fandomhigh | First Aid - Danger Shop, Friday, Period 5 [Week 6]

Entry tags:

first aid

First Aid - Danger Shop, Friday, Period 5 [Week 6]

The Danger Shop was set up like a waiting room again. Magazines and medical journals, a kids' table with toys and plates of cookies were scattered around the room, all circa 1960. The cookies weren't from 1960. They were real and fresh.

"Symptoms can look a lot alike. How can you tell the difference between a simple illness and something serious? The truth is, it takes years of practice and studying. You don't have time for that yet, so we're going to go through a case study so you can get a feel for what you should be looking for and how you should approach a potential emergency. One at a time, come through to the examination room. It's your choice if you come in. I won't try to force you. While it's not your turn, help yourselves to the reading material and the cookies."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The examination room was small and there was a patient sitting on the table, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Welcome to my humble holographic abode." The best thing about the 21st century was all of the new words. They tumbled off the tongue so well.

Hiccup perked up a bit, because he quite liked this class, especially when people (even fake people made from light) weren't bleeding everywhere, and looked expectantly at Hawkeye. "What should I do?"

A question sure to fill today's holographic person with endless confidence.

"I'd like to introduce you to Mr Harris." Mr Harris was a balding man in his late 50s who looked fit for his age and had no visible signs of trauma. "Mr Harris, this is Hiccup. Mr Harris has been complaining of chest pains. It could be a problem with his heart, which would be serious, or it could be a case of too much spicy food making his chest burn. Now, without any extensive medical knowledge, you have to make a decision about how serious this might be. What would you do first?"

"I'd ask him if he's been eating spicy food," Hiccup decided, giving Mr Harris a small wave. "Because if he hasn't, then it's probably not causing the problem."

"Mr Harris?" Hawkeye asked.

"Sometimes," Mr Harris admitted. "I add a little Tabasco. My wife boils the blue jeans out of everything, so I need to get some flavor. But this feels like my chest is really tight and I can't always catch my breath."

"So spicy food's a possibility. That doesn't rule out either option, or even an option we haven't thought about. The details aren't important here. No offense, Mr Harris, you're the most important hologram I know."

"None taken."

"What's important is how you're thinking. How you're approaching the problem."

It was a problem to be solved. Hiccup was good at that. What would he do if he was trying to build something and it wasn't working? "I guess I'd want to know if anything else is bothering him," he said after a moment. "If his head hurts, or his legs or his arms, or maybe if he feels sick? That could help you work out what might be wrong with him and how to fix it. I mean you," he added, turning to address Mr Harris directly. Made of light or not, he seemed real. "Didn't mean to talk about you like you weren't here."

Edited 2010-06-19 01:13 (UTC)

Mr Harris didn't seem bothered. "I'm here so you can work out what's wrong with my ticker, not so you can coddle me," he assured Hiccup. "I've had a cough. Head's fine, so are the old arms and legs. It comes and goes every few hours."

He scratched the side of his head, thinking, then looked up at Hawkeye. "Does that help?"

"It certainly doesn't hurt. Knowing only what you know now, what would you do physically to try to check out his heart?"

"Listen to it," he said promptly. "See if it sounds strange or if it's beating too fast or too slow."

Hawkeye reached over to the tray beside the exam bed and picked up a stethoscope. He handed it to Hiccup. "These parts go in your ears. The round part goes where you want to listen to. Mr Harris, can you lift up your shirt?"

Hiccup accepted the stethoscope, resisted the urge to examine it more closely, and fit it into his ears. When Mr Harrise lifted his shirt, he pressed the round part against his chest. "Hey, I can hear it! This is so clear."

Re: Join Hawkeye for a Patient Exam

drywitmartini.livejournal.com - 2010-06-19 03:00 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Join Hawkeye for a Patient Exam

abitlegless.livejournal.com - 2010-06-19 03:12 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Join Hawkeye for a Patient Exam

drywitmartini.livejournal.com - 2010-06-19 03:24 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Join Hawkeye for a Patient Exam

abitlegless.livejournal.com - 2010-06-19 03:28 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Join Hawkeye for a Patient Exam

drywitmartini.livejournal.com - 2010-06-19 03:49 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Join Hawkeye for a Patient Exam

abitlegless.livejournal.com - 2010-06-19 04:02 (UTC) - Expand

Cassidy was always curious about what they would be doing next in this class, so she was very polite and interested when it was her turn to come into the examination room.

"Hello sir," she greeted the patient, before looking at Hawkeye to get filled in on today's problem.

"Come in, come in. Meet Mr Harris."

Mr Harris waved and then had a coughing fit.

"Mr Harris has been having some problems with his chest."

Cara bit her lip, glancing at the patient in concern. "Are they all right?"

"That's what you're here to find out," Hawkeye replied, gesturing for her to come closer. "Mr Harris, this is Cara. Cara, Mr Harris. He's been getting headaches."

"Has someone been hitting him in the head?" That would be simply terrible.

"Mr Harris?"

"Well I did hit my head when I fell off the roof. I was fixing the gutter."

Hawkeye glanced at Cara. "Don't worry about details. The important part is your process."

Cara thought about it, and hoped this wasn't recent enough for there to still be blood. "Did this happen before or after he started getting the headaches? Since a head injury would do it."

"I hit my head last Sunday and today is Friday and I've had headaches for a few days now," Mr Harris replied.

"Okay," Hawkeye interjected. "Possible head trauma. What would you think to do to check him physically for signs of head trauma?"

Oh, Cara knew this one!

"You look for a wound and also check their eyes," she supplied. "If they can't focus, it means you hit them too hard and you have to stop the training session until they can pay proper attention to you. Not that I do that any more. It's bad."

Hawkeye offered Cara a pen light. "Check his eyes. And yes, hitting people in the head is bad." Except when your name was Frank Burns. Then it was funny as long as it wasn't serious. "Let's not do that any more."

"Hitting them in other places is bad too," Cara agreed, shining the light in Mr Harris's eyes. "Especially if it's with an agiel. They really hurt." Which was understating things a just a little.

"Agiels or not, you shouldn't hit people. Then I have to patch them up and it usually interferes with my poker game. Are the black parts of his eyes getting smaller when you shine the light at them?"

"Yes," Cara said after a moment. "But they're taking a while."