It's Time for the Federal Government to Legalize Pot
The problem with a drug that's allowed by the states and banned by the feds is that we can't easily study its effects.Marijuana is common. It's in every state and in every town. Even if you've never...
View ArticleIs Disneyland Ready for a Real Bomb?
A 'bomb' exploded at Disneyland today.What is widely being reported as a water bottle with dry ice in it exploded in a garbage can in Toontown, a section of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California....
View ArticleMosquitoes Love Funky Feet
Want to stop getting attacked by mosquitoes? Try washing your feet.Researchers have discovered that the smell of stinky feet attracts mosquitoes and they're putting the knowledge to use in a new trap....
View ArticleCrane Operator is Proof that Marijuana Should be Legal
A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog entry containing my opinion that it's time to legalize marijuana. On Wednesday, my point was made in a disastrous way.The building collapse in Philadelphia that...
View ArticleRemembering My Nights with Drunks and Prostitutes
I found this post as I was looking through some of my older blogs and I wanted to reshare it with you. I've recently joined the 9-5 crowd as the training supervisor back at the day job.When I first...
View ArticleThursday is National HIV Testing Day
Thursday is National HIV Testing Day. Authorities claim that 1 in 5 people with HIV don't even know they have it. When I started in EMS, AIDS and HIV awareness was filled with misunderstanding and...
View ArticleYou Perform the Way You Practice
On Sunday my agency participated in an active shooter drill at a local high school. This is the second drill like this we've done in the last few months. Law enforcement, school officials and other...
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The Dangers of Firecrackers
A reader submitted this picture of a burn to the palm after a firecracker injury during New Year festivities. From Rhodoncia Jones, About.com First Aid reader:Burned palm from a firecracker (c)...
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Lessons from a Hurricane as Hurricane Season Heats Up
A home on Mississippi's Gulf Coast destroyed by Hurricane Katrina© Rod BrouhardNearly eight years ago I spent a week in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. The scope of the devastation and the...
View ArticleRed Lights are Just a Suggestion
Driving an ambulance with lights and siren going in rush hour traffic is a little bit like dogfighting in a biplane:You feel exposed.There's a lot of maneuvering.You're not going very fast.There's also...
View ArticleHow Do Paramedics Think?
Some of you may find the job of a paramedic or EMT fascinating. Some of you may be doing that job right now and have an interest in seeing how others do it and feel about it.I was looking around the...
View ArticleAmanda Bynes: Stop, Drop and Roll
Amanda Bynes is reportedly being held involuntarily for psychiatric evaluation. Under California law, she could stay in an inpatient facility as long as 72 hours. If there is a reason to keep her...
View ArticleFake Pilot Flew EMS Helicopters as Well as News Choppers
News outlets everywhere are reporting on John Michael Dial, 57, who allegedly used a fictitious name to obtain a pilot's license. The news organizations have been focusing on Dial flying helicopters...
View ArticleFull Moon, First Aid and Sleep
Ask any paramedic, EMT or ER doctor when they get the weirdest patients and without fail they'll tell you it's during the full moon. Labor & Delivery nurses claim more babies are born at the full...
View ArticleBody Art or Medical Order?
After providing CPR to a few people and seeing them not survive with all their faculties, plenty of paramedics and nurses joke that they're going to tattoo "DNR" on their chests rather than suffer a...
View ArticleCyclospora cayetanensis Outbreak
It's been a while since I blogged about a foodborne illness outbreak. The CDC says that 327 cases of infection with Cyclospora cayetanensis have been reported around the country since late June....
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Jellyfish are Deadly Beautiful
There aren't too many creatures out there -- that we humans regularly encounter, anyway -- that can still pack a wallop even when they're dead or dismembered.Get the tentacles off or you run the risk...
View ArticleAssisted Living Facilities
There was an expose aired this week by the PBS show Frontline. It dealt with assisted living facilities, those poorly defined senior care homes that are more than apartments but less than skilled...
View ArticleSpontaneous Human Combustion: Cause of Death or Medical Diagnosis?
Doctors have reportedly diagnosed a baby in India as having spontaneous human combustion. It has been reported that they believe the infant is excreting flammable gasses that can be sparked into flame...
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Wildfire Evacuations Bring Tough Choices
As the Rim Fire in Tuolumne County, California approaches homes, residents are told to evacuate. It's a tough choice for many of the folks who live in the path of this nearly uncontained fire.CalFire,...
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