[froglegz]

very good points..... i did not mean to suggest that we actually throw everything away and practice blood-letting and the odd cranial burr hole medicine but the best approach must be somewhere in between using acute diagnostic skills complimented by the gadgets of the trade. i also wanted to emphasize that when many people are forced out-side the comfort zone the gadgets provide they simply become lost. it always just aggrivates me when i ask a medic how his patient is doing and he looks not at the patient but at the equipment. "it doesn't matter what the pulse ox says he looks like a smurf.... do something"

this is one of the reasons i think that sf medics are the best in the world. we train them to do without the gadgets. we train them to rely on their instincts and not on equipment they may not have access to. they are going into a setting where most of these gadgets are going to be denied to them. where they have to listen to their patients and get a good histories. then put all of that together and formulate the plan for your patient and follow through. when cool toys are available, of course, use them to confirm what you may already know or to learn what you only suspected but do not become dependent on the toys. it will lead to a dulling of the sharp skills needed to be a great medic.

and to all who read this remember i am just rambling and you are a some-what captive audience so full speed ahead.....