Amtrak nurse (proposal for the future)

[cirdan]

Three per train? Are you expecting three simultaneous cardiac arrests?

If there is a derailment or some other incident, some parts of the train may be unreachable.

 

[Danib62]

In the event of a derailment an AED is gonna be about about as useful as tits on a bull for a traumatic arrest.

 

[Danib62]

Not to mention that if there was a derailment that would be considered a mass casualty incident (MCI) and under triage rules you wouldn’t stop to work someone in cardiac arrest as it would be considered a waste of resources that could be used on someone who is actually save-able.

 

[Barb Stout]

Wow, that's quite an amazing statistic.

Any idea what the reason is?

It can't be food as that has got less healthy if anything.

The fitness/exercise "craze" started in the 1970s and also the move to start looking at improving your own diet. I got on the healthy foods bandwagon in 1978 or 9 and was able to stay on that wagon. But my efforts to get on the exercise bandwagon didn't go as well until the 2000s. I kept trying to climb on, but then I would fall off.

Plus starting in the 1980s, I would say, there was a push for people, especially employees of certain companies, to learn CPR. I suppose that helped too. I learned it, but I didn't stick with it because I would tire easily and am pretty weak, so I didn't keep up any certification.

 

[basketmaker]

The fitness/exercise "craze" started in the 1970s and also the move to start looking at improving your own diet. I got on the healthy foods bandwagon in 1978 or 9 and was able to stay on that wagon. But my efforts to get on the exercise bandwagon didn't go as well until the 2000s. I kept trying to climb on, but then I would fall off.

Plus starting in the 1980s, I would say, there was a push for people, especially employees of certain companies, to learn CPR. I suppose that helped too. I learned it, but I didn't stick with it because I would tire easily and am pretty weak, so I didn't keep up any certification.

Yeah they need to install seatbelts on the exercise bandwagon. Seems like so many have a tendency to fall off! I was required to be certified in first aid along with CPR as a manager for UPS in the early 90's. But that certification has long since run out.

 

[cirdan]

The fitness/exercise "craze" started in the 1970s and also the move to start looking at improving your own diet. I got on the healthy foods bandwagon in 1978 or 9 and was able to stay on that wagon. But my efforts to get on the exercise bandwagon didn't go as well until the 2000s. I kept trying to climb on, but then I would fall off.

Plus starting in the 1980s, I would say, there was a push for people, especially employees of certain companies, to learn CPR. I suppose that helped too. I learned it, but I didn't stick with it because I would tire easily and am pretty weak, so I didn't keep up any certification.

I'm surprised it had such a huge impact, as it was probably offset (if not caused) by the general trend towards fewer manual jobs and more people in offices which led to many not getting the minimal activity required to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

 

[Barb Stout]

I'm surprised it had such a huge impact, as it was probably offset (if not caused) by the general trend towards fewer manual jobs and more people in offices which led to many not getting the minimal activity required to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Yeah, maybe, but I have been told that housework doesn't count as exercise even if you get physically tired doing it. Doesn't make sense to me, but...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

We (at least some-not me though?) are overall healthier than we were in the 1950's - 2000's for heart issues.

Americans are as unhealthy today as we have ever been but medical technology is getting better at keeping unhealthy people alive.

There is a huge shortage of nurses in hospitals and clinics as it is, meaning many patients are not getting the care they deserve. Diverting nurses to work in other, less essential, places would only make it worse.

Not to mention that most nurses looking for a job right now are those who refuse to vaccinate.

 

[Exvalley]

Americans are as unhealthy today as we have ever been but medical technology is getting better at keeping unhealthy people alive.

When it comes to causes of heart disease, one major exception is smoking. Smoking rates have fallen dramatically over the past few decades.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Where I live smoking has been replaced by smokeless tobacco and vaping which remain highly addictive and also employ untested off-label chemicals. It's clear that we've only tackled the symptom by telling people that smoking is bad rather than teaching people how to identify and avoid unhealthy behavior.

 

[John from RI]

Amtrak must exist in the political environment allowed by the Congress. A few years ago John Mica, a Florida Congressman, made a national issue of the price of a hamburger on Amtrak. He ignored the fact that Florida is served by 3 Amtrak trains each day; the Silver Meteor, the Silver Star and Autotrain. All he cared about was how much does Amtrak charge for a hamburger.

Amtrak provides an essential service not only for people who post on this website but also for many low income people who need to travel between cities and have no other transportation options. Our rail passenger system should focus on providing transportation that is affordable for all Americans. Part of that focus is providing first class (sleeping car) service which more than pays for itself and is popular. But there should be no compromise with the goal of affordable transportation for all.

 

[cirdan]

Where I live smoking has been replaced by smokeless tobacco and vaping which remain highly addictive and also employ untested off-label chemicals. It's clear that we've only tackled the symptom by telling people that smoking is bad rather than teaching people how to identify and avoid unhealthy behavior.

I agree. But even so there is massively less smoking overall. I remember the day that you could walk into any pub or bar and the air would be so thick that you would struggle to see across to the other side of the room. Or that it was normal for people to smoke in offices at work, on airliners etc etc.

 

[basketmaker]

When it comes to causes of heart disease, one major exception is smoking. Smoking rates have fallen dramatically over the past few decades.

Oh how I wish I was in those reduced numbers!

 

[jis]

I agree. But even so there is massively less smoking overall. I remember the day that you could walk into any pub or bar and the air would be so thick that you would struggle to see across to the other side of the room. Or that it was normal for people to smoke in offices at work, on airliners etc etc.

Indeed! I wish I had some quality N95 masks back then. At least here it was mostly cigarettes. In India on intercity buses and non-AC trains (specially in lower class carriages) it was armies of people smoking Bidis which is basically tobacco wrapped in a tobacco leaf. It is a wonder I and many others survive that without getting asphyxiated.

 

[joelkfla]

Indeed! I wish I had some quality N95 masks back then. At least here it was mostly cigarettes. In India on intercity buses and non-AC trains (specially in lower class carriages) it was armies of people smoking Bidis which is basically tobacco wrapped in a tobacco leaf. It is a wonder I and many others survive that without getting asphyxiated.

CDC says bidis are not wrapped in a tobacco leaf, but rather "a tendu or temburni leaf (plants native to Asia)."

"Smoke from a bidi contains three to five times the amount of nicotine as a regular cigarette and places users at risk for nicotine addiction. "

 

[jis]

CDC says bidis are not wrapped in a tobacco leaf, but rather "a tendu or temburni leaf (plants native to Asia)."

"Smoke from a bidi contains three to five times the amount of nicotine as a regular cigarette and places users at risk for nicotine addiction. "

Well if CDC says so then it must be so. I don't claim any knowledge that is irrefutable about Bidis, or any other Tobacco products. Never used one. Only suffered through having them in the environment. Still do when back in India

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I agree. But even so there is massively less smoking overall. I remember the day that you could walk into any pub or bar and the air would be so thick that you would struggle to see across to the other side of the room. Or that it was normal for people to smoke in offices at work, on airliners etc etc.

Good point. The dismal era of the passive aggressive cigarette smoker exposed nearly everyone to secondhand poisoning. At least that factor has abated despite the proliferation of dipping and vaping. It just amazes me how some parents defended teen vaping as if they had never learned anything.

 

[jis]

I agree. But even so there is massively less smoking overall. I remember the day that you could walk into any pub or bar and the air would be so thick that you would struggle to see across to the other side of the room. Or that it was normal for people to smoke in offices at work, on airliners etc etc.

The situation in the Lounges on LD trains was as bad until finally smoking was disallowed. I remember a screen of blueish smoke that hit you in the face as you entered the much vaunted Le Pub on the Montrealer back in the days.

 

[MARC Rider]

The situation in the Lounges on LD trains was as bad until finally smoking was disallowed. I remember a screen of blueish smoke that hit you in the face as you entered the much vaunted Le Pub on the Montrealer back in the days.

Now, I don't know. I remember going into the lounge car on the Crescent in 1990 when they still allowed smoking and was pretty impressed at whatever hardcore ventillation system was in place. Didn't smell any tobacco smoke at all.

 

[flitcraft]

I remember the day that you could walk into any pub or bar and the air would be so thick that you would struggle to see across to the other side of the room. Or that it was normal for people to smoke in offices at work, on airliners etc etc.

I remember as a kid going to night baseball games at Fenway Park where you could see a literal cloud of smoke arising from across the ballpark. And, at my first full-time job, I shared an office with a chain-smoker. When I was pregnant, I recall feeling that it was an imposition to ask if he could please not smoke in the office. How times have changed! (And, for once, for the better!)

 

[jis]

In addition to the smoke, even when no one was smoking many places continued to have a pretty noticeable smell of stale nicotine or something - including some Sleeper compartments on trains. And then they sprayed some mintish smelling thing to try to cover that other smell, so that produced a unique combined scent

 

[MARC Rider]

Apparently, when they renovated Grand Central Terminal, in the early 2000s, removing almost a century of accumulated cigarette smoke from the ceiling was a major job.

 

[MARC Rider]

Good point. The dismal era of the passive aggressive cigarette smoker exposed nearly everyone to secondhand poisoning. At least that factor has abated despite the proliferation of dipping and vaping. It just amazes me how some parents defended teen vaping as if they had never learned anything.

I was a real bad boy about that in the days of my irresponsible youth, though I smoked a pipe and not cigarettes. Heck, I once lit up my pipe in the air on a TWA flight between PHL and ORD sometime in 1973 or 1974. Nobody told me I couldn't, and I wasn't bothered about it by the flight attendants.

My favorite memory about smoking, though, was the Greyhound driver on the bus from Chicago to Beloit telling us as we left the Chicago Greyhound terminal, "tobacco smoking is allowed in the last 5 rows of the bus..." with a real emphasis on the word "tobacco." With a bus full of college students, he was probably more worried about the kids smoking something else. I wonder what that driver would think if he was zapped forward in time to the present day where weed in Illinois is legal, but, of course, smoking anything (including tobacco) in a bus is not.

 

[JoshP]

This idea would cost millions of dollars so the best bet is have them dispatch EMT and let them take care of it. Cost savings.

 

[johnmiller]

When you are flying, taking a train, etc., you are accepting the fact that you are away from medical attention. Taking a cruise is the only time I can think of where a nurse or a doctor is available. A plane has to divert and land to get someone medical attention. A train has to stop in the closest place possible with medical attention, etc. I personally think it would be good for the LSA to have completed an actual first aid course, be certified on CPR, and be trained and signed of on using an AED.