Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Boston

I don't care where in the world you live, if you haven't seen what happened yesterday at the Boston Marathon, you must be living under a rock.  I've been following it as much as possible on the news, and it's incredibly tragic.  That someone would do such a vile thing during an event that is supposed to bring people from all over the world together makes me disgusted, angry, and saddened.

We do mass casualty drills several times a year, but I haven't actually had to deal with one myself.  Having watched some of the news reports carefully, it looks like the first responders (police, fire and rescue) did a fantastic job managing the situation.  Triaging scores of patients at one time is a nightmarish proposition - sometimes you have to make the decision to pass over someone who is gravely injured (but still barely alive) in order to try to save others who have a better chance at surviving their wounds.

My thoughts are with the injured and their families.  I hope the perpetrators of this heinous crime are found quickly and brought to justice even more quickly.

8 comments:

  1. It's very sad indeed. Sticking with current events- it seems the new thing now is all the politicians getting envelopes with ricin in them. Have you ever had to identify rare poisons or poisons in general in people brought to you? What sort of surgery did they need?

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  2. Can a family sue you if you made a choice to save someone who had a better chance of surviving their injuries?

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    Replies
    1. Why is everyone so keen on suing these days? No, it's a decision that people in a combat-type situation just need to make sometimes. It's difficult and heartbreaking, but necessary.

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  3. What about the texas disaster?

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    Replies
    1. It's another tragedy, but this one at least seems accidental, so it won't spark the kind of outrage as in Boston.

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  4. I'm from Boston and know a few people who were actually at the race, thankfully were not injured though. Thank you for everything you do, its the people like you who RUN into the danger to save lives that make the time after tragedies like this and many others seem like there is still hope and kindness in the world

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  5. I have never been more proud of the city that truly taught me to become a doctor. It broke my heart that none of us could do anything when evil visited my childhood home last December.

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