"Healthcare"

Last night I had duty. We were dispatched for a patient complaining of chest pain at the local long-term "healthcare" facility. If you can even call what they do there healthcare. In case you couldn't tell, I was really annoyed by the staff that received us when we got there. They didn't even actually receive us.

We showed up, lights and sirens, air horns blasting and went to the ambulance door. We knocked on the door and rang the doorbell thing they have there. No response. We repeat the process. We've now been standing outside the door for five minutes. Finally, a VISITOR opens up the door. We walk in and there's the nurses all standing around doing nothing. They had totally ignored us. We see our patient sitting in a chair (or what we assume is the patient, the staff still has not told us anything). We approach her and, as we approach, one of the nurses grunts that she is a visitor. None of the nurses offer any help to us at all.

The patient then leans out of her chair and tries to lay on the ground; we let her. I go back out to the truck to get the stretcher and have to get another visitor to hold the door open for me so that I can get back in. Nobody at the facility would help except the visitors. I'm really angry about this, but then again this place has a reputation for it. I would never send a family member there.

Overall though, I had a good night. That was our only call and I was able to get all my homework done and I also was able to go to bed early. I need the sleep, especially since I think I now have a cold and the four or five hours of sleep I get per night has been wearing on me.

Today I'm getting my TB shot checked. No bump has formed and it's now been 48 hours, so that's good.

News/Articles in the Rest of the World:

EU influenza pandemic preparedness

"EU preparedness against an influenza pandemic has improved over the last six months, but Member States need to step up their efforts to strengthen their pandemic preparedness, according to Markos Kyprianou, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection.
The European Commission is preparing a number of initiatives which aim to help Member States co-ordinate their actions in this regard. There will be an EU-wide command post exercise to simulate a flu pandemic and the publication of a revised policy paper on pandemic preparedness before the end of the year. The Commission and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have also been reviewing Member States' national plans ahead of an informal meeting of EU health ministers (20-21 October in Hertfordshire, UK) and a European Commission - ECDC - WHO expert conference (24-26 October in Copenhagen), both of which will discuss pandemic preparedness. "

Comparison of the risks and benefits of fish consumption

"A comparison of the risks and benefits of fish consumption suggests that government advisories warning women of childbearing age about mercury exposure should be issued with caution.
The study warns that if advisories cause fish consumption in the general public to drop out of fear about the effects of mercury, substantial nutritional benefits could be lost. The study will appear as a series of five articles in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
"Fish are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which may protect against coronary heart disease and stroke, and are thought to aid in the neurological development of unborn babies," said Joshua Cohen, lead author and senior research associate at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis at HSPH. "If that information gets lost in how the public perceives this issue, then people may inappropriately curtail fish consumption and increase their risk for adverse health outcomes." "

Well, I'm out, stay safe everyone,
Bravomedic