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I am curious to know about things that you were taught or that you know are still being taught that you now know to be wrong. I am not so much thinking of things like the benefits of spinal immobilization or other things that we do in the field, but more the medicine or physiology. I remember being taught at one point that concussions involved a loss of consciousness but then had no long lasting effects. Certainly it isn't something that matters to our prehospital management of a traumatic injury, but I now know that there is often not a loss of consciousness and that there can be significant long lasting effects from concussions. One that I am a bit embarrassed to have just sorted out recently is about oral hypoglycemics causing hypoglycemia. I remember having always been warned about the risk of recurrent hypoglycemia with patients who are taking oral medications for diabetes. Only recently did I learn that metformin is not known to cause hypoglycemia (though others certainly can). Something that I unfortunately see being taught wrong, or maybe just not entirely correctly, is how CPAP is beneficial for COPD. If you are going to be in a position to treat a patient with CPAP for a COPD exacerbation, I expect a whole lot better than "it splints the airways open" when asked to describe the mechanism. Unfortunately, this is all that is taught sometimes because the instructors do not seem to know any better. I'd love to hear what you now realize you were taught wrong or what you see being taught wrong to our future field providers.

It is not uncommon to come across concepts that are so far beyond our experience in medicine, they simply cannot be explained in any intuitive way. Often, they are explained with mathematics, but an intuitive model is often lacking. One concept I have come across is the concept of spin. I have had an exceptionally difficult time explaining this concept without all the talk of Pauli matrices and so on. Going away from that, I would like to hear about concepts that you guys have found difficult to explain as students or instructors, (EMT, Paramedic, RN, RT, MD, DO, PA and so on) or non-intuitive to describe. Even better, I would love to hear about the different models and pictures you use to attempt to intuitively describe some of these concepts.

Call it on scene and do your reading .

That oxygen is harmless and is a cure-all That pulse oximetry is evil and should not be used when giving oxygen because you just throw on an NRB@15. That BLS providers cannot give medication, but can only "assist" That you do ABC instead on CAB for your primary in an unresponsive pt. That a 1 day HCP cpr class means everyone is a BVM jedi that will never fail or have a difficult bag mask ventilation pt. And due to this failure of ventilation never occuring, that BLS providers can't safely drop in a king-LT in an apenic GCS 3 pt. And that king-LT's should only be used in a code. That training BLS providers on what vital signs ACTUALLY tell them is taboo and evil... Physiology and pathophysiology education is evil... Oh wait, sadly these are still issues w bls in Ontario.

Clearly I found a great group of people here. You've all given me some great advice . I'm going to invest in some hand and ankle weights and seriously considering getting a stationary bike. I'm sure I could manage some time on a bike despite bing in a cast. I am going to do as was suggested and set some goals for myself....short term goals for now. I'd hate set any long term goals for myself so early into my recovery phase because I don't want to be let down or disappointed if I am unable to reach the long term goals. Now that we've found a way for me to get in the pool I plan to take full advantage of that and enjoy a daily swim or 2. Good exercise (totally NWB), some Vit D and a spirit booster. Thanks to all of you I'm feeling better about my situation already. Think I'm finally accepting it for what it is. As my hubby said to me last night...."your finished your sentence (3wks on bed rest) and now you're on parole ( in a cast and on crutches with serveral limitations)...if you're good and follow the conditions of your parole you will be set free, you will get your freedom back" Only a cop could give you an analogy like that...lol. But he is so right. So for now I am on parole and must abid by the condtions placed upon me and before I know I will be back on my feet, back to work and back to normal.