Saturday, July 23, 2022

Miscellany

 










Just fiddling around.

I. There's a good bit of stuff for "just in case" in the vehicle. Like a bug-out get home pack that could turn into an INCH (I'm Never Coming Home) bag if needs be. Did some lightening on that score (mainly swapping in dehydrated meals for canned goods). Also seriously beefed up the car's FAK, after passing a couple of gnarly wrecks in my travels, and seeing a couple of seriously effed up visitors to the trauma bay over the last month or two. People are idiots in so many ways, so 50:50 one day I'll be the first one at a scene long before the FD shows up, and then it's "Tag! You're it!" Part of that is enlightened self-interest, in case they hit me. But I also put together a couple of rip-away trauma kits in case I have WIRIBS present (Well-Intentioned, Reasonably Intelligent By Standers) who want to help, but didn't bring anything to the party.

FTR, you should know that 90:1 in any serious accident, the first 50 people to show up will either stand there gawking with their thumbs up their fundament, or else whip out cellphones so they can Dan Rather/TMZ the proceedings. If you're one of the victims, even uninjured but trying to help those worse off, plan accordingly for "you're on your own". If you get any actual help, thank a merciful deity, but in case a miracle happens, be ready to take advantage of it.

II. We note with amusement the perpetual effort to run enough voltage through the neckbolts of the January 6th hearings Politburo Show Trials to animate that dead horse. Part of me is livid at the continued cultural tone-deafness from both the Politburo, and the state press organs, but mainly, I just see 5 Iraqi militia trying to pry an IED out of the road, as I watch from an AC-130 circling high overhead, and await the inevitable FOOM! Note: There will always come a FOOM. Never was there a clearer proof that politics is show business for stupid ugly people. (Lynn Cheney, call your office.)

III. Leftardia in general seems to be in stunned shock, after the multiple freedom-gasms of SCOTUS, in restoring nearly all of the 2nd Amendment, half of the 1st Amendment, and doing donuts in the parking lot around the 10th amendment, while shooting guns off in the air, and shouting "Yippee Kay Yay, M*****f****rs!"

Multiple mass shootings keep not going the way they planned, while the media shows zero curiosity about how kids barely out of puberty are getting their hands on better guns than Delta Force pulls out of the armory, and whoever is playing Igor in this scheme keeps recruiting screwloose diversity beans and emo white kids on SSRIs, all with Democrazy voting records and social history, which just sweeps the whole thing off the front page almost before the perps' bodies get cold. NTTAWWT.

37 states are doing exactly what they like with abortion while those unaffected elevate it to a sacrament, and it's 1972 on the topic again, the way the Founders intended. Congress keeps trying to federalize it, and SCOTUS is sharpening their knives for striking that law down virtually the minute it passes.

Apparently, everyone but Leftard politicians have realized there are 37 other forms of effective birth control that don't involve shoving scissors into a 279-day baby's brain and scrambling his eggs, including the ever-effective option of telling their daughters to cross their legs, if only for the novelty of the idea.

IV. This was supposed to be a Long Hot Summer Of Discontent from the Usual Suspects. I may be jumping the gun (you should pardon the expression), but I'm not seeing it. Evidently despite the heat, and defunding the cops, no one is really all that much in a hurry to go out there, Burn, Loot, and Murder, and get Rittenhoused for their troubles. They all want to talk tough on social media, which is as surprising as the tide coming in, but no one's up for testing how bulletproof their black hoodies are. Funny how that works.

V. SiG noted the other day that Space-X has essentially commercialized space, cranking a launch out at better than 1@week, and about 10 times more frequently than their next nearest competitor. Left out of the discussion is why, in any sense, NASA hasn't been entirely scrapped, and sold off for parts. Call it the Commercialization Dividend. Give whatever functions the dotGov needs to maintain back to the Air Farce, and close the chapter on a failed and ultimately unnecessary agency which peaked 43 years ago last Wednesday.

Pretty much exactly as foretold by Robert Heinlein 70 years ago, in fiction.

VI. It's hot. Not globull warmist fever dreams hot, but it's July, FFS, in what is now an urban desert hereabouts. CW at dailytimewaster noted 107 in Redding (which is, IIRC, hellandgone closer to Portland than to Death Valley) just this week. It hasn't been quite that bad hereabouts, but we're far closer to the equator here than he is, and when the humidity blows up here from the Mexican Coast off Baja, it's as bad as Satan's underpants, or Fort Benning in summer, one of which we have actual experience with.

So we've mostly stayed on our night shift schedule, and in the day time, moved from car a/c to establishment a/c, with occasional stops for ice cream. As anyone should when they need a bath towel on the car seat to soak up the perspiration.

VII. We see where the current Oval Orifice occupant, pretender to the throne Emperor Stumblefuck Poopypants the Ist, who assured us all only a year ago on national television that getting the Vaxx would prevent catching COVID, has now caught COVID, despite vaxxed and boosted. Hmm. Almost like the vaxx is a fraud, and doesn't do anything but kill people and ruin their immune systems. Boo frickin' hoo for him. FJB.

Nothing will come of it, sadly, but we remind all concerned to be of good cheer. The DNC apparatchiks and minions have only two nuclear-level heartburn inducing fears, of the type that have them waking up screaming every morning at 3 A.M.

1) Biden survives to run again in 2024.

2) He doesn't.

My money and current Clue hypothesis is still on Kneepads, in the Lincoln Bedroom, with Scalia's Pillow.

Time will tell.

Related New drinking game on college campuses: take a shot every time Poopypants does a faceplant, or makes a gaffe in front of reporters. The name? Brandon Falls. Which was also a new GoogleEarth location in DE, for about 15 seconds. Which is also about how long it takes Brandon to fall, left to his own devices.

Sounds to us like a recipe to end up like Charlie Sheen on a permanent bender. We're pretty sure that's how Poopypants got the way he is now. Which also explains Hunter not falling far from the tree either.

VIII. Other than that, not much going on that sets one eye to twitching uncontrollably, and after the next payday, we may take a short trip or three, while we can still afford the gasoline to do it. We wish all and sundry enjoyable depths-of-summer weekends, even as we keep one eye on the horizon, in every sense.

28 comments:

Michael said...

Good weather report in many aspects.

Enjoy a little downtime, we might find spare time in short supply pretty soon.

Anonymous said...

Great summary, Brother. Do enjoy the pause, we should while we can.
Boat Guy

Anonymous said...

Re: IV, Some Portland Antifa have repeated the learning experience that PETA had, in finding it safer to attack ladies in leather coats on 5th Ave, than it is to attack the leather vested gentlemen found at biker bars. :-/
John in Indy

Zendo Deb said...

Nice reference to "The Man Who Sold the Moon" by Robert Heinlein. Haven't thought about that story in VERY long time...

Mike Guenther said...

" it's as bad as Satan's underpants, or Fort Benning in summer, one of which we have actual experience with."

So you've never been to Fort Benning in summer, huh? /j

Reltey McFee said...

Ohmigerd, I HOPE! you have been to Fort Benning!

Survivormann99 said...

C'mon, Aesop. Give me a break. I expect that you are trying to empathize with readers in climatic backwaters.

Yeah, here in Southern California it has been a hellhole. Here at my house, several miles inland, the thermometer has been melting, you know, hitting 91 one day. Today, it's gonna hit a knee-buckling 81 degrees here. (Kidding.)

Of course, much of the rest of the country is experiencing heat in the high 90s.

Yet, we can still comfortably eat outside most days, even if it is only for lunch in January and February.

Southern California is run by idiot libs and cursed with political BS, but most people in this country dream of a vacation with the kind of weather here. There really is no place on the North American continent with better weather. Period. End of sentence.

Other than that, keep up the good work!

BigCountryExpat said...

Out of curiosity, what were you doing @ Benning? I thought you were a Marine? Not many jarheads ran around there. I unfortunately did OSUT Infantry school May to Septmber... loooongest, nastiest summer of my life...

Robert said...

"canned goods". Seriously? Oooh, I gotta add a can opener to my kit.

WRT car wrecks and helplessness. Came upon a not-horribly-kinetic head-on at 9AM on a sunday. Could extract neither the unresponsive nor the apparently-inebriated profusely-vocal driver. WTF good is a first-aid kit and a little training if you can't get to the participants? An off-duty EMT happened along a minute before the local VFD arrived. At his direction, I gathered pulse and BP. VFD moved us out of the way and... the Jaws of Life wouldn't fire up. Fun times. Evidently both parties survived as there was a subsequent lawsuit. I hope to die in bed at 100+ without ever having used the trauma kit in my car.

Aesop said...

@BCE,

Seein' the sights, man. ;)
FTR, despite being artillery, I've also been to Ft. Knox, Ft. Bragg, Ft. Polk in uniform, but not Ft. Sill.

Aesop said...

@BCE,

Seein' the sights, man. ;)
FTR, despite being artillery, I've also been to Ft. Knox, Ft. Bragg, and Ft. Polk in uniform, but not Ft. Sill.

@Robert,

Srsly, yes. A retort pouch of tuna has a "Best by" date 2 years out. A can has a date 5 years out. That's worth the weight penalty IMHO. Other things, not so much. And ounces = pounds, and pounds = pain, with my knees not getting younger year over year, so...

Aesop said...

@Survivorman,

I don't mind 90-100°+ in the daytime. That's just Cali in July.

But that 80° and muggy as the Gulf Coast at 3AM crap for a week straight is beginning to piss me off a tad. If I wanted that, I'd move there.

Robin Datta said...

Last duty station on active duty was Martin Army Horsespittle, Fort Benning JawJerk with an ETS of 7-7-77. Got back from 13 months in Korrhea the previous November. So missed the summer. But Fresno Califonia for the last 23 years ain't too bad: three digit teens are nothing to write home about.

Agencies like the Department of Diffidence, NASA, etc. are cash cows, feeding the bloat in buruaucracies of government agencies, contractors, subcontractors, sub²contractors, and lobbyists, legislators (campaign "contributions"), constituents, etc. for a feeding frenzy which results in inferior products for ridiculous prices, which went unnoticed until the private sector got into the business.

nick flandrey said...

hey Aesop, just missed an incident about 100ft from my BOL, and it got me wondering...

The day after I returned to Houston, a young adult male, showing off for two lady friends, dives off a dock into shallow lake, and crunches at least three vertebrae. He can't move anything but is breathing. Friends realize there is an issue and keep him from drowning while calling 911. Astonishingly, because normally there is only spotty cell coverage, they get thru and the call goes out. VFD in my remote rural Texas BOL is literally 5 people on the BEST day. ONE guy is available to respond, and brings a pool backboard. ONE neighbor hears the callout on the scanner in the kitchen and self responds to the site, about 200 ft from her house.

They get the guy on the board and out of the water, and 25 minutes later the red bus arrives with some actual EMS personnel onboard who then get the guy on the road to higher care.

My question is, what else if anything could they have done, or could I have done that would improve outcomes? My first thought was improvise a collar with a rolled up towel, and insist on the log roll and head control we were taught in CERT, but beyond that and 'first do no harm', WTF can you do? The neighbor could only provide shade and encouragement while waiting for the ambulance. Would cold packs on the neck help? Cold is usually indicated to reduce swelling, and swelling is usually bad; or is swelling in this context a good thing that reduces movement? Take into account the long delay until help arrives, and a similar time until arrival at a regional medical center, where higher care might be a helo ride back to Houston...

I've got an AED and my bag in the truck. My truck bag is focused mostly on bleeding control, with some boo boo stuff too, but also includes the stuff my kids' team trainer would have if they had a team trainer instead of just me... ie tapes, ice packs, compression bandages... and the stuff an elderly person's caregiver might carry if they were out and about with someone old and on blood thinners. Like I said mostly bleeding control...

We've still got plenty of summer left, and no shortage of young men. In fact on the 4th, lifeflight had to collect a couple of them who had collided on jetskis and transport them from our boat ramp to Houston. Clearly I need to consider the possibility of injuries outside of my immediate family more strongly than I have up to this point. Injuries that are far from the type of thing I've had any training to deal with. And maybe put more resources in place.

Any advice?

nick

Mike Guenther said...

I lived in SoCal up until '75. You're right, it's usually temperate, climate wise. That is until the Santa Ana winds hit in August September. Then tis a nother whole ball o wax. Hotter than the depths of hell. Thank goodness it's a dry heat, amirite?

Aesop said...

@Nick,
They did great. Blanket if they're cold, shade if they're hot, otherwise, yeah, a towel roll "collar" would have been A+ improv. Not much else matters other than good spinal immobilization, and hope for a great neurologist at the receiving end, and injuries that aren't as bad as they seem.
If you've got the space for a single good c-collar in the truck bag kit, go for it, but not much else you're going to do in that case.
As for putting it on, if it's annoying and uncomfortable, it's probably on correctly, but make sure you know how to fit it and apply it. Usually takes four hands to do it right.
I'd avoid the cold packs: pt. might start shivering, giving you the exact body movement you're trying to avoid.

If you notice the focus of the dotMil TCCC guidelines, they focused on the few lifesaving interventions (ABCs: nasal trumpet, needle chest decompression, occlusive seal, tourniquets and bleeding control) that could be done with minimal gear, and maximal effect, and C-spine didn't even make the cut.
VFD EMS did just fine from your description, and other than a c-collar, big city EMS wouldn't have done anything different. Just woulda been a shorter trip to the hospital.

Rhea said...

Regarding your third point, the ongoing whining from the left now that they have lost their precious sacrament of abortion is beginning to piss me off in earnest.

"What! Is that...the consequences of my own actions!? Help, help! I'm being oppressed!!"

It's getting exhausting to listen to. No, you're not oppressed, but you're no longer able to oppress me by making me pay for your own short sightedness.

~Rhea

Robert said...

Y'all who might put a c collar on your patient: please, please, wear one as part of your training. Having had one on incorrectly, I can assure you your patient will appreciate it.

Anonymous said...

Just got the news yesterday that one of our close friends son, 24years old, a medic in the Army. Stationed at Polk, died after collapsing on a pt run.
Fully vaxed and boosted.

God rest his soul.

nick flandrey said...

Thanks Aesop, I figured it was like that.

We're going to add No Diving signs, double up on the No Trespassing signs, and maybe add a life-ring to the dock.

I'm relieved that there wasn't something they missed to help the kid, no one thinks their fun day on the lake will be ending with lifeflight and a life changing injury.

nick

Anonymous said...

Should probably have a couple P-38's in there anyway, might run across some canned items while traveling to beef up your supplies.

Anonymous said...

To JULY 24, 2022 AT 6:52 AM,

Condolences to his Family and Friends.

David said...

In 2020 the orcs started going to small western towns outside of blue states. They were often met by hundreds of armed locals back by prosecutors who would prosecute the arsonist rather than his victim. They would then leave.

Rollory said...

"My question is, what else if anything could they have done, or could I have done that would improve outcomes? "

Being smart enough not to get himself into that situation in the first place.

Same exact thing happened to one of my elementary school teachers the year after I took her class. She was really tall. First day in class, she told us "Don't tell me how tall I am, I don't like it." Following summer, pool dive, crunch. Rest of her life in a wheelchair.

Get a feel for the water and the shoals by wading and paddling around a bit before you do the flashy stuff. I don't know why this isn't blindingly obvious but apparently it isn't.

John Wilder said...

Stay frosty.

Robin Datta said...

All the members of "Homo" species ancestral to us from which we come were able to run better, make better spears and throw them better; that's how they became our ancestors and their kinsfolk became lion lunch. Likewise the future evolutionary lineages from today's humans will be from the ones today who perform better. Darwinian evolution is harsh.

A cord injury that is limited to a contusion, with minimal to no tissue disruption, can heal with full recovery of function. But disruption can be with anything from a grossly intact cord to shards of bone entering it, or a severing associated with the displacement of dislocated or fractured fragments. Imaging studies are needed to assess the extent of such injury. Meanwhile avoidance of movemnts that might further compromise the situation with appropriate immobilization would be helpful.

Although cervical collars come in different sizes, having one of a middle-of-the-range size is better than none.

Reltney McFee said...

Nick might want to peruse your Outstanding! series ref emergency care & items to provide same, Aesop.

nick flandrey said...



Nick might want to peruse your Outstanding! series ref emergency care & items to provide same, Aesop.


--I've been following along for years. Heartily wish the Hogwarts School for wannabe medics was still growing.

Thought I was pretty well sorted, but got the wakeup call that I've never done the Lifeguard training, and never looked at non-penetrating head trauma care, or spinal cord injury. Grid down there isn't much but mercy...


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