#first responder stuff

[ssfghfrrggf]

Friendly reminder! Don't ask first responders what the worst thing they've ever seen is! Not only do you definitely not want to know, and will probably be scarred for a very long time, but it's also exceedingly rude to ask someone to relive the most horrific thing they've ever seen for your own entertainment!

[agent-bash]

Thoughts on child safety locks? Like the ones on cars that prevent the door from being opened from the inside?

Generally pro.

Child safety locks were invented to stop kids from opening the door while you’re driving and tumbling into traffic, and to prevent them from just opening the door and hopping out when parked, before checking to make sure it’s safe.

Both these things still happen and often have really bad consequences. But we have seen a dramatic drop in the rate of occurrence since the introduction of rear door locks.

So use ‘em if you got a kid. Or a dog. (Yes I’m serious).

One flaw they have: rear door locks can delay self-rescue. And while this has had negative effects, and likely will again, it is a) not a common occurrence and b) when it happens, it is almost always a contributing factor, not the direct cause, of those negative outcomes.

So while not perfect, the good they do vastly outweighs the potential for harm. 

Here’s the other caveat: child safety locks are a tool. They are there to help. You (collective not targeted at you my anonymous friend) still need to parent your children:

Make sure they’re strapped in and buckled up appropriately.

Teach them not to play with door handle or open the door when the car is in motion.

Teach them to look around for dangers before exiting a car (to be fair a lot of adults still need to learn this one).

The tool is there to help prevent something bad from happen if your kid makes a mistake, as children do when they’re learning, but it’s on the parent to teach and enforce the lessons.

[europas-moon]

Ok hands down BEST habit i have as someone who works as a first responder (not paramed, in the event space) is carry stickers with me

And the key part?

Don’t just offer them to the young kiddos. Kiddos under ten love them, but they get stickers ALL the time. Teenagers? Teenagers don’t get stickers. It’s EVEN BETTER when you have GROUPS of teenagers, because it becomes ironic.

I have so many more kids (12-18) that are more open about seeking help because I offered their friend a sticker. They’ll be like “oh i rolled my ankle and I was gonna leave it but i heard you have stickers.” And I can teach them about RICER and give them some Panadol and a couple stickers for them and their friends.

And if you aren’t injured and ask for a sticker? Hell yeah you get one. I want these kids to have positive associations with medical help BEFORE they’re injured.

And in case you’re wondering what’s a good non-gendered sticker, you can never go wrong with animals or dinosaurs. Everyone loves dinosaurs. Plus you can write them off on your taxes as a work expense.

[europas-moon]

fun fact: all trucks are women, except for the ones that aren’t.

[europas-moon]

This week’s unintentional bit of poetry that made me cry is from D. Maher’s 2020 article Innovations from the Battlefields: Tourniquets.

“…out of 66 patients with extremity injuries, 27 tourniquets were applied. All 27 patients survived.”

Don’t know why that one got me so bad, but it did