Editor's Blog1 min ago
'Heatwave'
There I was, getting ready to walk to work this morning, having donned a fleece and a duffell coat following my breakfast of a warming bowl of porridge, when the helpful information from the Department of Health contained in the leaflet in the link was drawn to my attention.
Thank heavens! However would we cope without this sort of helpful information?
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatist ics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance /DH_099015?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=194491&Rend ition=Web
Thank heavens! However would we cope without this sort of helpful information?
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatist ics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance /DH_099015?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=194491&Rend ition=Web
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Not with you.
Are you suggesting that there should not be any planning for how health and social services should prepare themseves to meet heatwaves?
Or are you picking out the bits about staying inside and wearing loose clothing.
Remember a lot of this sort of advice is aimed at the elderly who sometimes need telling what is obvious to those of us with younger brains
Are you suggesting that there should not be any planning for how health and social services should prepare themseves to meet heatwaves?
Or are you picking out the bits about staying inside and wearing loose clothing.
Remember a lot of this sort of advice is aimed at the elderly who sometimes need telling what is obvious to those of us with younger brains
Not all elderly people are senile. Some of us have brains which work every bit as fast as (or even faster than) many of you youngsters.
I find the constant stating the obvious rather patronising. There is a school of thought that suggest you should listen to your body - if you are thirsty your body is telling you that you need water, if your tummy rumbles that you need food. If you find the sun too hot - then step into the shade.
I find the constant stating the obvious rather patronising. There is a school of thought that suggest you should listen to your body - if you are thirsty your body is telling you that you need water, if your tummy rumbles that you need food. If you find the sun too hot - then step into the shade.
I did say sometimes DaisyMae! :c)
If you find it patronising maybe you should think "perhaps it's not aimed at me".
Such home-spun wisdom seem so obvious but it's remarkable how quickly people can get into trouble and stop thinking clearly.
Ever considerred working in A&E? you could go around all the people who've cut themselves with lawn-mowers or drilled into an electric cable and explain to them that really all they need is a little common sense!
If you find it patronising maybe you should think "perhaps it's not aimed at me".
Such home-spun wisdom seem so obvious but it's remarkable how quickly people can get into trouble and stop thinking clearly.
Ever considerred working in A&E? you could go around all the people who've cut themselves with lawn-mowers or drilled into an electric cable and explain to them that really all they need is a little common sense!
One big load of nonsense again!...Another scheme to hike up the temperature figures to make it look as though global warming is here. Yesterday the BBC said that where I live it will be 29 degrees. My thermometer showed 21 all day and it rained. Today they say 30+ and in fact it`s 24 degrees with rain again. I remember the summers of the 1970s and they were a lot warmer and longer and nobody interfered.
I'm sorry but I was called away so was unable to keep up with the thread.
Jake-the-peg - you said "If you find it patronising maybe you should think "perhaps it's not aimed at me".
That is precisely why I object to receiving such inane advice from people who should at least be able to distinguish between a compis mentis old lady and a dribbling idiot. For example, I went into a shop yesterday to buy some shampoo and stuff. A member of staff met me at the door and asked me if I was aware the temperature was over 25 degrees C and had I got my bottle of water and would I like it refilled. I looked at her quizzically thinking perhaps that she was joking, but no, she meant every word and had been instructed by the management to help the old dears keep cool. So I told her I only drank gin and only that with a nice fresh slice of lemon - I walked out shampooless and very irritated indeed.
I really do not like being singled out simply because of my age. My mental capacity is rarely tested, people assume that because I am over 70 I am therefore a) blind, b)deaf and c) on the verge of senility. I am none of these things and I would like to be given the same credit that younger people are given.
And that crack about working in A & E was silly - how do you know that I didn't spend 40 odd years in that environment - one thing that it is very important for people who work in A & E to remember is that everyone is different and you should never make assumptions just because a person looks one way doesn't mean that they are that way.
Jake-the-peg - you said "If you find it patronising maybe you should think "perhaps it's not aimed at me".
That is precisely why I object to receiving such inane advice from people who should at least be able to distinguish between a compis mentis old lady and a dribbling idiot. For example, I went into a shop yesterday to buy some shampoo and stuff. A member of staff met me at the door and asked me if I was aware the temperature was over 25 degrees C and had I got my bottle of water and would I like it refilled. I looked at her quizzically thinking perhaps that she was joking, but no, she meant every word and had been instructed by the management to help the old dears keep cool. So I told her I only drank gin and only that with a nice fresh slice of lemon - I walked out shampooless and very irritated indeed.
I really do not like being singled out simply because of my age. My mental capacity is rarely tested, people assume that because I am over 70 I am therefore a) blind, b)deaf and c) on the verge of senility. I am none of these things and I would like to be given the same credit that younger people are given.
And that crack about working in A & E was silly - how do you know that I didn't spend 40 odd years in that environment - one thing that it is very important for people who work in A & E to remember is that everyone is different and you should never make assumptions just because a person looks one way doesn't mean that they are that way.
DaisyMae wrote �one thing that it is very important for people who work in A & E to remember is that everyone is different and you should never make assumptions just because a person looks one way doesn't mean that they are that way.�
�That is precisely why I object to receiving such inane advice from people who should at least be able to distinguish between a compis mentis old lady and a dribbling idiot.�
You say folk should not make assumptions and yet the woman in the shop should have been able to identify you were compos mentis. Would that not have involved making assumptions?
NHS Direct say heat exhaustion can lead to heatstroke and if left untreated can cause multiple organ failure, brain damage and death.
With rapid treatment, 90% of people with heatstroke will survive. Without rapid treatment, the survival rate can be as low as 20%; especially amongst vulnerable people, such as the elderly.
I would think congratulations are in order for the shop assistant you were mumping about.
�That is precisely why I object to receiving such inane advice from people who should at least be able to distinguish between a compis mentis old lady and a dribbling idiot.�
You say folk should not make assumptions and yet the woman in the shop should have been able to identify you were compos mentis. Would that not have involved making assumptions?
NHS Direct say heat exhaustion can lead to heatstroke and if left untreated can cause multiple organ failure, brain damage and death.
With rapid treatment, 90% of people with heatstroke will survive. Without rapid treatment, the survival rate can be as low as 20%; especially amongst vulnerable people, such as the elderly.
I would think congratulations are in order for the shop assistant you were mumping about.
Quinlad - " Surely it's better for 99% of people to be fed information they already know, if it means that 1% are given advice that protects their health. Why so touchy? "
I suppose it was Jake-the-peg's 'us and them' attitude that got under my skin. He said - "Remember a lot of this sort of advice is aimed at the elderly who sometimes need telling what is obvious to those of us with younger brains"
I am sure my brain, which is able to do quite compound calculations, can also decide how to look after my body in adverse conditions every bit as ably as those younger brains he seems to think don't need advice on the subject.
I didn't get to this age without picking up a fair amount of knowledge on how to look after myself (and my family, husband, children, grandchildren and numerous pets) and I do object to being grouped with infants and imbeciles as those that need lecturing on how to avoid the obvious dangers of a heatwave or the opposit, a snowstorm.
Sorry folks, rant over - I'll get me coat. :)
I suppose it was Jake-the-peg's 'us and them' attitude that got under my skin. He said - "Remember a lot of this sort of advice is aimed at the elderly who sometimes need telling what is obvious to those of us with younger brains"
I am sure my brain, which is able to do quite compound calculations, can also decide how to look after my body in adverse conditions every bit as ably as those younger brains he seems to think don't need advice on the subject.
I didn't get to this age without picking up a fair amount of knowledge on how to look after myself (and my family, husband, children, grandchildren and numerous pets) and I do object to being grouped with infants and imbeciles as those that need lecturing on how to avoid the obvious dangers of a heatwave or the opposit, a snowstorm.
Sorry folks, rant over - I'll get me coat. :)
New Judge
How did we all survive before 1997?
I don't recall thousands of deaths occurring in pre-New Labour heatwaves.
During the hot weather in 1995 there were an estimated 619 extra deaths.
http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/52/8/ 482
In 1976 the mortatality increased 30%.
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/ab stract/49/1/1
Your contention that before this Labour Government that more people didn't die in hot weather is barmy and defies human biology.
Older people are more vunerable and and any information to keep them better informed should be welcomed.
http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/a bstract/14/4/243
How did we all survive before 1997?
I don't recall thousands of deaths occurring in pre-New Labour heatwaves.
During the hot weather in 1995 there were an estimated 619 extra deaths.
http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/52/8/ 482
In 1976 the mortatality increased 30%.
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/ab stract/49/1/1
Your contention that before this Labour Government that more people didn't die in hot weather is barmy and defies human biology.
Older people are more vunerable and and any information to keep them better informed should be welcomed.
http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/a bstract/14/4/243
Perhaps I did not make my point as well as I might have, Gromit (It was late and I was tired and emotional).
It is not the government's function to "advise" adults in matters that are either blindingly obvious, instinctive, or a matter of choice. Extra deaths due to extreme weather will occur whether government issues such advice or not and the number of those extra deaths will be scarcely influenced by it.
Some of the proposed �warnings� given in the government�s 39 page �action plan� beggar belief:
�Stay out of the sun. Keep your home as cool as possible shading windows and shutting them during the day may help. Open them when it is cooler at night. Keep drinking fluids.
You don�t say! Who would have guessed it?
The plan (which is for England only, no doubt identical plans � at identical cost - have been produced by different teams elsewhere in the UK) shows all the signs of having been produced by people with little better to do.
Of course government departments must have contingency plans for such circumstances. But I object to being treated like an idiot and paying for the privilege.
And I suspect that is what flip_flop refers to.
It is not the government's function to "advise" adults in matters that are either blindingly obvious, instinctive, or a matter of choice. Extra deaths due to extreme weather will occur whether government issues such advice or not and the number of those extra deaths will be scarcely influenced by it.
Some of the proposed �warnings� given in the government�s 39 page �action plan� beggar belief:
�Stay out of the sun. Keep your home as cool as possible shading windows and shutting them during the day may help. Open them when it is cooler at night. Keep drinking fluids.
You don�t say! Who would have guessed it?
The plan (which is for England only, no doubt identical plans � at identical cost - have been produced by different teams elsewhere in the UK) shows all the signs of having been produced by people with little better to do.
Of course government departments must have contingency plans for such circumstances. But I object to being treated like an idiot and paying for the privilege.
And I suspect that is what flip_flop refers to.
Remember a lot of this sort of advice is aimed at the elderly who sometimes need telling what is obvious to those of us with younger brains
Another gem from Jake.
I don't know about younger brains, I think it is lesser brain cells some of the young possess these days.
I can never remember all the various warnings on products that we now see today. Most are aimed at young parents to inform them of the dangers to their children of various products. A prime example seen on a packet of nuts, 'may contain nuts
I went into a DIY store yesterday and I noticed that the assistant had to use a large movable stairway to get something off the high racking. After she finished she closed the gate at the bottom of the steps and locked it up.
I happened to point this out to an assistant I was talking to, who happened to be the area health and safety representative, and he informed me they had to take these precautions because some parents just let their youngsters climb up and down the steps, I ask you.
Incidentally I purchased some flower plants for my garden while in the store, and guess what there was a warning on them 'Not for human consumption
Another gem from Jake.
I don't know about younger brains, I think it is lesser brain cells some of the young possess these days.
I can never remember all the various warnings on products that we now see today. Most are aimed at young parents to inform them of the dangers to their children of various products. A prime example seen on a packet of nuts, 'may contain nuts
I went into a DIY store yesterday and I noticed that the assistant had to use a large movable stairway to get something off the high racking. After she finished she closed the gate at the bottom of the steps and locked it up.
I happened to point this out to an assistant I was talking to, who happened to be the area health and safety representative, and he informed me they had to take these precautions because some parents just let their youngsters climb up and down the steps, I ask you.
Incidentally I purchased some flower plants for my garden while in the store, and guess what there was a warning on them 'Not for human consumption
