Sometimes The System Works.
A 57-year-old trucking company executive from New Jersey and his wife were headed for Hawai‘i on vacation. Three hours from the mainland, the man became unresponsive and his wife realized he was in desperate straits. The flight attendant called for medical help and four nurses appeared, one an intensive care nurse. They realized the man was in cardiac arrest, moved him to the floor of the plane and began CPR. An IV line was established, epinephrine was injected and the automatic defibrillator was brought into action. After multiple shocks the patient awakened and the flight was diverted to Maui where an ambulance was waiting. At the hospital, a cardiologist inserted a bi-lead defibrillator and prescribed oral medications. The patient was entirely normal with no evidence of any neurologic deficit, and ready to return home in four days. And that is textbook on how cardiac arrest in an unusual setting can be managed.
Moving Toward Coed Foxholes.
Orders from Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in May 2015, mandate that all gender restrictions in the military end by January 1, 2016. All branches must be open to combat positions to women — from basic infantry battalions to elite special operations units such as Navy SEALS and Army Rangers. In an attempt to gauge what the Marine Corps might look like with women in combat roles, the USMC tested an integrated task force in Twentynine Palms, California. Previously closed positions include infantry, artillery and armored divisions. Only two of the roughly two-dozen women that started remained at the conclusion of the nine-month program. Most dropped out due to physical and mental stress that comes with combat roles. Women had a difficult time, like moving a 200 lb. dummy off the battlefield, or operating from the turret of a “damaged” vehicle. Both men and women reported a breakdown in unit cohesion. Should a politically correct atrtitude overrule military function?
How Loud Was That Bell?
Athletes refer to a concussion as “getting their bell rung.” Indeed, sports-related brain trauma sends 248,000 American kids and teens to emergency rooms each year. Allowing a return to play after a concussion increases the risk of more severe damage. Shu Yang, materials science and engineering professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has devised a method to measure impact of a collision. The force can be measured with a chemical strip that changes color based on the effect on tiny embedded crystals. The goal is to incorporate the material into the helmets of athletes and soldiers to know when a concussion occurs. Richard Figler MD, a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic and former team physician for the NFL's Cleveland Browns, states that Yang's crystal reliably measure force, but head injuries are very difficult to evaluate given that “no one's been able to predict in clinical cases how much force it takes to cause a concussion.”
Here; Have a Bar of Green Goo.
Pond scum, a term in urban use meaning lower than a dog deposit, is the green algae swirling around in swamps, lake margins and similar venues. Euglena, a Tokyo based company is selling pond scum for big bucks at $37.8 million last fiscal year. The mixture, part plant, part animal, is packed with nutrients and has a slightly bitter taste similar to kale. Euglena converts it to protein powders, health bars, noodles and other foods it markets to high-end supermarkets in Japan. Their health drinks sell for twice the price of regular fruit juice. In business for just 10 years, the company has branched out into cosmetics and fertilizer. The big-time dream of owner Mitsuru Izumo is biofuel. Like a plant, Euglena gracilis can sustain itself through photosynthesis that can result in the production of lipids. Lipid-based additives can be mixed with regular diesel to power buses, already used in a year-old test project. All Nippon Airways has signed on to help develop a fuel for planes. Chevron has agreed to help build a special refinery to be built by 2018. Izumo expects that in 5 to 10 years biofuel will overtake health food as the primary product. Still, it will take at least that long before “pond scum” replaces suave and debonair to describe James Bond.
You Want a Second Opinion? Your Nose is Too Big.
Medical studies show that as many as 20% of patients seek a second opinion when given a new diagnosis. Specialties like oncology rate a figure of 50%. Research has found that second opinions often result in different diagnoses or treatments. Some medical centers, including Massachusetts General Hospital and Cleveland Clinic sponsor second opinion services. Best Doctors Inc., offers online second opinions. Patients can request their medical records be sent to an online second opinion service. Requests may cost between $500 and $5,000 depending on the case, including people from overseas, and from companies that include the service as part of employee benefits. For patients faced with a serious or life-threatening illness, second opinions might direct them to various treatment opportunities that are less invasive or have fewer side effects. Patients often feel their physician might be offended when seeking a second opinion, but caring doctors welcome other eyes or brains examining a serious disorder.
Give Me The Car Keys, Dad. You Too, Junior.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported in a study that older Americans are driving more, but are less likely to be killed or injured in a car crash than 20 years ago. Older drivers are still more likely to die in a crash than 30, 40 or 50 year-olds, but the gap is narrowing. For drivers 80 and older the rate has fallen 55% and the rate for 70 to 74 year-olds fell 32% in the same period. The study doesn't offer explicit causes, but Institute senior VP Anne McCartt who co-wrote the report believes cars are safer and older drivers are more robust. Motorists ages 35 to 54 fatality rates dropped 26%, and rates for the 55 to 69 fell also. Those drivers age 25 to 29 death rates rose nearly 38%. The data fall at a time when policy makers and families are wondering what to do about the fast growing population of elderly drivers reluctant to give up the car keys. Close friends and family members will have to act as controllers when they know a loved one must stop driving.
A Superheroe's Secret Identity. A Nurse By Day…
A thief grabbed the purse of an elderly woman as she and her husband exited a Fred Meyer store in Spokane, Washington. They had no chance to catch him as he ran through the parking lot. His escape route took him by a nearby hospital where a 42 year-old nurse surmised what was happening and gave chase. He soon realized he could not outrun her and surrendered the purse that she returned to the woman. Later the nurse revealed her alter ego: she competes in the roller derby for the Spokannibles where she is known as Ms. Ida B. Choazz.
Addenda
Nearly 25% of American adults did not read a book in the past year, a percentage that has tripled since 1978.
Antarctica is the only continent without reptiles.
Outside every thin woman is a fat man trying to get in.
Parenting can only be understood and taught by people who have no children.
All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner.
Aloha and keep the faith rts
(Editorial comment is strictly that of the writer.)