wonko6942's New Writeups

United States Federal Highway System (thing)

2006-06-30T23:24:41Z

There are two types of federally-funded highways in the United States: U.S. Highways or U.S. Routes, and Interstates. Both were designed to run across the country, and both are funded in part by federal money. However, they differ in their construction, maintenance, regulation, and numbering (somewhat). The systems were created to both bring order to preexisting roads, highways, and auto trails, as well as to create new means of transportation. They are now the backbone of automobile travel in the U.S.

U.S. Highways

U.S. Numbered Highways, sometimes called U.S. Routes, U.S. Highways, or Federal Highways, were created in 1926, and are essentially the same as state, county, and local highways in everything but name. They are maintained by whichever state or local government the road runs through, and often coincide with state highways or local roads. The Federal Highway system was created in the 1920s in response to a number of factors. In 1918, Wisconsin had begun…

Chicago Fire Department (idea)

2006-06-07T05:08:35Z

History

The Chicago Fire Department is the municipal organization charged with fire suppression, rescue, and providing emergency medical services in Chicago, Illinois. The Department has been in existence since 1858, and is currently the second-largest in the United States.

The first fire company formed in Chicago was called the "Washington Volunteers," who started in 1832. The next year, the city council passed an ordinance naming Benjamin Jones Fire Warden, charging him with ensuring that buildings in the city followed fire safety laws. A year later, the city was divided into four fire wards, each with its own warden, who apart from being responsible for enforcing regulations could also call on citizens to assist in putting out blazes. 1835 saw the passage of the fire-bucket ordinance, which required one suitable fire bucket per fireplace or stove in a building. Owners of the buckets were not only responsible for keeping those buckets within easy reach so as to put…

Broselow Tape (thing)

2006-05-02T22:55:07Z

Officially called the Broselow Pediatric Emergency Tape, a Broselow Tape is a piece of laminated paper designed to aid Emergency Medical Technicians, paramedics, nurses, and other medical personnel with proper medication dosage and equipment sizing for pediatric emergencies. The tape uses a color-coding system, called the Broselow-Luten Color Coding System (B-LPS) to differentiate between various classes of equipment and medications, with each color corresponding to an approximate weight class. In this manner, emergency personnel can quickly identify what is needed to save a pediatric patient's life.

The tape itself was created by Dr. Jim Broselow, an emergency physician who realized that during pediatric emergencies, he and other medical personnel became very panicked and had a general lack of confidence in the care being provided for the young patients. As a result, he decided to begin standardizing the procedures for dealing with pediatric emergencies. Using data from the…

Trauma Shears (thing)

2006-03-17T21:37:50Z

Sometimes called "paramedic shears," "EMT shears," or "tuff cuts," trauma shears are scissors designed to be used by those in emergency medicine. Typically, they will be used by paramedics and EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) to cut clothing off of patients, but they are also used in hospitals for removing cardboard splints and backboard webbing or tape from patients, can have applications in some surgical procedures, and are also often used by divers to cut through wire or netting.

The shears themselves have a rather unique design. The blades are flat rectangular pieces of stainless steel. The lower blades on most pairs have a ridged edge to grip what they are cutting into and some sort of angled flange or other special tip for lifting clothes off of patients' bodies. The tips of all pairs of shears are blunt or rounded to prevent accidentally injuring the patient. Both blades are angled 10-15 degrees from the handles, giving trauma shears their unique look. Handles are…

Littmann Stethoscope (thing)

2006-02-14T04:27:35Z

3M Littmann Stethoscope

History

Seen by many in the medical community as one of the better stethoscope brands, Littmann stethoscopes are named after David Littmann, MD, the creator of what is known as a "combination" or "double-headed" stethoscope. In the November 1961 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Littmann laid out the groundwork for most modern stethoscopes. Previous stethoscopes used two separate tubes made of spirals of wire with gum elastic and silk on the exterior. These were not good for sound insulation, and could rub together and create unwanted noise. Littmann proposed using a single solid tube with only one bore, known as a single-lumen tube. He also proposed using a chestpiece that had two sides, one which was open (no plastic diaphragm) for low-frequency sounds, called a bell,…

5-11 Club (idea)

2006-01-01T00:03:22Z

The 5-11 Club is a Chicago organization dedicated to aiding members of the Chicago Fire Department. The group has been active for over fifty years, providing canteen service at extra alarm blazes in Chicago. The group is entirely volunteer-run, and members are asked to pay dues to support the canteen operations.

The group gets its name from the system used to classify the severity of fires. When the Chicago Fire Department gets a call, it is classified in one of four ways. If someone calls 9-1-1 and reports a fire, a Still Alarm is sounded. Initially, 2 engines, 2 trucks, and a Battalion Chief are sent. If a second source (either another 9-1-1 caller, or the firefighters who arrive on scene) can confirm the fire, additional equipment is sent. In the case of a Still Alarm at a high rise, the response is doubled, EMS (Emergency Medical Services, which includes both ambulances and…