constructed of specialized, nonreactive plastics. An injection of tetanus
booster from a syringe will be given. The syringe itself is dizzyingly
complex, composed of petrochemically-derived polymers from around the
world, sterilized and specially packaged, and shipped to this little “doc-in-
a-box” urgent care center. The anti-tetanus medicine itself requires vast
sophistication, complex machinery, and laboratory specialization, with
layers of regulatory oversight. Your wound, to be cleansed properly, will
require a mini-operation of sorts, with specialized kits opened to scrub
your skin and drape the injured area with surrounding disposable blue
paper drapes. These drape kits likely were assembled in Puerto Rico for
American distribution, as were the fluids for the IV (which explains the
mini-calamity to American healthcare following Hurricane Maria, saying
nothing of the tragedy to the island). The sterile gloves donned by the ER
doc are a marvel of technology, composed of latex-free polymers,
sterilized and packaged in a cutting-edge factory in Chicago. The nylon
sutures are made by Johnson & Johnson in Cornelia, Georgia, and are
mated to a miniature suture needle made of space-age metal alloys, and
sterilely packaged. The tools used for passing the needle through the skin
are enclosed in a purpose-assembled little “suture kit,” also composed of
unique plastics and economical metals. Even the little Band-Aid that will
cover your IV site after it is withdrawn has its own little clever story of
entrepreneurial chutzpah and empire-making by the Johnson brothers (yes,
it launched the J&J domain). A careful blob of Neosporin ointment will be
slathered on your cut, and the history of its development, manufacturing,
packaging, and distribution would require its own chapter. An hour later
you’ll go home, free of anxiety that you’ll die of tetanus or lose your leg
to a freak infection like our grandparents might’ve worried. While nothing
will be implanted following your small snafu, the medical industrial
complex has risen to the occasion.
A much greater marvel is to suffer a heart attack and be resuscitated.
We all take for granted that an ambulance will materialize at our doorstep
in a jiffy after a 911 call and ferry us to a hospital cardiac angiography
suite. On the way to the hospital, the EMT in the ambulance will have
transmitted the Medtronic EKG rhythm strip that, by itself, gives profound
information about the type of heart attack someone is suffering. Once in
the “cath lab,” a cardiologist and his team (also miraculously present and
poised for lifesaving) will rush to get the massive IV started in the groin.
marcin
(Marcin)
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