Sep 27 2005
Free 411… Directory Assistance at No Cost:
Remember way back when, when calling directory assistance was free? Well now we can go back to enjoying (that is until some providers start bitching about it) free 411 calls. The service, from startup Jingle Networks, can be reached at 1-800-FREE-411. (please make a note of it!)
via: Engadget & Darla Mack
Sep 17 2005
Sep 05 2005
Ischemic Stroke, or a blood clot forming within the brain is one of the most devastating and difficult to diagnose of all emergency health conditions. What people don’t know is that identifying that a person has had a stroke and getting that person medical attention within 3 hours of the event can not only save their life, but has the potential to dramatically reduce some or even all of the damage caused by the stroke.
There are new medications that are capable of rapidly dissolving blood clots in the brain and restoring normal circulation if the treatment is given within 3 hours or less of the beginning of a stroke. This window of opportunity - the three hours between stroke onset and brain tissue death - can make the difference between a full recovery and becoming seriously disabled or even dying.
Most stroke victims are not diagnosed within this three-hour window and as a result they face a lifetime of disability. By learning the three simple steps below you can provide information to 9-1-1 Emergency Services that can make a life or death difference.
All you have to do is REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING 3 STEPS:
If a person appears to be unwell or in need of assistance but the problem is not immediately apparent, ask them to do these three things:
The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people
nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by
asking three simple questions:
1. *Ask the individual to SMILE.
2. *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
3. *Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE
(Coherently) (i.e. . It is sunny out today)
If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1
( in the UK 9-9-9 ) immediately and describe the
symptoms to the dispatcher.
After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers
could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech
problems, researchers urged the general public to learn
the three questions.
They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke
Association’s annual meeting last February.
Widespread use of this test could result in prompt
diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and
prevent brain damage.
Found at The Mobile Techonlogy Weblog
Sep 01 2005
This text below is very self explanatory. Let me just say that I am aware of the direct path of people that forwarded this to me, originating from a cardiac surgeon in Lafayette, Louisiana. It leads me to believe that this account is accurate and credible.
I just got back from helping in N.O. at the Superdome. TV news reports look like Disneyland compared to how it really is at “ground zero.” They couldn’t get any doctors to go because people were shooting at the helicopters and it wasn’t a safe place. Unfortunately, all of the people who didn’t evacuate and had to go to the dome were the poorest of the population and also the sickest with the most medical problems. We saved a lot of them but we had to be evacuated around 2am this morning because a couple of medics were shot by civilian snipers. There are about 20,000 people still stranded in the dome and no way to get them out because of the flooding. The toilets don’t work, the lights don’t work, the air conditioning doesn’t work, they can’t smoke or drink and people are just feeling like caged animals led to slaughter.
Dead people are floating in the streets everywhere. They are expecting the death toll to be more than 50,000. There were three rapes in the dome yeasterday, one was a seven year old girl. Child molesters, convicts and very desperate people who can no longer smoke, drink, or watch Dr. Phil and Oprah. It is truly the wild wild west.
One of the civilians grabbed the M-16 of one of the MPs and shot someone. There are people being stabbed every so often. Babies being born in front of everyone. People having seizures, hypertensive strokes, heart attacks, etc. because we are out of supplies, IVs, medicine, breathing treatments, etc.
No semblance of order whatsoever. A very desperate situation. There were only three of us (doctors) there all day yesterday with about 10 medics but we were forced to evacuate early this morning because the conditions had deteriorated so severely that it was not safe to be anywhere around there.
I am in Lafayette now, working. The phone service is hit and miss and I can only get internet from work. We cannot send any outgoing messages sometimes.
Peace
Sep 01 2005
Brad Feld of Mobius Venture Captial has put together a great resource on the parts and issues of a VC terms sheet. Worth a read for anyone going that route. His blog is broad and interesting too, I’ve just added him to my feeds list.
