Funny Insurance Commercial

Medical Device Recall: Physio Control, Inc. LifePak CR Plus Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)

Medical Device Recall: LifePak CR Plus Automated External Defibrillators

Audience: Emergency medical personnel, other healthcare professionals
Physio Control, Inc., issued a recall of LifePak CR Plus Automated External Defibrillators (AED), used by emergency or medical personnel to treat adults in cardiopulmonary arrest. The product was recalled because the AED instructs the responder by voice prompts to press the shock button which is not visible because it is covered, thereby making the responder unable to provide shock therapy. The AED device should be removed from service, or the manufacturer-provided diagram should be consulted to remove and discard the shock button cover.

Rescue medics discover good use for notorious drug

Rescue medics discover good use for notorious drug - 02 May 2008 - Topic

A notorious drug linked to date rape is being used by paramedics because it is a better painkiller than morphine in some emergencies.

The decision to use ketamine, which is also known as a party drug, follows a study by Auckland's Westpac rescue helicopter paramedics on 44 patients between January 2005 and October last year. Advanced paramedics from St John Ambulance are also now using the drug, and have trained about 160 staff nationwide to administer it.

Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust medical director Dr John Orton told the Herald that ketamine superseded morphine in many situations.

"Certain pains are fairly easily manageable with morphine-type drugs, but the excruciating acute pain of acute injury is extremely hard to get on top of with morphine," Dr Orton said.

"We're talking about 10 tonne tractors rolled on top of people ... or typical quad bike idiots on Muriwai Beach. They flip it and they've got two broken legs below the knee pointing at right angles but otherwise they're uninjured."You've got to straighten these limbs out and splint them. If you try to do that without this sort of agent, it's horrible - you cause excruciating discomfort. So to be able to do this in the field is a major bonus."

KETAMINE

• Can be snorted, injected, smoked or put in liquid and drunk.
• Used as a party drug.
• Used by vets and doctors as an anaesthetic.
• Has been associated with date rape cases.

HOW IT HELPS

• Emergency services say it is ideal for rescues where patients:
• Are trapped in or under a vehicle, or in machinery.
• Where "angulated fractures" have occurred and broken bones must be straightened while a patient is conscious.
  

Click the title above for the link to the full story.

Girl, 6, Dies From Swimming Pool Injury: child was partially disemboweled.

The Associated Press: Girl, 6, Dies From Swimming Pool Injury

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 6-year-old girl whose intestines were partially sucked out by a swimming pool drain, leading to tougher safety legislation, has died, her family's attorney said Friday.

Abigail Taylor's parents were with her when she died Thursday at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where she had surgery to receive a new small bowel, liver and pancreas several months after she was injured.

She suffered setbacks, including a cancerous condition sometimes triggered by organ transplants, family attorney Bob Bennett said.

A hospital spokeswoman, Kara Haworth, confirmed Abigail's death but said she could not comment further and Abigail's doctors were not available Friday.

Abigail, of Edina, was injured June 29 when she sat on a wading pool drain at the Minneapolis Golf Club in the suburb of St. Louis Park; its powerful suction ripped out part of her intestinal tract.

Her parents, Scott and Katey Taylor, lobbied for tougher regulations to help prevent similar injuries, and in December, Congress approved legislation in December to ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards.

The legislation, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, is named for another victim, the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker. She drowned at a graduation party in 2002, when the suction from a drain pinned her.

State Sen. Geoff Michel called the Taylors "a very amazing family" after he learned of Abigail's death. He said Scott Taylor had promised his daughter that he would get the law changed.

"They have held up and been held up for such a tough, tough road. I just feel terrible for them," Michel said.

Bennett said the Taylors wouldn't be available to comment Friday. In November, the family brought a lawsuit against the golf club and Sta-Rite Industries, the pool equipment manufacturer owned by Pentair of Golden Valley.

Gretchen Koehn, president of the Minneapolis Golf Club's executive committee, sent a note to club members notifying them of Abigail's death. The club's "hearts and prayers" go out to the Taylor family, she wrote

.

Frightened Mother Returns to Baby Left in Hot Car

Inside Edition - Frightened Mother Returns to Baby Left in Hot Car

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" A frantic mother screams. The woman had just run out of a store realizing she left her 7-month old daughter alone in a hot car. The drama was caught on tape in the parking lot of a Target in suburban Kansas City. The mother is inconsolable as she tells police she was inside the store's pharmacy when she saw police activity out front and realized what was going on. Fortunately for the Kansas City mom, her baby came out of the ordeal ok after being left alone for about thirty minutes.

A tragedy avoided...but the reason I posted this was for the GOOD ADVICE...TO AVOID IT...read on....

INSIDE EDITION talks with an expert to find out what parents can do to help keep their children safe. Our expert says something as simple as leaving a stuffed animal in the passengers seat of your car can serve as a reminder, and can make the difference between life and death. The animal serves as a visual cue. It will remind the driver that there is precious cargo in the back seat of the vehicle. It becomes a simple reminder that will hopefully prevent frightening scenes like the one outside of the Kansas City Target store.

Spiders on Drugs

Here's a clip from the old documentary series called Hinterland's Who's Who. In this piece, the show the results of spiders taking drugs. Just say no, no, no!!!

900-pound man removed from home

900-pound man removed from home - U.S. News - MSNBC.com
One of those calls where a little compassion-and creative rescue skills- comes in handy! (But did they have to cover his face?)

LANSING, Mich. - Firefighters cut a hole in the side of a house and used a forklift to extricate a 900-pound man from his second-floor bedroom after a visiting nurse became worried about his health.

Rescue workers were called in Tuesday by the nurse, who determined the 33-year-old man needed medical help, Fire Chief Tom Cochran said.

Cochran said the man had not left his home since 2003.

The man’s brother, who lives with him, said he suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that creates a chronic feeling of hunger that can lead to overeating and life-threatening obesity.

Rescue workers brought in a forklift, high enough to raise a platform to a hole cut into the wall of the house. They covered the man with a blue tarp to shield him from onlookers and slid the platform onto a flatbed truck for a trip to Sparrow Hospital.

Gordon Ramsay: Great Balls of Fire!

A reminder...cooking is one of the leading causes of residential fires...and the leading cause of fire injuries....

"Hell's Kitchen" host Gordon Ramsay apparently got his twig and berries a little too close to an open flame and burned his nether region, several British tabs are reporting.

Gordon was quoted by The Sun as explaining, "The other day I was standing too close to the stove when I was cooking. I was wearing these cotton trousers and underneath I was going commando, suddenly, I felt this searing heat. I went, 'F**k me, bollocks to that.'" Bollocks, indeed. Ramsay painted an even clearer horrible mental picture by saying, "I burnt my right bollock and I'm in absolute agony ... You wouldn't believe how much this hurts." Not hard to imagine it, really.

Ramsay's rep confirmed that the chef did in fact burn himself, but wouldn't confirm where on his body the burn occurred.

Ouch....I wonder if he remembered to stop, drop and roll? or put cool water on his burns??? A horrid visual...but wise advice....

Ok, on the same note...this video is sick....adults only...PLEASE DON'T watch it if you are easily offended! This is a music video from South Park "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" ...which of course ...catch on fire.

Some of lyrics of this song...in case you may want to sing along...go like this...

sniff, sniff, sniff]
Hey, wait a minute.
What's that smell.
Smell like something burning.
Well that don't confront me none.
Long as I get my rent paid on Friday.
Baby you better get back in the kitchen.
Cause I got a sneak'n suspicion.
Oh man baby, baby!
You just burned my balls!
Help me, my balls on fire
????? baby
my balls are burning
give me some water!
Pour some water on me!
my balls are burning
oh my goodness,
I'm blow'n
I'm blow'n
do somethin

REMEMBER: UNATTENDED COOKING IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF KITCHEN FIRES!! And cool a burn with lots of COOL WATER (not saliva!)!! ...The More You Know....

BREAKING: 21 students treated in gas leak

BREAKING: 21 students treated in gas leak

Earlier today 21 Virginia Tech students were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in the Collegiate Suites apartment complex off Patrick Henry Road.

Five females were found unresponsive in one apartment and were flown to hospitals by helicopter, said Blacksburg police Capt. Bruce Bradbery. Two were sent to the University of Virginia Medical Center on ventilators, and the three other were sent to Duke University Medical Center. Four of the young women remain unresponsive; one female transported to Duke has regained partial consciousness, Bradbery said.

The five young women who were sent away via helicopter were all living in the same apartment at 1306 Henry Lane. They were found after a nearby resident called the gas company of the complex to investigate a smell, Bradbery said.

Seventeen other people were taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital for treatment, Bradbery said.

Bradbery said that the level of carbon monoxide to begin indication of symptoms is 25 parts per million (ppm). When the fire department conducted a reading after the building was evacuated, the reading reached 500 ppm. After 30 minutes of ventilation, that reading went down to 200 ppm.

Bradbery said that after a preliminary investigation the leak was caused by a faulty pressure relief valve in the hot water heater. Because the valve was open, the fuel was constantly burning and the carbon monoxide was not ventilating.

In addition, all four doors inside the apartment were closed preventing the carbon monoxide from exiting.

The Blacksburg police received a call at 11:18 a.m. and reached the scene at 11:23 a.m.

There were no carbon monoxide detectors in the building because there is no requirement for them.

The apartment will be sealed indefinitely and investigated thoroughly, Bradbery said. Residents are allowed to enter to gather last minute items. The fire department is providing housing for them in a local hotel.

Boy dies in car window accident

BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Boy dies in car window accident
A five-year-old boy has died after his neck became trapped in an electric window of his family's car.

Michael Dury is thought to have been playing with his brother when the accident happened outside the family home in New Addington, south London.

Ambulance crews tried to resuscitate Michael but he died at St George's Hospital in Tooting on Wednesday.

His parents, Wendy and Paul Dury, paid tribute to the "very lovable child" who always "brought a smile to everyone".

A police spokesman said: "The incident is being treated as a sudden death. Police are providing support for the family and will prepare a report for the coroner in due course."

Pool Drain Sucks Out 6-year-old's Intestines

MINNEAPOLIS - A 6-year-old girl who sat on an open drain in a wading pool lost part of her intestinal tract to the drain’s powerful suction, her family said.

Abigail Taylor was injured in the wading pool on June 29, according to her family.

Her father, Scott Taylor, said the suction caused a 2-inch tear in Abigail’s rectum and pulled out much of her small intestine. Doctors had to remove the part of her intestines that remained, according to the family’s lawyer, Bob Bennett.

Abigail remained in intensive care at Children’s Hospital on Thursday and appeared to be improving, Bennett said.

She was to undergo surgery on Friday, Bennett said. “She’ll receive her nutrition through a port for the rest of her life,” he said.

Bennett said the swimming pool’s drain hole was improperly uncovered. However, the general manager of the club where the pool is located said he didn’t think anything was wrong with the pool. He referred questions to the attorney for the club’s insurance company, who declined to comment.

Several states have passed pool-safety laws after children drowned or were disemboweled by drain suction. North Carolina, for instance, requires pools to have dual drains to diffuse the force of the suction and prevent children from being trapped.

Did you know...

Certain groups of children are at higher risk for drowning.
 Children ages 4 and under have a drowning death rate more than three times greater than other age groups and account for 80 percent of home drownings.
 Male children have a drowning rate more than two times that of female children. However, females have a bathtub drowning rate twice that of males.
 Low-income children are at greater risk from non-swimming pool drownings.
 Drowning fatality rates are higher in southern and western states than in other regions of the United States.

Rural areas have higher drowning death rates than urban or suburban areas, in part due to decreased access to emergency medical care.

More than half of drownings among infants (under age 1) occur in bathtubs.
 More than 10 percent of all childhood drownings occur in bathtubs; the majority of these occur in the absence of adult supervision.
 Female children have a bathtub drowning rate twice that of males.
 Since 1983, there have been at least 104 deaths and 162 nonfatal incidents involving baby bath seats.
 Children can drown in as little as one inch of water and are therefore also at risk of drowning in wading pools, bathtubs, buckets, diaper pails, toilets, spas and hot tubs. Since 1984, more than 327 children, 89 percent between the ages of 7 months and 15 months, have drowned in buckets containing water or other liquids used for mopping floors and other household chores. It is estimated that 30 children drown annually in buckets.

More than half of drownings among children ages 1 to 4 are pool-related.
 Among children ages 4 and under, there are approximately 300 residential swimming pool drowningseach year. More than half of these drownings occur in the child's home pool, and one-third occur at the homes of friends, neighbors or relatives.
 Most children who drown in swimming pools were last seen in the home, had been missing from sight for less than five minutes and were in the care of one or both parents at the time of the drowning.
 Since 1980, more than 230 children ages 4 and under have drowned in spas and hot tubs.
 African-American males ages 5 to 9 have a swimming pool-related drowning rate four and a half times that of their white counterparts. African-American males ages 10 to 14 have a swimming pool-related drowning rate 15 times that of their white counterparts.
 Installation of four-sided isolation fencing could prevent 50 to 90 percent of childhood residential swimming pool drownings and near-drownings.

Children ages 5 to 14 most often drown at open-water sites (rivers, lakes and oceans).
 In 2003, 21 children ages 14 and under drowned in reported recreational boating accidents. In 2003, 62 percent of children ages 14 and under who drowned in reported recreational boating accidents were not wearing PFDs or life jackets. It is estimated that 85 percent of boating-related drownings could have been prevented if the victim had been wearing a personal flotation device.
 In 2003, 200 children ages 14 and under sustained injuries in reported recreational boating accidents involving personal watercraft.
 Approximately half of all boating deaths occur on Saturdays and Sundays and between the months of May and August.

For more information about pool safety, check out the following:
CPSC Issues Warning for Pools, Spas, and Hot Tubs
Avoiding entrapment: layers of protection not only guard against drowning, but also reduce pool drain hazards
Phoenix Fire Department: Water Safety and Drowning Prevention
Facts About Childhood Drowning
Water Watchers
Drowning Support Network

Methane Gas in Pit Kills Five on Farm

BRIDGEWATER, Va. (July 3) - Deadly methane gas emanating from a dairy farm's manure pit killed five people - a Mennonite farmer who climbed into the pit to unclog a pipe, and then, in frantic rescue attempts that failed, his wife, two young daughters and a farmhand.

They all climbed into the pit to help," Sheriff Donald Farley said. "Before they hit the floor, they were probably all dead."

Farmers typically take pains to ventilate manure pits where methane often gathers. A family member questioned whether cattle feed could have trickled into the pit and accelerated the formation of the gas.

"You cannot smell it, you cannot see it, but it's an instant kill," explained Dan Brubaker, a family friend who oversaw the construction of the pit decades earlier.

Scott Showalter, 34, apparently was transferring manure from one small pit to a larger holding pond on Monday evening, the sheriff said.

About once a week, waste is pumped from the roughly 9-foot-deep pit into a larger pond. When something clogged the drain, Showalter shimmied through the 4-foot opening into the enclosure, which is similar to an underground tank. He would have climbed down a ladder into about 18 inches of manure.

"It was probably something he had done a hundred times," Farley said. "There was gas in there and he immediately succumbed."

Click here to read the rest of the story!

Flying fire hydrant kills Oakland man

Wow...talk about being in the wrong place a the worst time...

OAKLAND _ Humberto Hernandez never saw the 200-pound flying piece of iron that killed him and veteran police officers could not remember ever seeing anything like this accident.
Hernandez, 24, was killed Thursday evening when he was hit by an airborne fire hydrant that was dislodged from the sidewalk when it was struck by an SUV, police said.

Motorcycle Officer Eddie Bermudez, who is investigating the death, said Friday it was ``a million-to-one chance'' that something like this could happen to someone.

Bermudez said if Hernandez had been one step ahead or one step behind where he was on the sidewalk ``he would not have gotten hit.''

Police said the hydrant hit Hernandez _ who was walking with his wife _ in the back of the head, skipped off him and hit a fence before landing another 20 feet away.

Lt. Fausto Melara, a 25-year veteran and a longtime motorcycle officer, said, ``I've seen a lot of accidents but never anything like this.

``I've seen people hit fire hydrants but never anyone killed by a flying fire hydrant.''

Police said Hernandez was walking with his wife in the 900 block of 98th Avenue _ a short distance from his home _ about 5:52 p.m. Thursday.

Bermudez said Hernandez had just bought his wife some flowers and some cherries and they were walking to a restaurant at 98th Avenue and International Boulevard to have dinner.

Police said a 2007 Ford Escape driven northbound on 98th by a 45-year-old Danville woman who said a tire blew before the vehicle swerved onto the sidewalk.
Bermudez said police have not confirmed that the tire blew. He said the driver told police she was not talking on a cell phone or was distracted in any other way.

When the SUV smashed into the hydrant, the impact and released water launching it at a 45-degree angle toward Hernandez, who was about 10 feet away walking northbound on same side of the street.

Police are not sure if the hydrant might have skipped off the pavement before hitting 5-foot-6 Hernandez in the back of his head.

``He was walking a bit ahead of his wife and then, all of a sudden, he is in the line of fire,'' Bermudez said.

After hitting Hernandez, the hydrant still had enough velocity to ricochet through a fence before stopping.

That was especially surprising to police, including one officer who said, ``You can't even pick those things up.'' Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife was not hurt.

Rampaging squirrel injures 3

Rampaging squirrel injures 3 - Animal Peculiarity - MSNBC.com

BERLIN - An aggressive squirrel attacked and injured three people in a German town before a 72-year-old pensioner dispatched the rampaging animal with his crutch.

The squirrel first ran into a house in the southern town of Passau, leapt from behind on a 70-year-old woman, and sank its teeth into her hand, a local police spokesman said on Thursday.

With the squirrel still hanging from her hand, the woman ran onto the street in panic, where she managed to shake it off.

The animal then entered a building site and jumped on a construction worker, injuring him on the hand and arm, before he managed to fight it off with a measuring pole.

"After that, the squirrel went into the 72-year-old man's garden and massively attacked him on the arms, hand and thigh," the spokesman said. "Then he killed it with his crutch."

Terrible Car Accident - Drifting Goes Wrong

Wow!!! Drifting is not the smartest hobby one can have...talk about human projectiles..you gotta see this one!

Firefighter saves Snowball

News Sun :: News :: Firefighter saves Snowball
Does a Snowball have a chance in hell? Well this one did! Thanks to the Waukegan firefighters and their resusa-doggy masks!

GHOST RIDE THE WHIP

Sent in by a caring student who wants you to see what that job security looks like (at least from the EMS side...although I bet these guys are great fun w/a lighter too.) Geesh. Good times man. Enjoy!

Dog Performs 'Heimlich' on Choking Owner

SR.com: Dog Performs 'Heimlich' on Choking Owner

He really did! Or did he?

News of the weird.

What a way to go....

A 50-year-old man fell through the ice at Donner Lake near Truckee, Calif., in February and drowned. Police said he was ice-skating about 100 yards off shore while wearing 2-foot-tall stilts (thus, the stilts were wearing the skates), and couldn't recover after falling through. [Reno Gazette-Journal-AP, 1-31-07]

California Highway Patrol officers at the scene near Yuba City, Nev., said the 28-year-old driver that crossed into oncoming traffic and fatally crashed into a Hummer in February was, perhaps, working at his laptop computer while driving. Though the screen was shattered in the crash, the computer was open in the seat beside him and plugged into his car's cigarette lighter. [Los Angeles Times-AP, 2-27-07]


He picked a bad day to tag the bridge...

A 15-year-old boy in Hamilton, Ontario, was finally rescued after dangling from a rope, nearly naked, upside down, in the minus-5-degree (F) cold, after a February attempt to spray graffiti on a new bridge went bad. He got his inspiration while tobogganing alone, at about 8 p.m., and left his gloves and cell phone in the sled as he rappelled over the side of the bridge, but when the rope slipped and entangled him, he found himself upside down and then lost some clothes as he tried to wriggle free. At about 10 p.m., when a party was breaking up at a nearby home, someone finally heard his screams for help. [Hamilton Spectator, 2-15-07]

From- http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/index.html

Rescue 911 - Tanker Crash

Firefighters risk their lives to save a girl trapped under a flaming gasoline tanker. This is from the old TV Series. Aprox. 10 minutes.