Merry Christmas

Have a safe and very Merry Christmas!

I had the chance to see some of my family last weekend. I wouldn't have traded that for anything. Last night, my son David, his wife Candace, their roommates, and another friend came over for dinner. I decided not to make a "traditional" dinner. What did we have? A taco bar! It was nice, and definitely different!

Today, I will be going over to Candace's parents house. Not sure what they are doing, but it is better than doing nothing. Think I'll make some banana bread to take over...

The Birth of an Idea 17 Years Ago

"Almost precisely 17 years ago, a young British researcher from Cern, the European organisation for nuclear research, gave a presentation in Texas on a technology that was to change society dramatically. That same month, the Cern newsletter announced it to the world: it was called the World Wide Web."

• Can you remember life without the World Wide Web?
• Can you remember life without email?
• Can you remember life without a computer in your home?
• Can you remember life without your cell phone?
• Can you remember looking up newspaper articles on microfiche or microtape?

For those under 30, most really can't. They've always had access to these technologies. Today, I honor what started out as a presentation that changed our lives in incredible (and sometimes scary) ways. Please take a look at this article (The quote above came from this article). Read it... its very eye-opening, and a reminder to us of what we have now, courtesy a few dreamers.

Best "Caught on Camera" Videos of the Year?

Not sure its the best... but its entertaining!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Cold and Wet Days

Winter has finally arrived. Yep. It is cold AND wet here in Northern California. How cold? Well, the low this mornig at my apartment was 37. For the Sacramento area, this is fairly cold in December. Not the coldest here, by any means, but add the rain into this mix, and the words "bone chill" come to mind. The snow level is currently around 1200 feet, which is low for this area. We have actually gotten snow in Sacramento Valley, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen this time around (Too bad, actually!). I've been in much colder temps (How's -20 in Indiana sound?). But when you are outside...

Yesterday, I worked a cyclocross bike event in Monterey. I love working these, but yesterday was just COLD. We had our small propane heater, but the poor fingers just would not get warm for more than a minute or two. The rain started around 1:00pm and really didn't let up after that. Thankfully, conditions were really good, race-wise, and we didn't have any major injuries. Not even road rash yesterday, which is really unusual for this group. Shivering bodies aside (and many were!), I am glad they all had fun!

Online Candle Lighting

 

I light this candle in memory of:

Luke Covey

Kimmi Burnett

Tommy Bennett

Tammy Williams

Sparta - The Mean Kitty Song

You need to watch this video!

Compassionate Friends Candle Lighting

Tomorrow night, at 7:00pm local time (Local time to YOU), please light a candle in remembrance of all those who died in childhood, regardless of the cause. From the Compassionate Friends website:

Worldwide Candle Lighting

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting®, held annually the second Sunday in December, this year December 14, unites family and friends around the globe as they light candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, creating a virtual wave of light, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor the memories of children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.

Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting, a gift from TCF to the bereavement community, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance.

I may be on the road at 7:00pm tomorrow night while returning from work, so I will light my virtual candle at 7:00pm on this site. I light my candle for:

• Luke Covey (The son of my friends, Steve and Nicole Covey)
  
• Kimmi Burnett (My cousin)
  
• Tommy Hunter (The son of Alicia and John Bennett)
• Tammy Williams (My daughter's friend from junior high school)
  

If you can make it to a ceremony near you, I invite you to. Check out the Compassionate Friends website at the link above for information about a ceremony where you live (Worldwide, folks!).

Making My Weight Loss Work Public Again

As of this moment, I am back on track. I had a medical monitoring appointment (a yearly requirement of my day job). They were happy with my progress over the last year. This gave me focus again in losing weight. Besides, I have an important reason (aside from feeling better, and being smaller) to lose the weight: My ankle. I want to be in the best shape possible for the surgery, when I decide to have it.

So, I have added a new feature to my site... my weight loss ticker.

Now, I have no excuse to not keep losing weight.

VitalNotes

I got a chance to take a look at a new upcoming product (I got pre-production samples): VitalNotes. This product, made by ParaMed Systems, does what I do on my glove, my bare hand, my arm, whatever surface I can write on at times: Put patient vital signs, and other pertinent info in a written fashion. When we use our gloves, it is because the surface is there, and we are in a hurry to get that needed data to make decisions on care for that particular patient.

Now, along comes VitalNotes. This product, on a cloth adhesive tape, allows me to write (directly on the patient if I want) that needed info. More than once, I have had a firefighter or other EMS agency copying off my glove while I am still caring for the patient. Or I have handed them my glove or turned my hand so they can copy off the information. Now, if it is attached to the patient... wow! It goes with them! So, I use a section of it for a patient (taped to my sleeve or on a pant leg), and write those needed pieces of information.

Let me show you this product:

On one section of tape, there is space for:

• Chief complaint
• Medications taken
• Allergies
• Notes
• Time
• Pulse
• Respirations
• Blood Pressure
• Pupil Response
• Skin Color
• Glascow Coma Scale
• Capillary Refill

I think it is fantastic! They talk about using it as a general medical tape. Nah... use it for what it is designed for. Taking those needed field notes that we need for our PCRs and electronic medical records. Then tape it to the patient so it goes with them. I will post more photos of it in action from our actual use in the next few weeks. Stay tuned...

...And Back

Got back from Death Valley around 10:30 last night. I wish it could have been longer. I love that area. I know most of you don't see deserts as God's beauty, but it is. And what incredible sites!

Anyhow, the marathon went well. Had a few patients, including a rather dehydrated runner who may have probably has an infection. Bad combo. I wanted her transported out, but she refused. She has that right... .

Onward To Death Valley

On my way to work EMS at a marathon out in Death Valley... be back Sunday late.

Sleepless in Antelope

For the third night in a row, I keep waking up after falling asleep. My ankle has this ache that goes up into the fibula (The bone going up your lower leg on the outside. Not your tibia - A.K.A. shinbone). I guess it is referred pain, but it is enough that I can't sleep.

Might be a benadryl night tonight, just so I can get some sleep.