Tinsel and stuff

The Season's upon us again. This year, for various reasons, it will be especially nice to be celebrating Christmas with my family. I think I lost sight of the worth of things you never have to buy in life, while a tidal wave of bad luck and bad consequences swept over my head.

I've missed writing regularly of course, but I need the time to completely heal and get things done that must be done if I am to return to the front-line battle that is paramedicine. I've not lost my opinions nor has my attitude evaporated; I'm re-charging my batteries and re-focussing my lenses, that's all.

So, have a lovely Christmas when it comes. I wish you all good health and a happy time over the period. Please don't drink yourselves stupid if you can avoid it and please remember to say something nice to an ambulance crew - even if they aren't actually treating you!

I'm not involved in this year's battle against Festive alcohol-fuelled stupidity and violence. I won't be mopping out a vehicle floor covered in someone's vomit. I won't be assaulted, shouted at, insulted or thrown around London like a caricature of a medical person.... but my colleagues will; my friends will. So I want to take this opportunity to wish them all the best for the season too and to ask them all to be safe and get through it unscathed, so that they can join their families at some point during Christmas and New Year.

I'll speak to you all again in 2013.

Be safe.

Stalking posters

During the years I have been writing this blog, I have been asked to add links so that others can advertise their services and products. I have also been sent hundreds of comments that look as if they are genuine but often contain links to commercial websites or products.

I don't mind this because it is part of the downside to blogging, but I would respectfully ask those who have attempted to post comments, tagged with links to their businesses, to stop doing this on the one post that I feel deserves to be left alone... 'Goodbye JT'.

This post was written as a heart-felt farewell to my dead son, so I find it a little insensitive that those of you with no more than a commercial interest in posting on my blog would choose that particular post to comment on.

I have thousands of legitimate readers and they visit because they want to learn, engage, discuss and argue with me. Please don't bother if all you want to do is sell viagra, or skin lotions, or pay-day loans. I have allowed Google ads to transmit selected items here and that is all I am permitting, so give it up.

Thank you!

Xf

Gassy booze

Isn't it bad enough that we are dealing with more and more young drunkenness, with the prospect of alcoholism and liver failure creeping into those in their early teens, without the additional alcohol-industry-induced trauma that drinks like this can cause?

Gaby Scanlon, an 18-year-old who was given one of these cocktails, endured agonising pain and was rushed to hospital by her friends. A CT scan revealed a large hole in her stomach.

Surgeons found that the extremely low temperature of the liquid nitrogen had not only burned a hole in her stomach but had completely destroyed her stomach lining. Her whole stomach had to be removed and surgeons connected her oesophagus, which takes food from the mouth to her stomach, directly to her bowel.

Now her diet is restricted for the rest of her life.

Proponents of these 'theatrical' cocktails will say they are perfectly safe to drink and that Gaby was an unfortunate 'one-off', but is it really worth even one young person's health (and she could have died if this hadn't been dealt with quickly) for the sake of selling more booze to inexperienced drinkers? I mean, what's the point of having smoke billowing from your glass as you drink? It has no effect on the alcohol or its taste, so clearly it's a gimmick to push booze down the throats of the young and vulnerable.

If liquid nitrogen does not completely evaporate, it will instantly freeze living tissue and destroy it. You can lose fingers by just touching it. So why is it clever to add it to a drink and then hand it over to someone without controlling the situation by ensuring the evaporation process is complete? It's exactly the same as removing something from the microwave and allowing someone to eat it immediately before the cooking process has stopped.

There's too much emphasis on creative boozing these days. Educating our young about the dangers of overdoing it is hard enough but dragging them away from an attractive smoking liqueur on their rite-of-passage birthdays is going to be impossible: they drink it, they enjoy it; or they drink it and the live the rest of their lives with the consequences.

I don't want to be a kill-joy here; life is all about risk but we should not be creating and introducing those risks to our children.

Be safe.

Shut your mouth

THIS has to be one of the scariest pieces of legislation that has ever been created.

I've often ranted on the rights of everyone to say what they mean and for those who feel 'insulted' or 'offended' to deal with it because such things are emotive and personal and there is no way of measuring them fairly. In fact, this post will be offensive to some, simply because I have stated that!

The law is pushing us all into an abyss of fear, where only those who believe themselves righteous will have a say and those of us with an alternative viewpoint or a different opinion, will be arrested for speaking out.

Does this law extend to MP's? Aren't they forever insulting each other? Aren't they always causing some form of offence in order to make clear their opposition to a rival's opinion?

This is very, very dangerous indeed. It will spell the end of this blog and the very freedom of speech that we all have a right to practise. It will insult the memories of all those who gave their lives in order to protect us from losing our born rights, including the tyranny of a minority, hell-bent on being 'offended', whatever you say to them!

Please join me and get on board with Rowan Atkinson and Stephen Fry - two very outspoken individuals who've become famous for insulting others in the name of comedy. Go HERE and vote for this rubbish law to be repealed before you say something to the neighbour's cat and find yourself arrested as a result.

***

I am back at work but not quite fit for duty as yet... that'll take a few more months I suspect. Residual pain and limited strength has rendered me useless in the real world. But I'll be back. You know I will ;-)

Xf

Calling it

They have power to make this decision on the basis of knowledge and experience but I'd argue we are using a lot more knowledge and experience out there in the world because we keep going for as long as possible.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9749000/9749017.stm

However, we are pre-hospital and doctors factor in the time we've been working on a patient before calling it.

Good quality CPR over a long period if necessary is in everyone's best interests but there has to be a time limit, so doctors will need to be given guidelines for ending the attempt, just as we are.

Xf

Broken

Falling hard can have many consequences for the body but I really wasn't expecting to end up like this. It's going to take me another two months to get back to normal, so please bear with me.

I'm also being told that, unless you have a Google account, you won't be able to read my blog any more. Obviously this is not good, so I will have to consider moving this to my own website. I'll keep you posted once I'm repaired!

Xf

MIA

Well, kind of. I do apologise to all of you for the dearth of writing but I am on long-term sick leave and need to rest. I will be back as soon as possible and when I know I am ready for it again!

Xf