I have this persistent feeling in my left foot that there’s something caught between my toes, or maybe there’s a hair wrapped around my second toe. I have checked; there is nothing between my toes, no hairs in the vicinity (although of course I had to remove a hair that was draped casually over my shoulder as I was looking). And even if there were something caught between them, I would have expected it to dislodge itself over the course of two weeks, which is how long I’ve had this feeling. 

(I’ve looked it up. The closest “diagnosis” Google has to offer is a Morton’s neuroma, which is a thickening of the tissue around the nerves of the foot. But the symptoms don’t quite line up. Neuromas cause a feeling of “sock bunching” or “small pebble” but usually between the third and fourth toes.)

Anyway, I have this niggling memory that the feeling “there’s a hair wrapped around your toe” is Something To Watch For. I don’t find anything, upon Googling. Although I did find some articles about how critical it is to remove an actual hair that is wrapped around any appendage, as it can cut off circulation. But it’s somehow stuck in my head as one of those things that you listen for, and if you hear it, it Means Something. Something that would be important for medical staff to know in an emergency.

Based on no evidence at all, I like to think I would be good in an emergency. I have had the incredible amazing luck of not having been faced with an emergency of any sort. But I want to be READY. Which is why I have stowed a few little helpful medical hints away for future emergency use. 

Do you have any of those “medical hints” that you’ve come across somewhere and never forgotten?

After reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen a million years ago, I am constantly on high alert for people who have arm pain followed by gas. CLEARLY that is a heart attack just waiting to happen. (I can never remember which arm the pain will be in, though.) (Apparently, it is usually the left arm.)

And I read at some point that A Feeling of Impending Doom is a medical clue you should never ignore. (You could have the bubonic plague! Or, more likely, although you never know these days, anaphylaxis! Or a pulmonary embolism! Or a bad reaction to a blood transfusion!) Unfortunately, I am filled with doom so often it seems like it might be hard to separate that feeling from the one that means, like, imminent death. But it’s a medical clue that’s forever lodged in my brain, just ready for me to leap into action the next time someone nearby sits down heavily and says, “Oh no, I’m filled with doom.” 

I seem to fuzzily recall that there’s an acronym you can use to tell if someone is having a stroke. But I can’t remember the acronym itself. Oh here it is: FAST, which stands for Face, Arms, Speech, and Time, which themselves are shorthand for facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulties and… time, which I guess means if you notice any of these things it’s time to get help? Oh – and here are some other sites that say you should really be using the acronym BE FAST, and also be alert for Balance and Eyes (trouble with balance/coordination and sudden blurring or loss of vision). Now, in a possible-stroke type situation, I will be sure to forget not one but two life-saving acronyms.

I read/heard once that singing the Bee Gees’s “Staying Alive” when giving chest compressions during CPR will help you keep the appropriate life-saving rhythm. (The video I linked to made me unreasonably giggly. All those very serious dancers!) (Also, I suspect – based on previous experience of watching CPR scenes on TV/in movies – my husband would say that you need to be more forceful and less elbow-bendy than this particular video demonstrator.) 

This little rhyme may someday come in handy, although I sincerely hope not: “If it’s black, fight back. If it’s brown, lie down. If it’s white, good night.” But that’s more in case of bears than in a medical emergency. I do appreciate the absolute surrender of the last couplet, though. Don’t even try, you’re dead already. 

What helpful medical hints do you have stored away in case of an emergency? And have you ever had to put them to use? And, if so, did they WORK?