First Aid Saves lives! part one Airways

Just got back from a mandatory first aid course at work, being a medical student and having done first aid courses before, it was easy to think I already knew it all. I was surprised at how much I learnt from the experience. 
The first thing I learnt was some shocking statistics;

• Two thirds of people in the British public couldn't save a life in the event of an emergency.
• over a quarter of people who said they knew first aid would of done the wrong thing in an emergency (for example if someone was choking they would put their fingers in the persons throat to relieve the obstruction (pushing the obstruction further down))
• In the UK, less than one in ten will survive a heart attack while in Norway over 25% will, most likely due to the fact most people in Norway are able to perform CPR (First aid training being mandatory in Norwegian schools). 

I'll try an give a concise summary here about what was covered. also big thanks to Actual First Aid for the excellently run course. 

When approaching an emergency or an unconscious individual the mnemonic to use is:

DR ABC

D is for Danger. 

First, make sure its safe to approach, we dont want to generate another casualty for the ambulance to deal with. A classic example would be a car crash situation and oncoming traffic, a second crash?

R is for Response

You need to determine if the casualty is conscious, check this by asking a simple question."are you ok", perhaps they cannot respond verbally, so ask "can you open your eyes". if there is no response, you should call for help and contact the emergency services and move onto ABC. 

A is for Airway

The tongue is an incredible muscle, unlike the muscles in your arms and legs, the tongue is only attached at one point. The picture below highlights the tongue (purple) and its singular attachment at the bottom of the mouth in a cadaver. When someone loses consciousness the tongue relaxes completely and falls back slightly covering up the airway (not the thin route to the airway in the cadaver).(By the way its impossible to swallow your tongue, just try it).

The airway can be opened by gently tilting the head back by applying pressure to the forehead with your hand. HOWEVER, its possible in many situations that the casualty may have sustained a spinal or cervical spinal neck injury. In this case movements of the head and neck are to be avoided if there is any suspicion of neck injury. So how do you open the airway?
The best way to open the airway in this case would be by dislocating the jaw and bringing the jaw forward the so called 'jaw thrust' maneuver.
This is performed by placing three fingers behind the angle of the jaw close to the ear and with your thumbs applying pressure to the cheek bones below the eye, you pull the jaw forward and out so that the head doesn't move. (the movement of the jaw, pulls the attached tongue forward as well, allowing air to pass).

B is for Breathing
not breathing? you should consider CPR see part two...

C is for Circulation
no pulse? you should consider CPR see part two...

Complications of Measles

Nice easy rule to remember the complications of measles; the rule of tens.

10% Otitis media

1% Pneumonia 
(make sure you discriminate viral from bacterial pneumonia in this case. Viral pneumonia caused by measles itself will be concomitant with the rash. Bacterial pneumonia caused by co-infection will appear 1-2 days after the rash has gone.)

0.1% Meningoencephalitis 
(another nice little division here is in quarters; 50% will be cured and fine after measles meningoencephalitis, 25% will have some kind of neurologic sequele and 25% will die! this is the reason we vaccinate people with the MMR vaccine!)

0.00001% Panencephalitis
(this occurs many years (average 7 years) after measles infection and for most means death, another good reason to vaccinate with the live vaccine unless you are immuno-compromised of course)

Other complications: Diarrhoea (most common), Seizures (as rare as meningitis)

(Measles mickey, a reference to the measles outbreak in Disneyland)

So you want to learn a new language...

Today is the United nations world English Language Day So I've decided to share the many methods I used to learn italian, that should apply to learning any language (even English).

First of all before even considering the list below, hands down the best way to learn any language is to live in a country and with the people that speak that language.

Here a list of what I use to learn languages:

• Babbel: costs a little but offers a comprehensive course for many languages at all levels, i got a super cheap membership with so random GroupOn deal, anyway moving on.
• Duolingo: its completely free! this app is great to practise the basics, you can even compete with friends. 
• Grammar books: the back bone of learning grammar is practise, find a textbook like this just full of simple exercises.
• Dual language books: in my opinion utterly useless, but I didn't stop me using them for many years. 
• Skype language exchanges: Tandem is particularly good, also heard about Hellotalk.
• Blogs: there are absolutely millions of language blogs, you have to sift through them to find a good one like this and this, best of all they are completely free!
• Podcasts: this coffeebreak series by radiolingua is incredible and again freeeee!

You dont have to spend any money to learn a language it only requires dedication and of course hours of practise practise practise.

I found this book really helped, Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner.

Creativity, it's more than practise

Summary and interpretation of this interesting article by Scientific American on creativity.

Creativity doesn't fit the old adage of 'practise makes perfect' or deliberate practise. It needs to be original, meaningful and surprising (as defined by the US patent office). Here are some tips and realities about creativity:

• Creativity is blind: often luck plays a role
• Creative people often have messy processes: your most creative work may come before your worst piece of work, it can be random.
• Creators rarely receive helpful feedback: standards are constantly changing, so you cant rely on feedback.
• The 'ten year rule' doesn't apply to creativity: you don't need ten years to become an expert as in many trainable skills, but time does help.
• Talent isn't relevant: talent is simply 'the rate that someone gains expertise', since expertise isn't always required it isn't necessary. talent will help a creator learn what already exists. 
• Personality is relevant: creators tend to have a more independent, unconformity, risk taking and unconventionality based personality. They also tend to be more open to new experiences.
• Genes are relevant: genes determine personality and behaviour 
• Environment also plays a role: perhaps the biggest conrtibutor to creativity, look for a new environment and a great mentor. 
• Creative people have broader interests and more versatility: cross hobbies, dont focus on one occupation/topic/pasttime. 
• Too much expertise can be detrimental to creativity: for example learning everything there is to know about creative writing will limit your creative writing ability in terms of creativity (counter-intiutive I know)
• Outsiders often have the creative advantage

"I hope I have convinced you that creators are not mere experts. Creativity does draw on a deep knowledge base, and delibrate practice can certainly contribute to many aspects of creativity, but ultimately creativity involves much more than just deliberate practice. Creators are not necessarily the most efficient, but their messy minds and messy processes often allow them to see things others have never seen, and to create new paths that future generations will deliberately practice."

-Scott Barry Kaufman

The not so funny truth about creativity 

Searching for a purpose in life? Ask the aged

Wonderful article by Karl Pillemer, 'why we should all ask our elders about how best to live our lives'.
Especially a good read for people who are struggling to find a purpose in life or would like to better predict their future self.