Mentorship

Tomorrow I get up bright and early to begin a shift in the OR at one of the hospitals. I'm doing a mentorship there with a friend, so it should be fun. I'm looking forward to it and I get to wear scrubs!!! Thanks Emily, see you tomorrow!

I have rescue squad duty Thursday, so I'll keep you posted on that too. Last duty I bagged someone all the way to the ER. We were dispatched for a "difficulty breathing," patient was on a ventilator, had CHF, and I disconnected his ventilator for two reasons: a) you can't transport the ventilator with him and b) the reason we were dispatched in the first place was because the ventilator was no longer adequately ventilating him. So I connected the BVM (bag valve mask) directly to his tracheostomy tube. Everything turned out well, his O2 sats went from 78% to 88%, a pretty significant increase.

As for the anonymous poster that has kept me updated on the Intermediate class at UVA, I thank you for the information. I'll be sure to check it out when I get there. The sites were very helpful. I appreciate it.

I was looking at my site statistics and someone came to my blog looking for the nine abdominal quadrants. Its probably too late for them but here it goes anyway:

Superior row: right hypochondriac, epigastric, left hypochondriac
Middle row: right lumbar, umbilical, left lumbar
Inferior row: right inguinal, hypogastric, left inguinal

Other News:

Deaths From Heart Attacks & Strokes Could Be Significantly Reduced With New Guidelines, UK

'Deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD), which kills nearly 250,000 people every year in the UK1, will be significantly reduced if the tougher cholesterol and blood pressure targets of 4.0 and 2.0 mmol/L and 140/85 mm Hg, outlined in guidelines published today2, are followed. The new guidelines will also decrease patients' likelihood of experiencing severely debilitating non-fatal CVD events. For the first time, UK practice in this area will be ahead of Europe as a result of the Joint British Societies' Guidelines on Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Clinical Practice (JBS2), developed by doctors from the leading professional societies in the field including The Primary Care Cardiovascular Society. If implemented, the guidelines will significantly improve the way people with and at risk of developing CVD are treated in this country, resulting in thousands of lives being saved and disabilities avoided.'

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Strong Link Between Tooth Loss And Heart Disease

'There is a strong, progressive association between tooth loss and heart disease, researchers report in a study published in the latest issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Heart disease was present in 4.7 percent of those without tooth loss, 5.7 percent of those with 1 to 5 missing teeth, 7.5 percent of those with 6 to 31 missing teeth, and 8.5 percent of those with total tooth loss, reports lead investigator Catherine Okoro, epidemiologist in the Division of Adult and Community Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.'

That makes sense...but I really don't believe what they're trying to say. Statistically it's horrible....too many confounding and lurking variables. There's also the nonresponse and response bias since it was conducted over a phone.

Stay safe everyone,
Bravomedic out.

Bad Moon Rising

I see the bad moon rising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin'.
I see bad times today.

Don't go around tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise.

Full moon tonight...and you know what that means...no not werewolves, but trauma! Okay, so it's not actually a full moon, only 96% of the face of the moon will be covered in light...close enough. I have duty tonight as I have said before, so I'll keep you updated.

For the space geeks here, if you're interested, you can get your name programmed into a microchip that will be on the Dawn spacecraft by going here.

As for those of you who have asked me about UVA: I did apply early decision and was accepted through that route two weeks earlier than the specified decision date. Good luck to the other applicants!

I was actually thinking about joining the rescue squad in Charlottesville and in addition, taking the EMT-Intermediate class since I will be 18 by then. Any suggestions for where to look for the class? I think UVA might actually offer one through its prehospital education program. I also have heard that the rescue squad was great down there; I'm looking forward to it, but I'll never drive an ambulance. Ever. I refuse; too much responsibility for everyone on the truck and other vehicles that are around.

Today I volunteered at the Christmas Mother which was really nice. For those of you who don't know what that is (I didn't know myself before I went), basically people bring in food and gifts and we then distribute the food and gifts to families in need of them in the area. I'm glad I participated in it; I really love serving people.

Other News:

New Dementia Case Arises Every Seven Seconds

'The number of people that have dementia is set to double every 20 years, according to a report in this week's issue of The Lancet. The study reveals that 24 million people have dementia today, and this is set to rise to 42 million by 2020, and 81 million by 2040. Researchers from Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) combined data from published reviews on the prevalence of dementia for the major regions of the world. They found that of those that live with dementia, 60% live in developing countries, with this number rising to 71% by 2040. The numbers in developed countries are set to increase by 100% between 2001 and 2040, but in India, China, and their south Asian and western Pacific neighbours rates will rise by more than 300% during this period.'

Oral HIV Tests Not the Last Word

'THURSDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) -- When an HIV test tells someone they are infected with the virus that causes AIDS, most would probably assume that's the end of the story.
However, as doubts emerged this week as to the accuracy of one rapid oral HIV test, experts noted that "false positive" results aren't as rare as people might think.
In fact, doctors consider a result on the oral HIV test to be only a preliminary finding, because of the risk that the screen may be inaccurate. Most physicians routinely advise patients to go for a more accurate HIV test if they turn up positive.'

Stay safe everyone,
Bravomedic out.

Busy Busy Busy

Howdy,

I hope everyone is doing well. Christmas is almost here!!! Merry early Christmas everyone!

Busy weekend coming up...tomorrow I volunteer at the local fire department for the Christmas Mother event, after that I run off to volunteer at the hospital, and once I pull a mini-shift at the hospital I have rescue squad duty. I'm getting slammed with homework now in preparation for next week when we get our Christmas break. I have an AP Biology test covering four different chapters on genetics, an APUSH (AP US History) test covering four chapters, and an electronics test covering various types of IC chips. At least the college admissions process is over now for me. I got into UVA!!! Looks like I might make it to medical school afterall.

I'll let you know how duty goes this weekend. I have the feeling that there will be something interesting this time. I also completed the National Incident Managements System (NIMS) course which is now required for EMTs...that was fun. I want those five hours of my life back!

My parents want to know what I want for Christmas...I don't really know. I'm perfectly happy with what I have now; I don't really need anything. I'm thinking though an EMS star of life decal for my car and some kind of anatomy textbook. Any suggestions? I'm currently looking at Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology.

In Other News:

What The Public Needs To Hear During A Disaster

'Katrina revealed the impact of poor communications on the public during a disaster: chaos, distress and alarm. For future disaster communications, a new Temple University survey of Pennsylvanians* bears important findings, including how people prefer to get information during an emergency, which public agencies they're most confident in, attitudes toward emergency preparedness and actual preparedness. The findings will be presented today at the American Public Health Association meeting. "The catastrophic failure of the emergency response system in the wake of Hurricane Katrina reinforces the need to better understand the public's concerns and to include the public in emergency planning and response. This will help state and local officials effectively communicate important information before, during and after disasters," said researcher, Sarah Bass, Ph.D., assistant professor of public health.'

Genetic Clues To Sodalis Deepens Knowledge Of Bacterial Diseases

'By sequencing the genome of the symbiotic bacterium Sodalis, which lives off the major disease-transmitting insect, the tsetse fly, researchers at Yale School of Medicine have come a step closer to understanding how microbial pathogens cause disease. Led by Serap Aksoy, professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine, the team was highly interested in Sodalis because of its close relation to human bacterial pathogens like E.Coli, Salmonella and Yersinia.'

Ah!!! Genetics!!! They said the "G" word!

How Stem Cells Become Brain Cells, OHSU Discovery

'Researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have discovered one key gene that appears to control how stem cells become various kinds of brain cells. The finding has significant implications for the study of Parkinson's disease, brain and spinal cord injury, and other conditions or diseases that might be combated by replacing lost or damaged brain cells. The research is published in the current online edition of the medical journal Developmental Biology. "In the early stages of brain development prior to birth, brain stem cells, also known as neural stem cells, will differentiate into neurons," explained Larry Sherman, Ph.D., an associate scientist in the Division of Neuroscience at the Oregon National Primate Research Center and an adjunct associate professor of cell and developmental biology in the OHSU School of Medicine. "In later stages, these same stem cells suddenly start becoming glial cells, which perform a number of functions that include supporting the neurons. We wanted to find out what factors cause this switch in differentiation. We also wanted to determine if the process can be controlled and used as a possible therapy. What amazed us is that it turns out a single gene may be responsible for this incredibly important task."'

Neuregulin-1 Protects Brain Cells From Damage Resulting From Stroke

'A naturally occurring growth factor called neuregulin-1 protects brain cells from damage resulting from stroke, according to an animal study conducted by researchers at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and the Atlanta-based Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN). The finding, reported in the online edition of Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, could lead to the development of new stroke treatments. Stroke, the third leading cause of death in adults in the United States, occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted. Deprived of oxygen, brain cells die within minutes, causing inflammation and further damage to tissue surrounding the site where blood flow is obstructed.'

Reporting In

It's been a while, I've been so busy with school recently that I haven't posted. I kind of abandoned the plan on moving over to a new host. There's no money for it for one, and then I would have to relocate everything, redesign, and I would have to change my search engine listings.

I'm not saying that I won't move in the future, but it just won't be in the near future.

Right now I'm sick with the flu which has actually turned into bronchitis. It's been a bad year for me....I almost never get sick and now I've been hit twice in the same year.

I'll post some more later when I'm feeling better.

Hope everyone is doing well,
Bravomedic out.