tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post1512379947054383186..comments2024-03-23T17:49:56.783-07:00Comments on oldfoolrn: When Air Becomes Breath - A Historical PerspectiveOldfoolrnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747485143127099085noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-69531464425087272182017-01-21T18:10:06.219-08:002017-01-21T18:10:06.219-08:00I used to really feel for those asthma and COPD pe...I used to really feel for those asthma and COPD people on Aminopylline because it made them so restless and ready to jump out of their skin. That terrified look in their eyes said it all. We had a smug pulmonary doc that always down played the restless behavior by saying, "Oh he is just more active because of increased brain perfusion." This always got an eyeroll out of every nurse.<br /><br />When I worked in neuro, the lab was actually in another building and we ran over there with our ABGs on ice until we received an ABG analyzer for the unit. It sat on the counter in the clean utility room right next to our coffee percolator. Old hospitals had minimal division of labor and nurses did a lot of the jobs ancillary people do today.<br /><br />I impressed and touched that you took time away from the inauguration to read and comment on my lowly blog. I never dreamed big, accumulated wealth or real estate. For me, America was great if I was able to keep a neat Mayo stand and a surgeon requested me as a scrub nurse for an uneventful case with the patient doing great as he left the room. :-)Oldfoolrnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01747485143127099085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-51370292808319149792017-01-20T22:03:22.989-08:002017-01-20T22:03:22.989-08:00As a grad in the late 70s, blood gases were drawn ...As a grad in the late 70s, blood gases were drawn on the floors by the respiratory techs...not a teaching hospital. That cheap pulse oximeter device you buy on line for about $40 bucks is not the most accurate device in the world, but it sure is painless! COPD then was no joke - ABGs draws,and the main treatments were theophylline and prednisone to keep your airways open, antibiotics for infection, and a noisy nebulizer machine that plugged into the wall and you had to hold the mouthpiece in place and breathe warm medicated vapor for 20-30 minutes. You had to be in the hospital for all of those treatments, so you could be there 10 days or so every time a cold got into your chest. A couple of decades of the usual treatments and in addition to end stage lung disease, you had diabetes and necrotic hip joints form steroids, cardiac arrhythmias from theophylline, antibiotic resistant germs in your respiratory tree, and chronic junky cough from all the damage to lung tissues from these treatments. <br />Convinced me not to smoke. clairesmumnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-88699526272720645082017-01-17T18:18:44.168-08:002017-01-17T18:18:44.168-08:00We had flocks of Birds too. When volume control ve...We had flocks of Birds too. When volume control ventilators like the Engstroms replaced the pressure controlled Birds they were demoted to IPPB duty. Volume control ventilators like Engstroms and MA-1s were revolutionary in treating shock induced by trauma.<br /><br />One of my neighbors was from Denmark and they baked the most magnificent duckling. I wondered if this was a national tradition. There was something very comforting about old school medical devices. That soothing whoosh/swish of the Engstroms and you just knew everything would be OK. Those new ventilators with huge LCD monitor screens look like entertainment devices. I think it's like comparing a majestic pipe organ to an Ipod. They both make music, but what a differenceOldfoolrnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01747485143127099085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-8875907737506197882017-01-17T05:01:40.789-08:002017-01-17T05:01:40.789-08:00From denmark again ;))) - i know for a fact that o...From denmark again ;))) - i know for a fact that our last Engströms Still are huffing and puffing in poland and other eastern-europe countries ... i can ø¨ remember when we donated them in the start90s ... and not long ago one of our anestesias-nurses was on a trip - and according to her they STILL du their job wonderfully- so why all that throwing out ? :))) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-35318500368570084512017-01-16T20:57:49.952-08:002017-01-16T20:57:49.952-08:00I never worked with the Engstroms, but did work wi...I never worked with the Engstroms, but did work with some of the early Birds...<br />ICK!!!<br />I collect antique medical books, and have read about some of those "CPR" maneuvers... Ye gods and little fishes!!bobbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14353836074794786357noreply@blogger.com