a time not very long ago when boys and men would swim nude at the YMCA and at schools.  It was common even in the late 60s and no one said anything about it.  It was no big deal. 
  Some people can not believe that it was common or that it took place.  It did.  I know if first hand. 

  In my post there were a couple of photos showing young men swimming at swimming events.  The photos came from the Yahoo Group:  YMCAnaked.
  I have had a couple of comments saying that the photos are fake because no photos were taken. 
  They have a number of photos on that site.  So I was thinking that they could not all be fake but I am starting to wonder.
  There is a neat service called TinEye.  It will search over a billion images on the Internet and find matches for the photo you want checked.  I checked the two photos that I posted and I could not find one match for them.  That make me wonder if they are fake.

  The nude swimming did take place in the United States.  I am not sure about anyone taking photos.  You got to remember there were not digital cameras and cell phones back at that time. 
  Some people today do not believe anything unless there are photos or YouTube video to prove it.

Hospital care can be fatal

  I been saying for years in my blog and even when I worked at hospitals that you were in danger when you went to a hospital.  I often said that there should be warning signs at the entrance of hospitals warning that if you enter the hospital you are in danger.

 

“One in every seven hospitalized Medicare patients are harmed by treatment mistakes,  according to new analysis by the Department of Health & Human Services released Tuesday.

The report cites a variety of "adverse events" or causes for treatment errors, including excessive bleeding after surgery, urinary tract infections linked to catheters and incorrect medications.  Researchers estimate that these types of adverse events contribute to 15,000 deaths per month or 180,000 deaths each year, according to the report.

Some patient-rights groups are calling these findings alarming…”  CNN Health

  Think of the extra cost to the health care system from all of these errors. 
One way to help get the problems fixed is to make sure that hospitals and doctors do not get paid for errors.  The way it works now if they give you the wrong medication or do something wrong you or your insurance company pay.  You pay the for extra treatments needed and the extra time in the hospital.
  Our first born was in the hospital when she was less than a year old.  She had a lung infection of some sort.  Well I forget which it was…if the treatment was warm air or cold air with the breathing treatment but they gave her the wrong one so she had to stay an extra day in the hospital.
  My father was spitting up blood.  His doctor was sure he had cancer.  They could not find anything so they took him to surgery.  My father had an aneurysm and the doctor cut into it by error.  He almost died. I am not sure how much longer he had to stay or what long term effects it had on him.
  Many years later he was in the hospital because he was so weak that he could not stand up.  I knew it was due to his drinking and not eating.  The same doctor was still sure he had cancer.  My father had a big fear of doctors and hospitals.  The doctor decided to do some sort of test in his room and my father coded in his room.  He had to go on life support.  We took him off life support and he died.
  I could go on and on ..
  I have been in the ER two times in the last year.  One time for blood pressure of over 200 and all sorts of problems because of it.  They treated me in the ER and I took the bus home that day.
  The second time I was in the ER due to low blood pressure and a heart rate of 25 bpm. They put in a pace maker the next day and I went home the day after that from the hospital.  I took a cab home that time.
  Sometimes you need to go to the hospital.  Sometimes they save your life.  Sometimes they do great things. 
  But trust me you are in danger every minute that you are in the hospital.

Leonid meteor shower peaks Wednesday

“Skygazers will have the best opportunity to witness the Leonid meteor shower in the two to three hours before dawn on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the editors of StarDate magazine…”  CNN

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Leonid meteor shower)

For other uses, see Leonid (disambiguation).

 

“A famous depiction of the 1833 meteor storm, produced in 1889 for the Seventh-day Adventist book Bible Readings for the Home Circle

The Leonids (/ˈliː.ənɪdz/ LEE-ə-nids) are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo: the meteors appear to radiate from that point in the sky.

Earth moves through the meteoroid stream of particles left from the passages of a comet. The stream comprises solid particles, known as meteoroids, ejected by the comet as its frozen gases evaporate under the heat of the Sun when it is close enough – typically closer than Jupiter's orbit. The Leonids are a fast moving stream which come close to or cross the path of the Earth and impact the Earth at 72 km/s.^[1] Leonids in particular are well known for having bright meteors or fireballs which may be 9 mmacross and have 85 g of mass and punch into the atmosphere with the kinetic energy of a car hitting at 60 mph. An annual Leonid shower may deposit 12 or 13 tons of particles across the entire planet. Sometimes these trails of meteoroids cause meteor showers and sometimes meteor storms.

The meteoroids left by the comet are organized in trails in orbits similar to though different from that of the comet. They are differentially disturbed by the planets, in particular Jupiter^[2] and to a lesser extent by radiation pressure from the sun, thePoynting–Robertson effect, and the Yarkovsky effect.^[3] Old trails are spatially not dense and compose the meteor shower with a few meteors per minute. In the case of the Leonids that tends to peak around November 17, but some are spread through several days on either side and the specific peak changing every year.^[4] Conversely, young trails are spatially very dense and the cause of meteor storms when the Earth enters one. Usual counts during a storm exceed 1000 meteors per hour,^[5] to be compared to the annual background (1 to 2 meteors per hour) and the shower background (a few per hour)…”

Daylight Savings Time Will End in a Few Hours

  For those of us on Daylight Savings Time it will end at 0200 on November 7, 2010.  So for me in a few hours when it gets to 0200 hours I need to set the clock back to 0100 hours.

  Russell will get an extra hour of sleep tonight.  
  He set my alarm for 0500 so I could wake him.  I am sure he does not know about the time change.  So he gets an extra hour of sleep.

  I worked the midnight shift for years.  About 11 of those years at a small hospital and I was the only security officer.  I would have to adjust the time clock.  I also set some other clocks to make it easier for staff.
  I can remember one female employee that came in an hour early for work and the front door of the hospital was not unlocked due to the time change .. she forgot to set her clock.. So she had to walk around to the ER door and ring the bell to get in.  I let her in and then I walked with her down the hall as she cussed me out and called me every name for not unlocking that front door on time.  After awhile I asked her what time it was…She gave me her time and I told her sorry it is XXXX you forgot to set your clock for Daylight Savings Time.  She did not say a word.  She did not say “I am sorry” or anything. 
  A lot of people get messed up with the time change.  I wish they would just leave the time alone and not adjust it.  You get used to the sun coming up and the sun going down at a certain time and then they change it on you.

  I took my BP and it is 152/89.  The 152 is a little high.  It would be better if it was not over 140.  The 89 is in the normal range.  But 90 is the start of high blood pressure.