April 4th, 2010 by Bongi in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Ambulance, Emergency Medicine, Emergency Services, Mamelodi, Paramedics, Police Escort, Pretoria, South Africa, War
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This isn’t really my story, but in a sense it belongs to all South Africans. It’s our shame and may be part of our downfall.
We are a people at war. We war against ourselves and we war against peace. Each fights for himself and bugger the rest. But who heals the fallen? It seems in South Africa that quite soon it may be no one.
Recently a story made the news. It was shocking, but it actually gives an inclination of how morally decayed South African society has become. An ambulance was despatched to some informal settlement after a household fire burned a child. The caretakers of the child brought the child to an intersection that the ambulance would actually be able to find. quite soon the paramedics were hard at work stabilising the screaming child. At about this stage, two armed thugs turned up. They threatened the child’s caretakers with their lives and forced them to flee. Then, while the child continued to scream in pain, they raped the female paramedic. They were not caught. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at other things amanzi*
April 4th, 2010 by DrCharles in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, True Stories
Tags: Doctor Competence, Doctor Politics, General Medicine, Insurance Company, Medical Politics, Online Physicians Ratings, Patient Responsibility, Primary Care, Top Doctors
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I’m sure you’ve read through “top doctor” rankings and online physician ratings. It is only human to seek perceived leaders. But as sometimes seen in politics, those who have reached the pinnacles are often motivated by ambition, charisma, and gamesmanship instead of altruism, sincerity, and merit.
Beware the top doctors issues found in magazines and newspapers. Some of these doctors are excellent, but many are simply “notable.” They may be well-connected, in leadership positions, or presidents of this or that society. Many are excellent self-promoters, branding themselves through the name brand institutions they work for and the billboards that increasingly advertise their faces. Many are simply well-known or popular among their peers. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles*
April 4th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Catheters, Combat Casualties, Deployed Doctors, Dr. York, Emergency Medicine, Emergency Room, General Surgery, Imaging, Increased Odds of Survival, Internal Injuries, Internal Medicine, Interventional Radiologist, Iraq, Kandahar, Micro-Operations, Military, Radiology, Wounded Soldiers, X-ray
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There’s a nice WSJ article on how forward treatment of combat casualties has become possible. Kudos to these deployed doctors, and to the military that invests the time, money and effort to make things like this happen:
Dr. York, an interventional radiologist who usually performs surgery at the U.S. Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., is especially skilled at treating internal injuries. His type of surgery—using X-rays and imaging equipment to guide catheters through veins to perform micro-operations—is comparatively rare in emergency rooms. But in the cramped Kandahar hospital, it is critical to saving lives.
via Wounded Soldiers Have Increased Odds of Survival – WSJ.com.
Probably the world’s only front-line (literally) interventional radiologist.
HT: He who shall not be named.
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
April 4th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, News, True Stories
Tags: Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Heart, Nail Gun, Pierced, Survived, Workplace Safety
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…and he lived (video) to talk about it:
The man’s heart was pierced as he was nailing boards with a co-worker at a carpentry shop. The shop’s owner said the men were working together, when suddenly, they ran into each other resulting in the nail gun going off.
Oops.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
April 4th, 2010 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Bananas, Cardiology, Diet, Exercise, Gatorade, General Medicine, High Blood Pressure, Hypertension, Nephrology, Orange Juice, Physiology, Potassium, Primary Care, Sodium, Sports Drink
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As I stutter through recovery from LungMutiny2010, I’m paying more attention to my diet. So as I try to go out for my 10-minute walk everyday, I still drink some sports drink — usually Gatorade made from the massive vat of powder you can buy at Costco.
We tend to get plenty of sodium in our diet — far too much in the U.S. actually — but I always worry about potassium when I’m sweating (Disclaimer: I am not an exercise physiologist or a cardiovascular or nephrology physician.)
I always thought that the widely-sold sports drinks were the best sources of potassium outside of eating bananas or some dried fruits. I was surprised to learn that an 8-ounce serving of orange juice contains 18-fold more potassium than an 8-ounce serving of Gatorade® (450 mg vs. 25 mg). Who knew? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
