Day #334 Epi Pens

I’d like to use today’s post to teach you how to use an epi pen. Ten years ago, a number of very brave people worked around the clock for days trying to rescue as many people as they could from the Twin Towers. I honor those people, and I’d like to do what I can to help you respond to a much smaller scale emergency situation, but one in which you could save a life.

An epi pen is a contraption about the size of a hot dog. Its purpose is to flood the body of a person who is having a severe allergic reaction with epinephrine, a drug that speeds up the heart rate and helps to keep the airways open so the person won’t suffocate.

Here’s what to do:

o   Open the plastic case and pull out the “hot dog”
o   Flip open the blue safety seal on the top of the epi pen
o   Do not touch the bright orange section on the other end. That’s where the needle is.
o   Jam the orange end HARD (REALLY HARD) against the front of the patient’s thigh to trigger the needle
o   Hold the “hot dog” in place for 10 seconds so the pen can inject the necessary dose.
o   Remove it and gently massage the spot for another 10 seconds.
o   Call 911.
o   When help arrives, show them the epi pen.

BEEattitude for Day # 334:

       Blessed are those who go out of their way to help others, for they shall sleep well at night.

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Green as a Garden Hose, the 3^rd Biscuit McKee Mystery,

is now available in mass market paperback

from World Wide Mystery, a division of Harlequin.

(Go to www.eHarlequin.com and search for Fran Stewart)

_______________________________

Get Your Dog in My Next Book!

From now through the end of September, anyone who donates $10 to WAG, also known as the Walton Animal Guild, will be automatically entered in a drawing.

If you win, your dog will be in my next Biscuit McKee mystery!

http://www.wagwalton.com

The donate button is right on their home page

Every $10 donation is automatically entered in the drawing

See Blog #324 for the details.

Day #292 CPR stayin' alive

Well, after the computer fiasco on Friday, I was ready for a good relaxing weekend. Only trouble was, I’d already signed up for a First Aid and CPA course – all day Saturday, put on by the Gwinnett County Police Dept..

Wear comfortable clothes, the instructions said. Well, I could manage that much for sure. If I could live the rest of my life in loose jeans and baggy tee-shirts, that would suit me just fine, with maybe a muumuu thrown in for dressy occasions.

I took a CPR course – an unconscionably long time ago -- and I have to admit that, going into class Saturday morning, I was awfully vague about how many times per minute to push. The coolest thing was that the instructor pulled up the Bee Gees singing “Stayin’ Alive,” and we did our practice with inert practice dummies and jiving music that just happened to be about 100 beats per minute.

♫ Whether you’re a brother or whether you’re a mother, ♫

            ♫ You’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive, … ♫
♫ Life goin’ nowhere, somebody help me, yeah, ♫
            ♫ I’m stayin’ alive…♫
                    --thanks to the BeeGees for these lyrics

Now, if I’m ever called on to perform CPR, don’t be surprised if you hear me singing while I’m saving a life. It sure will help me keep the beat!

BEEattitude for Day # 292:
       Blessed are those who teach what they know, for circles of joy shall spread out around them.

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