firetender
Community Leader Emeritus
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All you need is Gloves!
I left EMS in the mid-1980's when the AIDS scare, which started this whole glove thing, got started.
I was extremely judicious in their use, meaning I ONLY wore them when I was absolutely positive and even then, almost always as a "Crap! almost forgot!"
So what I experienced, having spent a good twelve years un-gloved on every but the very most extreme of calls was a very strong sense of loss. Tactile sensation, the ways in which my hands could "read" a patient, the way that they could convey caring and control at the same time and also make ME feel connected to what I was doing on a live human being meant something to me and I missed it.
(Thinking about it, that sounds like a typical guy talking about his relationship with condoms but I'll let that one alone!)
The point I'm making is that once medicine was personal. Not only for me but for legions of family physicians and country doctors and nurses and practitioners of all kinds. We're ALL losing touch as a tool to bring people closer to wellness.
I left EMS in the mid-1980's when the AIDS scare, which started this whole glove thing, got started.
I was extremely judicious in their use, meaning I ONLY wore them when I was absolutely positive and even then, almost always as a "Crap! almost forgot!"
So what I experienced, having spent a good twelve years un-gloved on every but the very most extreme of calls was a very strong sense of loss. Tactile sensation, the ways in which my hands could "read" a patient, the way that they could convey caring and control at the same time and also make ME feel connected to what I was doing on a live human being meant something to me and I missed it.
(Thinking about it, that sounds like a typical guy talking about his relationship with condoms but I'll let that one alone!)
The point I'm making is that once medicine was personal. Not only for me but for legions of family physicians and country doctors and nurses and practitioners of all kinds. We're ALL losing touch as a tool to bring people closer to wellness.