What’s a poor limerickologist to do? — Content Warning: Poop, poo, shit, stool, mud butt, earnings, turds, etc. My earnings, like shit from this cow I pretend I don’t care, but oh wow They fell like a turd From a high-flyin’ bird Went splat on my happy, kapow! The first of the month was just great The algo…

Some problems cannot be fixed — When the paramedics brought her in we knew very little. Their report was terse, staccato because of their chest compressive efforts and their squeezing of the so-called “ambu bag”, an attempt to ventilate and oxygenate their patient. “67-year-old woman with a limited past medical history brought in from home after…

How is this possible? — CW: a tragedy involving children Why all the cops? I still remember that thought filling my head as I approached my patient’s gurney in the Emergency Department (ED). Like all patients who’d been in a high-speed rollover car crash, my patient was immobilized on a rigid board, and wore a…

Or is graffiti something more than junk? — I’ve got questions. The same thought enters my head every time I snap a picture of graffiti. Is graffiti a scourge defacing a public space or is it something more than that, perhaps much more? Maybe these six six word stories will shed some light.

These two are with me forever — It has been 20 years but I can still see their skeletal limbs, still feel their pounding pulses, still smell the stink of their unwashed little bodies. They were both sequestered in the social worker’s office, running wild, tearing up the place, unable to control themselves or still their manic…

And why that’s good for you — Like a famous person once said “Oops! … I Did It Again.” It may have been a Medium-ite, but I can’t recall. Best not to speculate. I learned a bunch the first time around. Boost #2 reinforced all the original messages and taught me three new lessons. I’m sharing because…

If I’m the point of the spear someone is going to get poked — In 2003 I was the only Board-Certified Emergency Physician in Holland, hired as a change agent, the so-called point of the spear. Evolution of the questionable decision to hire me Although I worked as an academic Emergency Physician (EP) at a University Hospital physician training program, I’d had an interest in International Emergency Medicine (EM) for a long…

What’s that gonna look like? — By now, all of Earth’s eight billion inhabitants have heard of MAGAt standard bearer and role model, L. Boebert’s, stellar performance at a recent theatrical production of Beetlejuice. In no particular order, the gun-toting, truth-telling, devout church-goer engaged in the following acts of drunken-frat-boy-like behavior designed to demonstrate her good…

In an Emergency Department, far, far, away — Preamble: This is a real world Emergency Medicine story. I’ve resisted writing it for approximately two decades. When you’ve finished reading I’d appreciate your comments. Write whatever you wish. But, in particular, please share your opinion of my behavior. I was a noob. Not to Emergency Medicine, but to Emergency…