Paul's Journal

03/19/2010 10:16 #51219

Who would have thought?

Being drunk could be so good for your survival chances in serious
trauma.

jenks - 03/21/10 19:10
haha sara good point. When I lived in new orleans, someone said it was the sober drivers who caused all the accidents- because they actually STOPPED at the stop signs. All the drunk drivers just kind of went with the flow.
You may be on to something. ;)

but an aside about drunk trauma- at ECMC in the ER, even if someone is clearly WASTED, we have to be careful not to document it in the chart anymore.
Because if a trauma is caused by alcohol, insurance won't cover it.

Ok, I can see where they're coming from with that. But it's not thought through all the way- because ECMC can not turn down the traumas. So what it ends up meaning is that if you mention alcohol in the chart, the hospital just doesn't get paid for the case, period.

So, we just can't mention it.

fucked up system.

dragonlady7 - 03/19/10 21:19
The trauma percentage thing is a bit misleading, but yes, if you're already totally explodinated, your odds of surviving it are probably higher if you were drunk out of your mind at the time when it happened than if you weren't. But your odds of having gotten totally explodinated in the first place are probably way higher as well...

iriesara - 03/19/10 14:01
I wonder if it has anything to do with anxiety levels. Like if you're shitfaced and you get fucked up you're too drunk to feel the fear. Kind of like that stat about DUI-related accidents. Because the drunks are all laid back they don't tense up as much as a sober person, and are therefore usually not as injured.

jenks - 03/19/10 13:36
whaaa? That makes ZERO sense to me.

03/19/2010 00:19 #51218

Matt's Birthday
Category: birthdays

We had his gifts imported from a previous century.

metalpeter - 03/19/10 18:50
Happy Birthday Matt

iriesara - 03/19/10 12:01
Happy birthday Matt!!
Is the gramophone functional? That's super cool.

theecarey - 03/19/10 10:59
awh, that is an awesome gift! Happy Birthday, Matthew! :)

heidi - 03/19/10 10:20
What awesome presents! Happy birthday, Matthew!

matthew - 03/19/10 10:18
Thanks tiny & James! And thanks for the gifts Paul and Terry! I love my lamp and gramophone!!

james - 03/19/10 09:13
happy birthday!

tinypliny - 03/19/10 07:07
Wish you have a rocking year ahead, Matthew! :)

03/17/2010 20:39 #51210

Tree looks like a monster

iriesara - 03/18/10 11:17
omg, can you imagine if that tree was in front of my house growing up???

uncutsaniflush - 03/17/10 21:41
I think that tree was in the Wizard of Oz <g>

03/16/2010 18:01 #51201

I wish I could go back

To this moment.

james - 03/17/10 11:11
Apparently, a huge fight broke out minutes after we left right where we were standing.

paul - 03/17/10 10:20
Nothing specific, just having a good time.

tinypliny - 03/16/10 21:30
Why THAT moment?! We need explanations.

metalpeter - 03/16/10 18:06
I'm not sure what was going on at that moment but I love how (e:lilho) was yelling at the people in the parade that was great!

03/15/2010 10:13 #51191

St. Patrick's Day
Category: holidays

This year's St. Patrick's Day was awesome. So awesome that I forgot to even take pictures. The only thing I was unhappy with was the lack of dancing girls dancing and the lack of beer can trees. It seems like everytime a new group went past, they had just stopped.

Every year I wonder how long the total chaos will be allowed to go on for. It's not like any other holiday has so many people drinking in the street and I was under the impression it was illegal yet it makes me wonder why not as it clearly worked and the can collectors made a fortune.

I just found one pic on my phone. I was curious why this police man's baton was beaten raw at the end. None of the other ones were. It made me think ge us nit the dude to mess with.

tinypliny - 03/16/10 21:31
Harlem brawl.

metalpeter - 03/16/10 17:52
It was a great time. Yes drinking out side like that is illegal. How would you enforce that? I heard that there was some kind of brawl in the arby's lot but not sure when it happened.