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On a tangent, not all doctors are suitable for emergency work. I used to work with a paediatric neurologist, who was excellent in her field and a respected spec
by vacri 10y ago
On a tangent, not all doctors are suitable for emergency work. I used to work with a paediatric neurologist, who was excellent in her field and a respected specialist, and she told the story of the call going out on a plane for a man who was having a heart attack. She hesitated about it - she hadn't "done hearts" since medical school twenty years earlier. Just as she was about to volunteer, however, another doctor put his hand up... and he was a cardiologist.
- Johnny555 10y agoIf it were me unconscious on the floor, I'd take a pediatric neurologist that "hasn't done hearts" for 20 years over a flight attendant with 8 hours of "first aid" training.
- pmiller2 10y agoDefinitely. I'd rather have any medical professional (any doctor, nurse, emt, paramedic, etc.) attending me in that situation rather than someone whose medical training consists of a first aid course and maybe a CPR certification.
- webtechgal 10y agoHeck - I'd settle even for a vet... any day...
- ndespres 10y agoI fear the day I have to call upon my experience birthing livestock to help deliver a human baby.
- vacri 10y agoOh, for sure. I certainly don't mean to disparage her skills, just that 'doctors' come in a lot of different varieties, and not all of them retain general medical skills. I remember a friend who became a paramedic. My home state brought in ambulances-for-everybody. If you wanted an ambulance, the dispatcher couldn't say no anymore, you got an ambulance. And for people on low-income cards, those ambulances were free. So my friend got called out to a lot of junk calls (his term: "coughs, colds, and sore holes"), and said that it was a problem for the paramedics because their skills rusted - some paramedics reported only seeing one heart attack in a year, and they have to pause and think what needs to be done again. Medicine is very much a 'use it or lose it' discipline, at least when it comes to the details.
- dTal 10y agoSlightly worrying that the cardiologist also hesitated...