I was recently in an airport and found myself with an unexpected two and a half hour layover. As I often do in such situations I put my headphones on, turned my MP3 on random selection and began to wander the halls. I soon found myself humming a Christmas song. I know it is a Christmas song because I got it off a Christmas Album. Plus I only hear it around Christmas time and this is the source of my...
This past weekend I was out walking my pack o dogs on one of our many trails. We were almost back to the parking lot and let me tell you we were hot. I had some bottles of water for me and a jug of water for the dogs. Right where we were to turn off to the parking lot there is a “T”. You could go North or South or to the parking lot. Here at this T junction was a special needs teenager...
So far between Memorial Day and the 4th of July, over 70 children have already drowned and there have been another 80 near drownings. Since this heatwave began just a few days ago, over 9 people have died from heat-related events. Being outside in 100-degree weather causes adults to lose a quart of water each hour. Water loss in children is proportional. Very young children are more susceptible. And...
I’m a paramedic and I invite you to put me out of business. And while you are at it to put a lot of emergency room doctors and nurses out of business as well. Here’s how: The very first time you put your child in a car- home from the hospital, have him or her in an age appropriate car seat. As your child grows, switch to an appropriate booster. And your little one always sees Mom and...
I’ve enjoyed and been impressed with the commercials from different celebrities including President Obama for Fatherhood.gov. Their theme is “the smallest moments can have the biggest impact on a child’s life.” What does this have to do with being a medic? Same as being a doctor, a lawyer or an Indian chief. We all likely spend too much time on our careers, working long hours...
At the end of last month the headlines were about how a four year old girl was killed by a family dog. Last year there was a chilling story about a family dog that drug a newborn out of its crib- not even 24 hours after being brought home. No one knows why in either of these cases. As a medic, I’ve seen more than my share of dog bite cases including one I will never, ever forget. Decades ago I was...
