High School Crush: Corridor Chaos

Twenty-five students were injured in a pile-up in a school corridor triggered when a freshman stopped to fix her shoe.
Paramedics were called to the school to treat pupils for crush injuries, including ankle sprains, bruising and sore heads.
All the students were sent home following the incident, several were taken to hospital and five were kept off school the following day.    Read more...

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents commented, "the consequences of such an event as this arising can be disproportionate to what started it." I suppose it won't be long before we see zero-tolerance to shoe fixing added to the school's behavior code.

I think we can all see this lackademic institution's position on the learning curb.

When life gives you lemmings...
Lemming Aid (Winner: Best Short Film, Cannes, 1994).

Tags:[Denny School, Scotland]  [Crush Injuries]  [Accident Prevention]
[Cannes Film Festival, 1994]  [Lemming Aid]  [Grant Lahood]

Revenge on Mad Max

It's Sunday, around noon.

John puts the leash on Buddy and they set out for a long walk. Buddy's exercise and weight loss plan requires a 2 km walk each day. They walk 100 yards down to the path that runs behind the school. A woman and 3 children are walking with their dog toward John and Buddy.

John discovers that this dog's name is Max after Max pulls and breaks his leash. He runs, with teeth bared, at Buddy, jumps and starts attacking. Max's owner calls his name, but he doesn't stop.

Buddy doesn't like this new dog, Max. He tries to defend himself, but the surprise attack has put him at a disadvantage. Eventually Max is contained but not before he has removed a chunk of Buddy's ear.

We administer some first aid but can't stop the bleeding from the wound. Buddy's 2 km workout turns into a 10km drive to the Veterinary Emergency Hospital.

Once cleaned and inspected, a local anaesthetic is administered and the wound is stapled close. For the next 7 days, we need to keep him from scratching or rubbing his ears. He is fitted with an Elizabethan collar, that doesn't make him feel regal in the slightest.

Wearing the cone will prevent him from removing the staples; but it also prevents him from getting a drink, ducking under the table to get crumbs, squeezing between my legs and the cupboard.

He bumps into everything. He is afraid to go downstairs. He is afraid to go up to the landing where his bed is. Every time he bumps into something, the noise frightens him. It makes him jump, which makes him bump into something, which makes the loud, irritating noise that frightens him.

Sporting his piercings and sans collar, I took Buddy for a walk last night. Not too far, not strenuous. He was begging to go - maybe showing off his new Goth style (staples with his black toenails) would be good for his spirit. I studied all the other dogs on leashes looking for Max. Two times a dog got near and Buddy stopped and just laid down.

One meeting with Max has turned Buddy into '... a shell of a dog, a burnt out, desolate dog, a dog haunted by demons, a dog who wandered out into the wasteland. And it will be here, in this blighted place, that he learns to live again... (Taken from MadMax 2: The Road Warrior)



Once Buddy gets his spirit back, you'd better look out Max!

Photo of dog wearing Elizabethan collar from
The Fun Times Guide

Tags: [Dog Bites]   [First-Aid for Pets]
[Healing and Rejuvenation]   [Mad Max]

Rash Reaction

"A boy who suffers from a severe nut allergy has been excluded from school because he is considered to be a health and safety hazard."

Read the whole story...

The story, out of Goole, about 170 km east of Liverpool, grabbed attention with its "Allergic Boy Banned From School" headline. According to the Times article, George carries an Epipen and has been taught to use it in case of an allergic reaction. At his previous schools, anaphylaxis wasn't a controversy.

When you read the report, it is clear that the boy is being tutored at home just until a support system is in place at Howden School to protect students who face severe allergies. What has the school been waiting for?

In Ontario, Sabrina's Law was enacted in 2006. The bill ensures that school officials and staff receive training to recognize and give first-response aid in the case of a life-threatening allergic reaction. British Columbia has Bill M210 to protect students in that province.

Before the legislation, students with severe allergies were in the school. Parents trained the staff on identifying a reaction and administering epinephrine to their child. The legislation confirms that all school buildings will have designees who are prepared to give assistance to a student or volunteer or visitor, if it is required, anywhere in the province.

Facts About Food Allergies 1. Anaphylaxis affects 10% of the population. 2. Allergic reactions may occur up to 3-5 hours after exposure. Symptoms may persist for up to 72 hours. 3. Most fatal reactions occur as a result of accidental exposure. 4. The cause or trigger of the anaphylactic reaction isn't always obvious. Source: www.epipen.com	It's really a shame that the banner "Allergy Boy" has emboldened some readers to leave some insensitive comments that only underscore their ignorance of anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a serious medical condition. It has nothing to do with how protective one's parents are. People with severe food allergies are not trying to control you, but we have a responsibility to keep ourselves safe.

Tags: [George Hall-Lambert]   [Howden School]   [Anaphylaxis]
[Epipen]   [Twinject Injector]
[Anaphylaxis Canada]   [Sabrina's Law]

Socratic Irony?

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency released this warning yesterday:

Undeclared Walnuts in Bella Cucina Cookies
The recall notice begins:

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning people with
allergies to walnuts not to consume Bella Cucina
Death by Chocolate cookies. The affected product may contain walnuts which are not declared on the
label... (Read the entire notice)

So, Death by Chocolate cookies are being recalled because eating them may result in death?

Tags: [Anaphylaxis] [Nut Allergy] [Bella Cucina]
[Socrates] [Hemlock Poison] [Death by Chocolate]
[C.F.I.A.]

Florence Nightingale

So a 30-ish year-old man was walking through a home improvement store the other day with flip-flops on his feet. He walked into some fixtures that had been left in the aisle and cut his toe. It was a slice kind-of-cut. He's screaming about stitches and the "Incident Manager" was called to administer First-Aid. But nobody could find the First-Aid box. After several minutes of nothing being done to help this man, I walked over, pulled some alcohol swabs, gauze and bandaids from my purse and got to work. He's still going on about stitches and the time he's going to lose on his project. I explained that it may not need stitches. At best, maybe some of that crazy-glue stuff, but if he wants to avoid a trip to the hospital, take the bandage and wrap it tightly in the direction that will fold the skin over the cut. I go back to what I was doing before. Fixed up and feeling better, the man tells the Incident Manager, a clerk and other shopper in the area about how I was a hero. That I would selflessly help him with his bloody toe.

Morals of this story: Clean up the aisles. Watch where you're walking. I'm a hero.

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