Reptiles

Reptiles
Silly Grins

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Paramedicine: A Good Idea


Over Drinks…

On the fourth floor of a company apartment, there was a fight of some sort going on that involved a husband, a mother, and her daughter-in-law.  Apparently, the daughter-in-law was getting really stressed. 

  

You see, another wife of a company employee on the second floor was wondering if she should call the police. But things had quieted down a bit and she really did need to finish her laundry. So, she went out to her balcony to hang up some clothes.

That’s when something fell from above. Down past the second floor where that other wife of a company employee, who happened to be ex-nurse, was hanging her laundry. Ex-nurse heard the very heavy futon-like sound on the ground, just two stories 
 down. 

 

When she looked over, she could see someone’s fourth-floor daughter-in-law staring up, but not at her.

Immediately, she called the number:


  
On the other side, those who answered asked if that which was purportedly below was dead or alive.

“I don’t know…I’m on the second floor and..just now...”

“Well, we need to know. You can do down and check, can't you?”

“Um…okay, I…her eyes are still…and she…”

“Can you take her pulse?”

So the ex-nurse switches into auto-pilot…”Yes, there’s a pulse, but it’s weak and fading. Okay…could you get someone here, like quick?!

“Okay...we’ll send someone.”

The police arrived first and started questioning the suspected ex-nurse in a way that was really starting to cause confusion to creep in. Not to mention concern for the woman who was lying there with her bones shattered.

When the ambulance finally arrived, the 'paramedics' asked her if she could help them lift the body off the ground. Ex-nurse pulled out her hospital rubber gloves that she’d grabbed on her way down and put them on to perform the task. When they’d gotten the victim into the meat-truck, she couldn’t help from feeling a little strange when the paramedic gave her what was almost a look of disbelief and irritation for asking them if they could dispose of her latex.



No one has ever told her "Thank you" or said anything to her, not even the husband or the mother-in-law, or even the company. Do people really realize how lucky they had been to have had an ex-nurse living on the second floor who was there at the right time? 

This kind of traumatized the ex-nurse. She wasn't going out and had kind of shut herself in. Didn't want to open the curtains or do laundry on the balcony.  So, she asked her husband to have them moved to a different location. Did anyone on the company side express any understanding about her situation? 

No. 

Apparently, it was as if she was putting everyone out. It was like the company was mystified that she'd want to move. "Tell us again why you want to move."

Yeah. What the fuck? 




For the story on ambulances in Japan, check out the Stippy post. Last I remembered, paramedics really can't do anything here anyway...only the ones in Akita. The rest are firefighters who drew short straws or something like that. It's late and I'm too tired to look up the articles that explain the mess the emergency response teams here are in...that's not what this post is really about anyway. 

Oh yeah...and don't get hurt. 


(This is the story Wifey brought home tonight from her piss up with the other hens. They eventually got around to talking about the kid who got run over a few times in China. Yeah...they can believe it. Japan's not quite like China, but close sometimes and maybe getting closer. )

**************
Regarding paramedics in Japan:

Simply put,"In case of emergency call an ambulance... though ambulance staff are not trained paramedics in Japan."


So, once again, let's not getting hurt!

4 comments:

  1. Will,

    It's a sad, sad world unfortunately. Seems like this rubbish is going on everywhere.

    http://www.smh.com.au/world/dying-shopper-ignored-as-americans-splash-the-cash-on-black-friday-20111128-1o200.html

    All we can do is do our best in our personal spheres and stick it out to a time where people hopefully start treating each other a bit more nicely.

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  2. Momotaro: "An emergency room nurse who was among those shopping eventually found Vance and began administering CPR. She was assisted by an off-duty paramedic who was also at the store."

    In Japan, the 'paramedic' may not be expected to do as much. There have been a number of articles about this posted on the Net over the past few years, but people are still 'blissfully unaware' of how restrictive the system is here.

    Wifey wasn't so sad as she was angry about what she'd heard; the information that was shared at the hen's party was an eye-opener for some. For us, it was a grim reminder.

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  3. Thanks for the reply. I don't even think there are paramedics in this country, just ambulance drivers and I've heard of doctor cars. I imagine the system differs from prefecture to prefecture, how much do you know about it? Any useful links with information?

    I wonder what the stats are on deaths before getting to the hospital are here compared to other countries?

    Fingers crossed Vance has health insurance, otherwise he won't get a full course of treatment in a US hospital.

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  4. Momotaro: A quick link...http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672269/

    The law seems to keep people from doing too much before any kind of okay from a doctor. Ambulances are pretty much "scoop and run" according to what's here: http://www.trekmedics.org/projects/diems/japan/

    Last I heard, and the article above mentions it, Aikita is pretty much a special case.

    No idea about the stats, but will definitely take not if I run across anything.

    Bottom line...don't get hurt.

    ReplyDelete