I woke up at the asscrack of dawn this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I'd hit up the gym. While on a treadmill I saw a guy have an MI. I ran over to him, assessed the situation, called 911 and all that noise. I asked everyone gathered around if anyone had an aspirin.
One girl screams, "I HAVE AN IBUPROFEN!" The look I gave her must've spoke volumes because she turned around and left. I was dumbfounded.
Am I severely overrating the intelligence of the American public in regards to medicine since I've worked in the field for so long, or does everyone else see how dumb/hilarious this situation was?
Turns out not one person had an aspirin, so I got back on the treadmill and watched until the EMS arrived.
I don't know enough about what Aspirin does to know why it would be helpful in the situation. If nobody was speaking up about having Aspirin, and I had Ibuprofen, I'd probably mention it in case it would help, not really knowing any better. I wouldn't say it with any excitement, like, "HERE, I HAVE IBUPROFEN, SAVE HIS LIFE!" but more like just stating what I have in case it might be of some use, while realizing that what the hell would Ibuprofen do to help the situation.?
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Yeah, how DARE she try to give you something she thought you needed to save a life?
I only know from Bayer commercials that they can help with a heart attack but I wouldn't know the difference between aspirin and ibuprofen in the situation.
From: CommodoreTN | #001 Am I severely overrating the intelligence of the American public in regards to medicine since I've worked in the field for so long
Yeah Aecioo and My Immortal, lets pretend I'm being elitist against this woman when I even state in my first post that I might be jaded from working in the industry so long and came here to ask.
DpObliVion posted... I don't know enough about what Aspirin does to know why it would be helpful in the situation. If nobody was speaking up about having Aspirin, and I had Ibuprofen, I'd probably mention it in case it would help, not really knowing any better. I wouldn't say it with any excitement, like, "HERE, I HAVE IBUPROFEN, SAVE HIS LIFE!" but more like just stating what I have in case it might be of some use, while realizing that what the hell would Ibuprofen do to help the situation.?
This.
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From: Punnyz | #011 ...so you said f*** it and started exercising again?
I mean at that point, there was nothing anyone could do. The guy was conscious and talking to people. I was close enough that I could've acted had something worse happened.
-the average person knows that aspirin does "something" for heart attacks, but not the mechanism -the average person considers aspirin a pain killer, and does not recognize it as a blood thinner like comm
-there's a chance this is the first time this woman has seen someone have a heart attack -some people freak out in these situations - She probably thought along the lines of "We don't have coke, is Pepsi ok?"
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From: CommodoreTN | #001 Am I severely overrating the intelligence of the American public in regards to medicine since I've worked in the field for so long, or does everyone else see how dumb/hilarious this situation was?
Yeah, it's really dumb to abandon your patient before the EMS arrives.
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Appears that its just working around heart patients every day that makes me assume everyone knows what aspirin does. In retrospect I probably should've explained to her why the ibuprofen wouldn't work. You know, in case she ran across the situation again. Guess I need to be mindful of that kind of stuff from now on.
Aspirin helps with heart attacks because its a blood thinner. Has nothing to do with the fact its marketed as a painkiller (which is why other painkillers would have no effect).
From: AfroSquirrel | #015 Yeah, it's really dumb to abandon your patient before the EMS arrives.
A) Not my patient B) Nothing I could do C) Guy already had too many people crowded around him and extra bodies would've only made things worse D) Shut the f*** up when you don't know what you're talking about.
Yeah, what DpObliVion said. I have no medical training, but clearly you do. I mean, if I have something that could be useful, isn't it better for me to at least ask if it would help rather than say to myself, "I don't have aspirin, but I have something else that might or might not be useful, might as well not bring it up in case it's actually not helpful at all"?
Give her a break. She was trying to help in any way she could. And yes, compared to you and your level of medical education, experience, and training, I'm sure that the average person is stupid in medical knowledge compared to you. I'd hope that you'd be more educated on such things than the average person, since you've worked in that industry for a while.
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I don't know enough about what Aspirin does to know why it would be helpful in the situation. If nobody was speaking up about having Aspirin, and I had Ibuprofen, I'd probably mention it in case it would help, not really knowing any better. I wouldn't say it with any excitement, like, "HERE, I HAVE IBUPROFEN, SAVE HIS LIFE!" but more like just stating what I have in case it might be of some use, while realizing that what the hell would Ibuprofen do to help the situation.?
Same here.
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From: Zachnorn | #020 Yeah, what DpObliVion said. I have no medical training, but clearly you do. I mean, if I have something that could be useful, isn't it better for me to at least ask if it would help rather than say to myself, "I don't have aspirin, but I have something else that might or might not be useful, might as well not bring it up in case it's actually not helpful at all"?
Give her a break. She was trying to help in any way she could. And yes, compared to you and your level of medical education, experience, and training, I'm sure that the average person is stupid in medical knowledge compared to you. I'd hope that you'd be more educated on such things than the average person, since you've worked in that industry for a while.
Definitely. Which is why I came here to ask you all if I was in fact looking at this the wrong way.
I assumed most people knew what aspirin did more than "painkiller". Which apparently isn't the case.
In retrospect I probably should've explained to her why the ibuprofen wouldn't work. You know, in case she ran across the situation again. Guess I need to be mindful of that kind of stuff from now on.
Even a simple "thanks but that won't work, I can only use aspirin" would have been fine. I wouldn't think that the situation allows for much elaboration anyway about how aspirin works and how it helps in heart attacks.
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From: Zachnorn | #025 Even a simple "thanks but that won't work, I can only use aspirin" would have been fine. I wouldn't think that the situation allows for much elaboration anyway about how aspirin works and how it helps in heart attacks.
I meant more of a "No thanks, it has to be a blood thinner"
I can kind of see where Comm is coming from. Having a medical/biological background myself, I knew that asprin acted as a blood thinning agent, but I wouldn't expect most people to know that. People generally only care about what medication fixes, not how it does it. Kind of like how you don't need to know how a computer works to appreciate it. It isn't a lack of intelligence not knowing the difference between asprin and ibuprofen, as I wouldn't consider it common knowledge.
From: CommodoreTN | #019 A) Not my patient B) Nothing I could do C) Guy already had too many people crowded around him and extra bodies would've only made things worse D) Shut the f*** up when you don't know what you're talking about.
The moment you assume care for the person, they are your patient. Even if there's no action to be taken, you can take five minutes out of your busy exercise schedule to clear out some of the crowd to make it easier for EMS to reach the patient.
This feels like a stuffthatdidnthappen.txt
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From: Luis_Sera89 | #028 I can kind of see where Comm is coming from. Having a medical/biological background myself, I knew that asprin acted as a blood thinning agent, but I wouldn't expect most people to know that. People generally only care about what medication fixes, not how it does it. Kind of like how you don't need to know how a computer works to appreciate it. It isn't a lack of intelligence not knowing the difference between asprin and ibuprofen, as I wouldn't consider it common knowledge.
yeah this. Years of working in a drugstore and taking nursing classes have let me know the basics of what most of these pain killers do but it's not really common knowledge. i think most people don't really care other than "this magic pill will make my headaches go away who cares how it happens" haha
The moment you assume care for the person, they are your patient. Even if there's no action to be taken, you can take five minutes out of your busy exercise schedule to clear out some of the crowd to make it easier for EMS to reach the patient.
so you're saying he never should have bothered trying to help to begin with
From: AfroSquirrel | #029 The moment you assume care for the person, they are your patient. Even if there's no action to be taken, you can take five minutes out of your busy exercise schedule to clear out some of the crowd to make it easier for EMS to reach the patient.
This feels like a stuffthatdidnthappen.txt
The second EMS arrives, crowds disperse. But yeah, totally didn't happen. I also don't work in an open heart ICU and save lives on a daily basis. My whole existence is a sham.
D) Shut the f*** up when you don't know what you're talking about.
I know that aspirin is a blood thinner, and that it's good for the heart and heart attacks, but I probably would have said the same thing as the woman. Just in case. I would have felt dumb, but I would have offered anyway.
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