Curing the common cold 1 Million at a time

Surprise! Yet another drug product that doesn't do what it is advertised to do.  Last week, the makers of Airborne settled a false advertising lawsuit for $23.3 million.  Before you blame the lawyers and start adding this to your stories in the now infamous McDonald's burn case category, you should know that the Airborne company had projected sales of $300 million for its most recently concluded fiscal year.  

Think about that for a minute... $300 MILLION dollars of sales.  That's a lot of people buying this stuff.  Personally, I find it all fascinating:  the same forces that cured polio and made progress staving off full-blown AIDS have yet to figure out a way to combat the common cold, but wait...  It's a TEACHER who suddenly cracked the code with a mix of vitamin C and zinc.  Lovely. 

Not as brilliant, however, as the marketing plan behind this genius product. Airborne even made "Oprah" and "Live With Regis and Kelly."  Airborne then changed its advertising campaign when a plaintiff filed suit against the company in March, 2006.  ABC news then disclosed a report that the company's clinical trials were not conducted by doctors or scientists, but rather they were carried out by two laypeople. Ya can't make this stuff up.  

But because Airborne is classified as a "supplement" rather than a "drug", it can be sold without first being proven effective.  Have fun shopping at GNC everyone. Let me know how that works out for ya. 

Post Script:  Tamiflu- a Roche prescription drug that has been proven effective at treating the flu, will carry a new warning.  The new warning notes that there have been problems related to this drug that have proven FATAL.  

Here's my advice:   don't get sick. 

Does EMS Need To Call 911?

Men's health had this article published recently. The comments to the article that I have read so far are dead on.   Click the link and take a gander. 

No Guts, No Glory

The norovirus and I know each other very well now, since it introduced itself to me last Sunday.  There I was- writhing in pain on my own bedroom floor from the stomach cramps. No, wait... I was sitting with my face buried in the trash can.... no wait... the sink... no wait.... the bath tub... no wait... the garbage bag...no wait... just vomiting everywhere, and in a 25 foot radius, like a rotating, vomiting sprinkler head. 

 I couldn't speak.  I couldn't control my bodily functions. My princess cried, while my power ranger tried to calm her.  Told my wife to call my brother and sister EMTs to take me to the hospital. Quick response. Had every EMT from my department, and about 20 firefighters in my house.  My kids watched.  My wife told everyone I was exaggerating.  And the norovirus and I snuggled together in the gurney.  How embarrassing. How humiliating. I was able to mutter that I wanted my own company within the department to transport. Caught hell for that the next day. Apparently, that request insulted everyone who wasn't in my company.... gimme a break and HTFU!!!  There wasn't much left inside of me. I was spilling my guts out, but I'm not talking about the obvious.  I'm talking about my dignity. I had nothing left of me by the time I reached the hospital.  

I didn't much like being on the bus looking up at my company's EMTs.  I much more prefer being an EMT looking down at my patient.  

My princess and my power ranger, well, they love coming to my 'house', running around the apparatus floor wearing one of my tar-ridden fireproof turnout gear gloves, shining my flashlight, and even sleigh riding in my helmet when it snows enough.  They love taking out a steth and listening to me whisper sweet nothings, and wrapping the BP cuff around each other's heads.  But lately, they don't like firefighters and medics.  They pan their faces when my pager goes off now, for they know there is someone calling for me and the other EMTs- someone with no guts- or worse, someone with a princess or power ranger of their own, watching it all, helplessly, and now memory-scarred.  

My power ranger still says he wants to be a firefighter.  My little girl still wants to be a 'princess doctor'.  They both know now that walking each of those paths requires more than just fighting fires, or treating sick princesses.  This all taught to them by my friend the norovirus.  With friends like that, who needs enemies.  It's all chillingly ironic. 

Hey, All You Starbucks Freaks... HTFU!

This video is dedicated to all the wonderful employees of my law office, and those at the courthouse who had to stay home because they were 'buried' under the one inch coating of snow we got the other day, or they 'had' to leave early due to the 'severe' weather conditions. HTFU!!! Major props to MDOD for the find....

The Blue Light Special

A firefighter, responding in his personal vehicle, is seriously injured when he swerves to avoid a truck at an intersection and skids into a city bus...

A volunteer EMS responder is killed in a car crash on his way to the Fire Station for a cardiac call...

Perhaps you've read about such accidents in an emergency services publication. On the other hand, maybe one of them hit closer to home, and the story made your local newspaper. Either way, the news isn't good. According to the NFPA, fire department emergency vehicles were involved in an estimated 14,900 collisions in 2001 while responding to, or returning from, incidents. Firefighters' personal vehicles were involved in 1,325 collisions. Together, they resulted in 1,100 firefighter injuries.


24 firefighters - 17 of whom died in crashes - were killed in 2001 while responding to or returning from alarms: the second most common activity resulting in firefighter fatalities.According to U.S. Fire Administration statistics, nearly 20–25% of accidental deaths in the fire service are related to vehicles, and many, if not most, of these accidents involve intersections. A study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine (December 2002), “Occupational Fatalities in Emergency Medical Services: A Hidden Crisis,” states the leading cause of occupational fatalities for EMS personnel during the study period (1992–1997) was transportation incidents (86/114 fatalities).

Section 375, subsection 41, sub-subsection 4 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law reads as such:

4. Blue light. a. One blue light may be affixed to any motor vehicle
owned by a volunteer member of a fire department or on a motor vehicle
owned by a member of such person's family residing in the same household
or by a business enterprise in which such person has a proprietary
interest or by which he or she is employed....

That's right.  The good people in Albany, New York say that ONE blue light is allowed.  Not two, not blue and white, just ONE, BLUE light.  The law hasn't changed in more than 20 years.  Makes me feel like a kid again:

"Oh, please Mr. Lawmaker, gimme just one more light? Pretty please?!"

Well.... I hope you all join me in thanking our thoughtful lawmakers in Albany, and others like them for looking out for guys and gals like me, who may not make it to the next call because of the one light limitation.  Thanks for caring. Really. My wife and kids thank you too.  

And as for my brothers and sisters, lets be careful out there. I, for one, care about you. 

OK. Gotta go put my kids to sleep now. It's light's out time. Night night. 

Face Mold

Ok.... someone just found my blog site using the search term "lady face mold". Houston, we have a problem.

Tell Me Why Long Island

Here are some facts about Long Island, where I call home:

Long Island is 118 miles long and 18-20 miles wide at its widest point. 

Population (all four counties: Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Kings) 7,448,618.  Thats 5,470 people per square mile!!!

The population for just Nassau and Suffolk Counties (the two counties that are actually considered Long Island, because Kings a/k/a Brooklyn and Queens are actually part of New York City): 2.7 million.  

Long Island is more populated than 97 countries of the world!!

Long Island is the most populated island in any US state or territory.  It is also the 17th most populous island in the world, ahead of Ireland, Jamaica and the Japanese island of Hokkaido.  

Nassau County is ranked fifth highest in income per capita in the entire country.  

Nassau County, according to the 2000 Census, is the third richest county per capita in New York State, and the thirtieth richest in the nation.  If it were an independent nation, it would rank as the 96th most populated nation, falling between Switzerland and Israel.  

Median Long Island Home Price:  In Excess of $400,000

In 2001, the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute reported that Long Island had the highest cost of living/income index in the country.  

The average property tax bill for an average size home is between $8,000 and $16,000 a year... that's just the property tax, folks... no mortgage is included in those numbers.  In fact, Nassau County has the second highest property taxes in the United States.  

The average electric bill for a standard 4 bedroom, 2 bath home is over $300 per month, without air conditioning or holiday lights. 

If you combined all the fire and rescue vehicles, Long Island has more than New York City gand Los Angeles COMBINED!

According to Forbes Magazine, the most expensive home in North America is Three Ponds Estate in Bridgehampton, valued at $75 million.

The Nassau County jail has been probed by the Federal government for prisoner abuses, including death.  

So why am I staying?  Highest cost of living, second hightest property tax, and traffic... oh, did I forget to mention the traffic?  5,470 people per square mile all getting to and from work, I suppose, to pay for all of this.  

In September 1998, a small tornado hit Lynbrook, Long Island; in August 1999, an F-2 tornado hit Mattituck, Long Island; in August 2005, a tornado hit Glen Cove, Long Island; one year later in August, 2006, a tornado hit Massapequa in Nassau County; and on July 18, 2007, a tornado hit Islip Terrace.  

Long Island:  the only place you have to be rich to be poor.  

Sometimes, though, its easier to deal with the devil you know than the one you don't.  Oh, matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match! Find me a town, where i can be a paramedic, where i can give my children more opportunities in life than I ever had myself, where i can life in relative security, where medical care is top notch and cutting-edge.  Find me a place where I can discern the difference between what I am here to do and what I would like to do while I am here.  Can any of you tell me why I'm doing this all on Long Island?  Hope you can help me figure it out.  In the meantime, I will be trying to save some lives.  The more people are alive the more chance I have to come up with answers.  

Two false alarms, the same man trapped.

There were two fire calls on my way to the office today- the pager and siren went off just as I opened my door. Frankly, it was kind of creepy the way that i seemed to have set off two fire alarms just by opening the door to my car. "I'm not gonna lie," as my EMT buddy Joe always tells me- I loved the sound of the pager tones.  And when they stopped, the town's horn siren filled in the gap between the repeat pager tones.  I was excited. No, more exhilarated than excited. Whatever. It was a positive, energizing sentiment- almost like what I feel in vegas after chain drinking Red Bulls and smoking a non-filtered cig while looking at a winning hand of blackjack with a bet just big enough to make me worry.  Last time I got that feeling while wearing my attorney hat was... I can't really remember. Let's just say eons ago for now. 

I don't cherish the reasons for the calls, that is for certain. I do, nonetheless, crave that 'rush' of going from Zero to 100 MPH in an instant, and all else that goes along with it.  And being kept from feeling it more often than I do by my Attorney responsibilities doesn't make missing that rush any easier. It's a balancing act all around, that's for sure. Walking the tightrope between the fire/rescue rush and providing my family with more and better life opportunities vis a vis www.lcjlawfirm.com and all of its glory. 

Then again, there is always the cloud of retirement that lingers.  But hasn't the whole concept of retirement, as in total leisure lifestyle without any income at all, sort of become passe at this point, even in this Country? There are those I know who speak of retirement at 55, 60 or 65, but I don't think many of them actually think they will actually retire then. I think the vast majority of people now expect - or if they don't they have to expect -  to work at least part time even well into their 70's.  Maybe, a better plan than retirement is to find some kind of work that I enjoy doing- and striving to do it well into my 70's. I mean, is 'old school' retirement really healthy anyway? I'm probably better off doing my best to keep body, mind and soul active.  What am I really going to do if I retire at like 65 or 70 anyway? I will most likely be rife with back pain or some other 'old man ailment' that would hinder any adventurous plans of mine. 

 I want to enjoy my life now. I don't want to wait. I shouldn't have to. But how can I do what I want to do and still keep my family in the balance?

Oh. The two fire calls this morning were false alarms. Thankfully, none of my brethren (and sistren?) got hurt on their way to the station house.  Maybe that's what my worry is- a false alarm.  I hope I'm not hurting myself by worrying. Or worse, my kids. I'm still trying to listen for those pager tones and sirens. Are they real or just in my head?

Mean lawyer, a laywer mean.

No calls last night. Or, maybe there were, and the County just saved all of them for themselves. 

I took my sweet girl to the pediatric urologist this morning. Nothing too serious, especially since she doesn't feel embarrassed at her tender age about frequent urination, or "accidents".

 "Where are we going today, daddy?" 

"We're going to visit a special doctor," I tell her in a tone that any adult would consider patronizing.

 "Why?"

 "Well, sweet girl, there's doctors there that will help us feel better," I say to her.

"Why don't we just call the firehouse? Isn't that where you go to help all the people?"

I love the fact that she has that idea in her head. I love the fact that I have been able to communicate the idea to her.  And I love the prospect of having my sweet daughter carry on the notion of helping others long after I'm gone.  

Now, all I have to do is find a way for her to afford health care coverage when she is an adult. My co-pay today was $40 dollars, and, from what I see health insurance carriers paying out these days, the doctor's office won't get paid much more than that. So why, then, did my law office's health insurance rates go up 14%, and where exactly is this money going? The rate of inflation in this country is less than half of that.  Oh. By the way... its not the lawyers' fault. Don't go there. Physician insurance only goes up half of that.  In fact, there were hardly ANY change in prices for several years before that for physician insurance.   

"Magic wand, stat!"

Me, I'm still a volunteer emergency responder. I don't get paid for what I do. Nor does my breathren. Instead, I have grown a thick layer of skin to deal with all of the lawyer jokes, the adversity within the legal system, and my circus-like office (I swear they can do a reality show on all of the characters in my firm.  That's the skin many see. That is the callous that has become the attorney means to my EMT end.  My sweet boy and girl, well, they don't see that skin. They see a man who helps people. And they sense the importance of it.   

Y B N E M T

Just learning how to post on this thing. And trying to focus my ideas into a theme of sorts. But while I do, take a look at a quote from a TV series that used to be on TNT, called "Saved"

I just wanna say.... I wanna say I love my job. How many people can say that?  And I love my real family- who really are selfless- they are people who do things not to be noticed nor celebrated, but just because they can.  Right here, right now.  Sometimes I feel invisible.  I feel invisible now.  But not when I'm doing my job.  I'm a paramedic.  

Here is a link to the show:  Saved- the TV series

They canned the series.  I thought it was one of the best on TV.  I guess the whole idea of a conflicted and confronted paramedic wasn't appealing enough to all of those potential patients out there.