The ER’s locale might be glamorous, but the work is often not. Headaches, diarrhea, upper respiratory infections, anxiety and ego-related issues disguised as physical ailments are the clinic’s daily bread and butter. And although the clinic’s resources have expanded dramatically over the past nine years, there is no escaping the fact that this is a seasonal clinic housed in a canvas tent located at 17,590 feet. When serious incidents do occur, Freer and her colleagues must problem solve with a severely limited toolbox. Often the handiest implement is duct tape.

“There is no rule book that says, ‘When you’re at 18,000 feet and this happens, do x.’ Medicine freezes solid, tubing snaps in the icy winds, batteries die—nothing is predictable,” says Freer. But it’s that challenge that keeps Freer and many of her colleagues coming back. This back-to-basics paradigm also engenders a more old-fashioned doctor-patient relationship that Freer misses when practicing in the States.

Read more about Dr. Freer and she clinic she established at Smithsonian. Link

(Image credit: Molly Loomis)

“Like a bomb went off. ” That’s the only way that I can describe what we saw next. Patients were coming into the ED in droves. It was absolute, utter chaos. They were limping, bleeding, crying, terrified, with debris and glass sticking out of them, just thankful to be alive. The floor was covered with about 3 inches of water, there was no power, not even backup generators, rendering it completely dark and eerie in the ED. The frightening aroma of methane gas leaking from the broken gas lines permeated the air; we knew, but did not dare mention aloud, what that meant. I redoubled my pace.

We had to use flashlights to direct ourselves to the crying and wounded. Where did all the flashlights come from? I’ll never know, but immediately, and thankfully, my years of training in emergency procedures kicked in. There was no power, but our mental generators were up and running, and on high test adrenaline. We had no cell phone service in the first hour, so we were not even able to call for help and backup in the ED.

Dr. Kitka goes on to describe individual patients and their injuries, as well as the response from medical and emergency workers and others who pitched in to help. Link -via Monkeyfilter

(Image credit: Flickr user Mercy Health)

Now you know what medical doctors do during slow shifts. Dr. Denton is apparently a “practicing” physician! -via the Presurfer

Doctor Bradley Voytek knows a thing or two about being a Doctor (in neuroscience) so he decided to chart the probability of crap versus the number of times people on TV and movie characters referring to themselves as "doctor." Link

The new hotness: InQuickER (get it?), a pay-to-be-seen-faster system that lets you make an appointment to go to the ER.

Fees for the service, called InQuickER, range from $14.99 to $24.99 and are in addition to other costs for the emergency room visit. Officials at the Nashville-based company said that since the system was launched in 2006, 95% of appointments have been kept successfully. Patients must be 18 or older to make an appointment. Those with life-threatening symptoms such as chest pains are told to proceed directly to the emergency room.

Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Los Angeles Times reports: Link (Photo: Christina House/LA Times)

Yes. In the UK, surgeons used to be LESS THAN doctors (who were educated and gave out medicines and didn’t get their hands dirty like those plebeian surgeons).

Even though they are more like the US now, where they are doctors PLUS extra training, it seems that the term has persisted.

Now I wonder about other countries. How do people refer to medical practitioners and surgeons where you come from? Link

(Image credit: Flickr user  Salim Fadhley)

Got a future doctor born in the family? Get this cute Baby MD Layette Set from the NeatoShop, STAT! The 3-piece layette set includes a scrub-style snapsuit, surgical cap and hospital booties: Link | More Fun Baby Snapsuits

Just kidding. A charity in Northern Ireland is recruiting clowns to entertain sick children in hospitals and hospices:

Clowndoctor Elaine Duncan, aka Dr Twinkle, said she loved to see the smiles on children’s faces.

"The children have the choice whether they want to chat or play with us as we want to make sure they feel as comfortable as possible," she said.

"It’s great when you do something that makes them giggle and you know they are having fun."

It’s a story just begging to be made into a movie. Hollywood, can you feel it? A real life story inspiring a movie inspiring a real life story? Someone call Robin Williams! Wait, what? Oh …

As a child, Matt spent a lot of time in hospitals – so as an adult, he decided to do an homage of sorts: he got tattoos of the various medical equipments that saved his life!

Helen J. Grose of Viceland blog has the interview:

Vice: What’s with the medical equipment obsession?
Matt: I’ve always liked medical instruments, probably from spending a lot of time as a child in hospitals. I’m not scared of hospitals or their instruments.

Vice: What did you get first?
Matt: I got my diabetic tattoo before I went on holidays to Mexico to traipse around on donkeys. It says “I am an insulin dependent diabetic. If I seem drunk give me sugar.”

Vice: How many instruments have you got?
Matt: I’ve got a tethoscope, reflex hammer, otoscope, sphygmomanometer, forceps, a bone saw, oxygen mask, latex gloves, surgical string, skin grafting razor, trephine skull drill, a medical warning label, and a syringe.

Link – via cakeheadlovesevil

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by cakehead loves evil.

It became incredibly popular, over 50,000 were performed, with Freeman performing over 3,000 himself in his lobotomobile. Freeman believed in lobotomies even after being discredited. He spent his final years visiting his victims, trying to prove they had benefited from his work.

Read about Freeman and nine other dangerous doctors. Link -Thanks, Sami!