Health Care Workers Discussion Area

    One of my neighbors at this apartment building also had cold or flu symptoms, either back to back or something, for weeks if not over a month.

TERM 1,I really like your posts. They seem to have a ring of truth to them and they also fit in with what I was told several months ago by our fire department and EMS services. I have some information they comes from a Federal level source that I know and this fits with what he says also. But one thing still troubles me and if you are allowed to,I will ask you this guesstion--Why did they leave the Family Practice doctors out,and it was no accident,they even told the people of the fire department and the EMS people to keep this information from us. Of course,living in a small town, when you tell some one to keep a secret it is more effectitve in getting the secret told than putting it in the local newspaper. But why has there been an obvious attempt to keep the Primary Providers in the dark?--- Also, the guy on the Federal level spent many weekends and even full weeks going to seminars on this "Bird Flu". He did not know why the Family Pracice doctors were left out either. He also told me that as of about 6 months ago,there been no meetings or seminars on "Bird Flu" .he says that no one even talkes about it any more. So,do you know what is going on?I will greatly appriciate any information that you will give me? Johnray1

    The lady in question has pneumonia. She's walking around and not in the grave, but I worry about her.

    Ok, I just updated my med kit. As many of you may remember, I buy separately and in bulk and thus save a lot of money. I do have two emergency kits, but they're cheap and only about 10 dollars total.

Now, some of us are healthcare professionals, but some of us aren't. The med kits you get at the store (Bartells is the best place to get kits in the 20 dollar range) usually only have one pair of gloves, mostly bandaids and very little medications. Once these primary resources are exhausted, all that's left is an expensive bandaid case.

So first I advise you to buy a box of latex gloves, or vinyl if you're allergic. Instead of paying 30 dollars for a fresh kit, you buy by the box, which is only about 5 dollars for a 100ct, and save hundreds of dollars. Then I advise you get analgesics. The definition of an analgesic is a painkiller, but most people use them for headaches. I bought Ibuprofin, but aspirin and tylenol are analgesics.

The more expensive kits will have about 10 alcohol swabs, we use those to disinfect wounds. But if you buy by the box, you get 100ct for about 4 dollars.

Both isoprophyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide are disinfectants, but the peroxide is painless and doesn't sting. A bottle of peroxide is about 99 cents, a similarly-sized bottle of alcohol is also about a dollar and some change.

If you buy separately, you not only save money but can develop an emergency kit that can handle several dozen patients at a time.

Some bandaids come in foil, they have antibacterial cream. I bought neosporin. I've never used it personally so can't recommend it, but it should keep your cut or scrape from becoming infected.

So the newest additions to my kit are: rolled gauze, burn cooling spray, large sterile pads. I had a lot of boxes in the duffel bag, I broke them down and put the supplies into ziploc baggies. This saved space and probably a bit of weight. I still need to itemize everything I have on a piece of paper. I have cheap adhesive tape and am going to get the paper kind.

Johnray 1, the answer to your question is basically, Yup. I don't think that anyone is conspiring to take out the local Doc's (H5N1 been in just about every peer related medical journal out there). Depending on where you look, (start at the state level with an internet search) there is information available. I have info available to me at the county, state and Fed levels. You might want to contact your county Public Health rep. and see what their position and plans are for your area, then see what the state is doing. Since each state has to have a plan (to get in on the fed gravy train) you also need to be direct (and blunt) and ask those folks what their plans are specifically for the local Doc's as a group.
    
    
    

TERM 1,Thank you. I like to know where I stand.Johnray1        P.S. Just so all of the fire depatment personnel,ems personnel amd Family Physicans know what this means. When we are all exhausted both mentally and physcially and sick and need help. Help it is not coming.The Calvary is not riding in to rescue us at the last minute.Live or die,we will be on our own. Johnray1

Like JG1 "I'm not a Prophet" either, but have spent enough time in EMS, Disaster Medicine, Mass Casuality Planning, and on the fringe of Emergency Management that it will be archaic when it happens. I figure that we will be able to set the clock back a minimum of 75 years. Fire fighting (if any at all) will be to protect the exposures, and let the fire burn itself out. There will not be enough manpower to do more than that, especially if the 40% rule (of the work force not showing up) comes into play. EMS (and the medical field in general) will rapidly run out of supplies and cease to be an effective adjunct. My department has a reserve supply of 300 gallons of diesel fuel, once the deliveries stop, my vehicles don't run on air. I'm not trying to be Mr. Doom and Gloom here but, Many cities have failed (and miserably) for preparing. Yes I know that times are tough and times are hard but once the dominos start falling then it's almost impossible to stop them.

    Since we're talking about economic collapse, let's see if we can predict or provide us with an outline of how it will decline. Remember, not everyone will get sick at once, so I predict more and more stores won't be open. Since there's a news blackout, it won't collapse instantly, nor will there be riots, people in greater numbers will simply not go to work and die peacefully in their homes.

A lot depends on how long it delays. We could have another terrorist attack. The dollar could collapse and then the flu could be just the frosting on the cake. If it started tomorrow I think the blackout will end with h2h. The food markets will be stripped within 2 days of the first case in the US, maybe before if there is good foreign reporting. Hopefully they will be restocked quickly but as the cases grow and the true mortality rate becomes known they will be stripped again and stay that way. Hundreds of sick and dying people at the ER's will scare the mess out of people. The national guard will be out immediately, at the grocery and the hospitals. There were things learned from Katrina. I can also see habits dying hard. At first people may be encouraged to go to work. Before it is over there will be Marshall Law and curfews. That way anyone out will be considered a criminal and treated like one. This is what makes me angry. People with small children who could have something for them to eat but will not because no one is telling them to prepare. People are going to figure this out. They are going to be angry.

TERMS 1 ,this is Johnray1 again. You seem to have the ability to put thing in there natural order as to how things will happen better than I do. I wait for and read your posts,because I think they are better than mine and they seem to put things in more order than I can. I thank you for your input and I ask that you continue it. I will probably not post any thing again,unless you ask me a guestion.The part about a lot of kicking and screaming should make your point,and I agree. Johnray1

Johnray1- Please don't stop posting because of me. I don't think any one of us has the whole picture. I left this forum for quite a while because of the trolls, spammers and frauds. And it seems to have settled down alot. This is just like in school-it's a group excercise not an individual one, everyone needs to participate if we expect pass this class. I've got to work today so Happy Turkey day to one and all, and be safe.

I hope that the number of respirators is a typo. Makes you wonder what they know, doesn't it?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071122/thl-uk-britain-flu-8004a53_1.html

    Remember that the flu comes in waves, the first being the strongest and the last the weakest. Also, the infection is caused by coughing and sneezing, otherwise you could apparently be in the same room and never get infected. Not that I would trust that, but so I read.

    If your apartment manager is dead, I suppose you wouldn't have to pay rent. I'm just worried that electricity will cut off automatically by computer if you haven't paid your bill.

    TERMS 1,I am not getting off this board because you are on it. I will just be posting any thing much less off because you seem to be doing a better job at it than I am. I am not upset about that,I am happy about that. Any time that I have anything to add or ask I will. I will continue to read this board every night,just like I have done for years now,I just feel like that you have more to teach all of us than I do. Johnray1

I find it a kind of interesting social commentary on our society when on "Black Friday", you have people fighting, taking cuts in line and generally acting the fool just to save $50.00 on a T.V.   Just Wait and watch what happens when the food starts running low or the vaccine becomes available.
    

    If the power goes, don't expect to charge the laptop. however, if you google, you might find a solar power battery charger for the battery in your laptop

reality check wrote: Finally...words of wisdom..ataboy jr

     

Oooooh yeah. People in the healthcare field are people of action. Call a code in a hospital and it's like a day at the races-young and old everyone eventually shows up. When the AF shows up and if they continue with the above response they will cull their own herd early on. It's gonna be a case of pacing ourselves for the long run, due to a depleted work force, hostile/violent work environments and no rest or rehab. There's a lot of truth in the phrase Only fools rush in.    
    

Terms-It would be lucky to get it very early from the standpoint of surviving the infection but you would still have to live through its effects on society. It would be a shame to survive the virus and die at the hands of some desperate person who kills because he is afraid or needs something you have. Survivors will be valuable people though. They will be able to do things that will be risky for unexposed people to do. Did you watch the latest video? The one that showed on the Science Channel in Oct. If not do a search (try google videos or the phrase a possible look at the future) of this site and find the link so you can watch it online. It is very good and I've seen them all. I knew the survivor of the Sumatra family cluster got encephalitis but I did not know about the type that came 5 years after the pandemic. I wish I could show this video to everyone. My goal is to surround my family with prepared people, safe and calm prepared people.

Johnray1 wrote: I would like to know the correct answer to something that was on this board a few months,if any one even knows. The guestion that I would like to ask is that every one was saying that part of the British"Bird Flu"plan is to take all of their doctors and put them on military bases in order to keep the safe until a cure or vaccine was developed,which will take a year at the least. This was suppose to be done so that they would have doctors to treat people when a vaccine or cure was found. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this or not? Johnray1

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reality check,I do not disagree with your reasoning and I really agree with it. But is all of the Doctors have been dead for 10 or 11 months before there is a vaccine or cure,who is going to give it properly because there is no mass treatment or vaccine at this time.Johnray1

johngardnerq1,I can answer that question. The vaccine that they have now for the current form of "Bird Flu" will not work if this virus mutates to be easily spread between humnan. It will actually be a different virus for all practical purposes.Because of that,a new vaccine will have to be developed for that virus and it takes 6 to 12 months to develop a new vaccine and that is only if everything goes right. I would not even want the first vaccine off the assebly line.Every time a virus mutates,you have to start all over again. Johnray1