Pediatric Controversies: Immunizations 2/3

How many of you have heard the name Dr. Andrew Wakefield? His uber-small, sample study that linked childhood vaccines to autism was retracted by the British Medical Journal. Why is this important? This study fueled the fire for many people choosing not to immunize. But really, what harm is it not to immunize your child against common childhood diseases? You can read about this retraction and the impact it has by following this link: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/index.htmlI...

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Pediatric Controversies: Immunizations 1/3

I'm going to focus on aspects of the pediatric immunization controversy that could easily be a whole novel in itself (and has been), but can add layers to novels that have a pediatric character or perhaps you want to add conflict to an issue that involves a child.Issue based novels that are preachy typically perform poorly. It has to be about characters first. A novelist who does this well is Jodi Picoult. There is generally a central issue...

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Dislocations and Immunizations: HUH?!?

Normally, I post the upcoming week on Saturday but I had a wee issue with a shoulder dislocation yesterday and was in a slight drug haze after the fine ER doctor put said shoulder into place.I don't know... I think since there's a lot of writers that follow this blog, I should do a book/gift card give-away for whoever leaves the best reason for the cause of the shoulder dislocation. Best comment wins and I'll decide next Saturday. Who's in to win!!Plus, I'm loving Tim Tebow's winning streak and this is another cause to celebrate.This...

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Forensic Issues: Bruising

On every crime show where a murder has occurred, there's usually a big scene with the medical examiner asserting time of death or determining the time of an injury. In pediatrics, this becomes important when we look at timing a child abuse injury so we can place who was with the child during the suspected event.The question is, can bruising give an exact time for the injury? http://orthopedics.ygoy.com/ Bruising happens when an object...

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Aortic Injuries: Part II

Dr. Edwards concludes his series on anuerysms today with a look at abdominal aneurysms.The last blog in this series discussed problems with the upper (thoracic aorta) and how the condition known as a dissecting thoracic aorta can mimic heart attacks and be rapidly fatal if the wrong medication (a clot dissolving drug, for example) is given.  This time we’re looking at the abdominal section of the aorta. www.health-news-blog.com By far the...

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Diabetic Emergency: Dianna Benson

Dianna's back for her monthly guest blog. Today, she covers EMS care for a diabetic emergency.EMS 4 diabetic emergency at 123 Fox Street, at 123 Fox Street on TACH Channel 12I stuff the rest of my sandwich into my mouth and gulp down some water as I rush out of the fast food joint to hop into my ambulance. As my partner signals RESCOM (dispatch) we’re en route to the above (sample) call, I speed our ambulance down the road, lights and sirens.I won’t...

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Up and Coming

Happy Thanksgiving Week!! http://www.theholidayspot.com/I hope it is blessed and a time of joy spent with your family. Here are the festivities I have planned at Redwood's this week.Monday: Dianna Benson's monthly EMS post. Her focus is diabetic emergencies.Wednesday: Dr. Edwards returns to conclude his series on aortic injuries. Great info here! I'll also be over at Christian Mama's guide talking all things pediatrics. Hope you'll check it...

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Author Beware: Seasonal Illnesses

One thing to keep in mind when you're writing a novel is that some illnesses are seasonal. So if your book covers an obvious time of year-- say the summer. It may behoove you as an author to be aware of the illnesses that are and aren't around.Croup: AKA laryngitis. Used to be seasonal but we typically see it year round. No time restrictions needed here. fyi.utah.eduRSV: The leading viral cause of bronchiolitis typically starts in late fall, early...

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The Curious Case Of Typhoid Mary

We've all heard sick people exclaim, "Watch out, I'm typhoid Mary today!" over concern of how many people they could potentially infect.I happened to be reading the book, Deadly Choices, by Dr. Paul Offitt which is a non-fiction book that talks about the effects of the anti-vaccine movement on public health. I happened to come across the true story of Mary Mallon AKA Typhoid Mary.Mary Mallon was a cook. In 1906 she was hired by New York banker Charles...

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Barber-Surgeons

Have you ever wondered about the origin of some symbols? How about the infamous barber pole? Are you familiar with the role of the barber-surgeon? If you write historical fiction spanning the 13th through the 18th century, you may want to familiarize yourself with their function. aj_da_barber The practice of medicine was separated from the practice of surgery. Medical practice was generally carried out by those who went...

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Up and Coming

This week at Redwood's Medical Edge:Monday: Barber-SurgeonsIf you're a historical novelist, knowing about the combined role of the barber-surgeon could be important. Hair cut and splenectomy in one stop shopping!Wednesday: The Curious Case of Typhoid Mary. Interesting story and conflict builder. What power should the government have over protecting the population from disease?Thursday: I'll be over at the WordServe Watercooler on the topic of publication. http://wordservewatercooler.com/Friday: Author Beware: Seasonal Illnesses. How are your Thanksgiving...

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Top Three Most Popular Posts: #1

I'm so blessed that it's been such a great first year for this blog. I owe it to all of you and your interest in how to appropriately injure, main and kill your fictional characters. Thanks to everyone who follows and subscribes and even the lurkers who peruse by....It isn't surprising to me that this remains the most popular post of all time here at Redwood's Medical Edge with nearly 1000 page views. This myth continues to be perpetuated in books...

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Top Three Most Popular Posts: #2

Suspense novelists are a little consumed with finding ways to kill their characters. I'm guessing that's why this post by Kathleen Rouser was the second most popular post.Plants: Poisons, Palliatives and Panaceas Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” Gen. 1:29 NIVShortly after the time Adam and Eve were forced to leave the Garden...

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Top Three Most Popular Posts: #3

The one year anniversary of this blog was October 31st! Now that the zombies have been put to sleep for another year, it's time to celebrate by taking a stroll down memory lane and looking at the top three most popular posts of the last year.I love hosting Sarah Sundin. She's a truly gifted novelist and I hope you'll check out her books. This post, ranked #3, struck a chord with people and I think it's the way Sarah painted the picture using her...

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Up and Coming!!

This week we're celebrating Redwood's Medical Edge's one year anniversary!!Thanks to all of you who visit, comment, follow and subscribe. Your support really does mean a lot to me!This week we're taking a stroll down memory lane by looking at the three most popular posts of the first year. Do you think you know what they are?Also, I'll be over at Christian Mama's Guide on Wednesday talking about those pediatric nursing topics. Hope you'll stop by and leave a comment.Have a great week....Jor...

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Historical Overview of 19th Century Medicine

I ran across these guest posts by Eleanor Sullivan over at The Writer's Forensic Blog which were excellent and a good resource for the historical authors that follow here. They are must read as I learned a lot of fascinating facts.To supplement, I thought I'd add a few words to her list of terms that were used then and what they mean. These are referenced from Frontier Medicine by David Dary which is another excellent resource.Acute Indigestion:...

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Contemporary Pharmacy: Part 4/4

Today concludes Sarah's four-part series on contemporary pharmacy. I've certainly enjoyed having her back and can't wait for her return. Today she focuses on the hospital pharmacist.Fiction writers do mean things to their characters. If those mean things require pharmaceutical care, you may need to introduce a pharmacist character or understand how pharmacies work. As a pharmacist myself, I want to help you get those details straight.Today’s article...

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Winner!

The winner of our zombie comment contest is: Amanda Stephan!!Congratulations Amanda. You won David L. Moody's book Autumn: The City and K. Bennett's book Pay Me In Flesh. E-mail your address to me at jredwood1@gmail.com to claim your prize! Deadline is Saturday or another winner will be chosen. Thanks everyone for participati...

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