Miller's Tips

Tips and Tricks from a Combat Veteran

13November2012
by amillerf
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Go-Go Gadget

Simple gadgets and gizmos can make or break a good experience. Here I will talk about some basic products that I view as indispensable and great additions to your everyday carry.

 

Colgate Wisp

Colgate Wisp

If you’re a little hungry and on your way to a meeting, press conference, movie shoot, or just to lay down and read a book (who am I kidding, surf the internet); hunger will win out every time. If you try to ignore it, hunger will make you pay with moans and growls ensuring that anyone within earshot knows it’s there. If you satisfy it, the next person you open your pie hole in front of will know that was definitely not pie that you ate because of the staunch smell of onions and pieces of lettuce stuck to your teeth.

Something in your teeth

Yeah, I’m talking to you

This is where the Colgate Wisp comes in. These small four packs of tiny toothbrushes come preloaded with toothpaste in separate, sterile containers. No more keeping a toothbrush on the floorboard of your car with who knows what else.

It also has a handy toothpick on the backside for those stubborn chunks (no more credit card picks) and at 25 cents a piece they are completely disposable.

 

TRX Suspension Trainer

TRX Suspension Trainer

If you travel a lot, you will start to see that keeping in shape is difficult. Keeping a gym membership is expensive and if one that you are a member of is not readily open or nearby it makes the process more difficult.

The TRX suspension system is a very portable and easy to use training system that gives your entire body a fairly intense workout. It fits inside a handy travel bag and can be set up any where, from a hotel room, local park or even the middle of the woods (I’ve done it).

The downside is that the TRX brand suspension trainer is quite expensive at $200. Luckily it is not a difficult design to copy and in fact there are many other brands out there that make comparable system and for the more adventurous, you can make your own.

 

Lifeproof

Lifeproof

Smart phones are great and they have permeated our very being with their helpful apps and web browsing, plus you can call people on them. However, they are very fragile. Things like drops and falls fatal to smartphones and even more so if it goes headfirst into a puddle of water, mud or ice. Lifeproof has that problem solved without making you look ridiculous carrying your phone in a plastic bag. It is a sleek, well design case. Unfortunately at this time it is only made for Iphone and Ipads.

This case is capable of waterproofing your phone to a tested depth of 6 feet, however I have had it as deep as 12 feet with nary a drop of water on it. It is also safe from most falls, it has a rubberized coating that absorbs the fall and saves your screen. They are a little pricey but significantly less than an unsubsidized phone.

Liquipel

If you don’t use an Apple product, Liquipel may be more your calling. It is a coating that makes your phones sensitive components impregnable by water, case free. This allows you to use the case of your choice to protect from falls. The drawback for Liquipel is not all devices are supported however a large number are, and you must send your device away for a few days.

 

25October2012
by amillerf
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First Aid pt. 2

This is a continuation of last week’s post so if you missed it get caught up here : https://sites.stedwards.edu/comm2399-amillerf/?p=60

**Disclaimer**
This is by no means qualifies you to do anything. This post is merely for education, knowledge and the hopes that you will pursue further training.  If you do something incorrectly you risk further injury to the person or killing them. As an untrained person the best thing you can do for someone is call 911 and explicitly follow their instructions only.
**Disclaimer**

Now that you have an idea of an injured person’s responsiveness you want to quickly assess any injuries they may have. The best way to do this is to take a systematic inventory of the entire body as best you can without causing further harm to the patient. Really Bad Boys Should Find Better Habits. This is a moniker that is taught in combat life savers courses to remember what things to look for, and the order of severity to treat first.

R
The first is Really- this is our responsiveness (AVPU) which in the case of the woman in the car accident I determined to be only pain responsive.


B
The next thing is “Bad” for Breathing; you want to take note of their breathing to ensure they are in fact breathing and listen for any indications of further problems such as obstructed airway or fluid build up in the lungs. If you cannot see a chest rise and fall you can put something such as the glass face of your watch under their nose to see if it fogs up from their breathing. If they are not breathing you will want to immediately find a way to get them breathing again. After 3 minutes the likeliness of death or extreme brain damage skyrocket.


B
“Boys” is for bleeding. You will want find where bleeding is coming from and stop it. Arterial bleeding  will be a dark (almost black) blood that will come out in large large quantities while venous bleeding will be lighter and more ooze out. The woman in the vehicle had arterial bleeding in her left arm from a large piece of glass that had gone into it. DO NOT EVER REMOVE THINGS; doing so could tear more flesh and cause further damage. I had a tourniquet handy which I applied to her arm to stop the bleeding. She also had blood coming from her nose and shoulder but it was not life threatening so I left it alone.

Remember the goal of first aid is to stabilize a patient long enough to get them to the next level of care, while preventing further harm. 

S
“Should” is for shock. If you have stabilized breathing and bleeding you will then want to look for signs and symptoms of shock. Symptoms include shallow breathing, clammy skin, rapid weak pulse, and confusion or weakness. The best thing you can do for someone is to loosen restrictive clothing and if possible elevate the feet above the head. In the car accident situation I could not because I did not want to move her in case she had a spinal injury. I used my knife to cut away the seat belt and make breathing easier.

FBH

“Find Better Habits” is for fractures, burns, and head injuries. At this point the patient should be stable and you should further look for other injuries. Fractures come in two varieties, simple and compound or open and closed. A simple or closed fracture is one in which the bone is broken but has not pierced the skin. A complex or open fracture has bone protruding from the skin. Burns can come in 4 varieties these are chemical, laser, electrical and thermal. The most common are thermal caused by either fire or friction. These should be dressed with sterile gauze, anything attached to the burn (melted clothing or matter) should be left there for surgeons to remove. Head injuries are hard to detect, the best thing you can look for or rather smell for is a sour, pungent clear fluid in the ears or nose. This is spinal fluid and is a bad sign.

Of course the entire time I was doing this I had EMS personnel on the phone with me and ensuring that she was receiving proper care and that I did not cause further harm.

In the end the paramedics arrived and were able to save her life in part due to the life saving measures I had taken in preparation to their arrival. I encourage everyone to take any available medical training, not for their sake but for those around them.

25October2012
by amillerf
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Podcast 2

In this episode of Miller’s Tips Podcast, I discuss what the facts are behind the hotly debated Banghazi attacks.

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