September 27, 2023 : Two Items on the Agenda for Today's Committee Meeting
© 安岡喜晴 (JoyShine)
Today I attended a committee meeting. There were two items on the agenda.
The first topic was emergency response to a head injury from a fall.
First, check the patient's level of consciousness.
Ask them "Where are you now?" and "What is the date today?"
Then tell them a three-digit number and have them say it backwards.
If they get any of these wrong, call an ambulance immediately.
If there is no breathing, start BLS immediately. Do not move their neck until the emergency medical team arrives.
Symptoms often appear within 6 hours of the injury,
but they can appear as late as 24 hours, or in some rare cases, days, weeks, or months after the injury,
so do not hesitate to go to the hospital if you notice any unusual symptoms.
The next topic was the status of flu infections.
Some people find it strange that the flu is prevalent throughout the year.
But it is not really strange.
Flu does not simply increase in colder weather and decrease in warmer weather.
As humidity decreases, airborne infection becomes more likely, and the barrier function of the respiratory mucosa also weakens.
A tug-of-war between factors like these determines whether an epidemic occurs or not.
In fact, flu occurs throughout the year in tropical regions.
This summer in Japan was the hottest in recorded history.
I don't think it would be surprising if there were a flu epidemic in Japan in the middle of the summer.