“A morning paradigm beginning with”:

 

 

This information you can use to help young hospital patients and elsewhere and their family members cope with the new paradigms seen in their lives currently. We know that fun, wholesome, challenging and safe activities that are new and never tried before offer more efficient and effective stress diversion than commonly used ones. This new activity is safe, wholesome, unique, fun and challenging. The photo you see here shows me sitting at my outreach display at a local event last year.

These years of youth outreach exhibit events produces “snippets” of real-life interactions with youngsters:

1. I gave a Morse shortwave radio, Morse key and other equipment to the mother of a “Neurodivergent” (Autistic) teen. This neurodivergent young woman had remarked to her mom that ” listening to Morse relaxes me”. They live in Southern California and traveled to my home in Northern California to pick up this equipment.
2. A local teen appeared at my Morse outreach event exhibit five separate times to practice using the three unique Morse sending instruments that are a part of this display. He was fascinated because he had now discovered a method of communication that was fun, challenging, impressive to see and hear, unknown to his peers and hid his usual struggle with stuttering during speech.
3. A teen at a teen center did not appear to want to interact with his peers there. He saw my amateur radio station, sat down at the Morse key and did not want to leave when his mother dropped by to take him home. He enthusiastically took the mentoring material
4. I heard this comment at an outreach event:

“You have to come try this; this is so cool!” (a local teenager’s shout to her grandfather)

5. An autistic teen visited my outreach at a local “Autism Vendors Fair” event. She did not seem to want to visit the other vendors, but hung out with her mom at my display-practicing Morse.

6.  A father’s comment to me after his teen age daughter arrived at my event display a second time: ” I think that you have a fan!”

7.  Lots of parent: “Thank you!” to me at events.

8.   I gave a Morse presentation to in hospital patients and hospital staff at the Northern California Shriner’s Hospital for Children here in Sacramento. A staff nurse took home a Morse practice unit I gave her (three unique Morse keys with sounder). She wanted to try it for her autistic son. However, she became fascinated with Morse, obtained an amateur radio license and Morse communication is now a part of her life.

9.  As a neurodivergent person, I was fortunate to speak to thousands of local school children over the years as a disability advocate organization speaker-volunteer (“A Touch of Understanding” organization in Granite Bay, Ca.) in school workshops. I discussed my lifelong struggle with Autism and my method of stress diversion.  (I explained and demonstrated Morse communication at my effortless and enjoyable thirty words per minute.).

My driving desire involves my occasional thought about the importance of my exposure to Morse at a local county fair shortwave radio exhibit at age thirteen. Missing that special day would have been a personal devastating mistake. “EXPOSURE TO MORSE” allows informed ” yes” or “no” decisions to investigate it.

A PROPOSAL TO EASILY ALLOW A METAPHORICAL “FLY AWAY” FOR A TIME FOR SOME PEOPLE DURING THIS HORRIFIC IMMERSIONAL PARADIGM EXPERIENCE NOWADAYS:

1. One USB  flash drive is made by children’s hospital staff for patients and their family members to take home.

This USB flash drive has a recorded MP3 audio file of a personalized message to the children, sent in Morse Code by a young person living in “Austria” ( I have the Audio MP3 file of this Morse message that Monty sent for the youngsters and can email it to you).

This audio Morse message will be played over the in room television system each morning followed by this voice message:

” This message was sent to you in Morse Code by a young person who lives in the country called “Austria”. He knows Morse Code and wanted to send this message to you because every person is special and important. This message translates as: “Good morning, we wish for a day providing love, peace, progress and strength today.”

If you wish to pursue this fun and forgotten language further, your caregiver will have mentoring information you can use at home.”

1. This flash drive the patient takes home also contains the URL information of four websites for mentoring:

1.  URL of the “Team Exuberance” website.

2.  URL of the “Long Island CW Club”          website for online Morse training.

3.  URL of the “Young Amateurs Radio Club” website for further “mentoring for teens by teens”.

4.  “YouTube” video URL titled ” Benioff Children’s Hospital Morse” for a 2.5 minute “taste” of Morse networking.

SIMPLY REMEMBER– “INFORMED EXPOSURE”!

 

” A Friday afternoon escape for the week-weary schoolchildren”

      For those school-children who have endured each day of school, Friday afternoons are an escape.

     Friday afternoons will be fun- limited to those people who have been in school all day-every day that week, or absent with an approved excuse. The first hour of this escape will be spent in conversation with one of the following ( the choices rotate on a weekly schedule): a veterinarian, a medical physician, an actor, a musician, an animal shelter supervisor, a ship captain, a corporate executive, an arborist, a small business owner, an airline pilot, a train engineer, etcetera. These people will tell a captive audience the nuances of each career- the triumphs and the tragedies. These rotating discussions will take place over the magical, wonderful amateur radio that is seen in the classroom “Hobby Haven.” A less exciting method of conversation is through Skype or Google plus.

     The second and third hours of these lazy Friday afternoons will be spent in front of computers- learning about wholesome, new and fun hobbies along with script, video, photos and contact information. In these classroom “Hobby Havens”, other students will work on the hobbies of their choosing- quilting, scrapbooking, stamp collecting, archery, model railroading, model airplane flying, amateur radio, gardening, journaling, etcetera.

    The equipment will be available and space will be reserved for these fine hobbies.

    Why do I recommend this radical approach to education? For an answer, please view the “lonely,bullied youth-so sad, yet treatable” page on this website.

“This is handy”

   When I was in veterinary practice, I sometimes used butterfly needle catheters because of their ease of insertion. However, because of lateral movement of the vein, the needle was prone to puncture the walls of the brachial vein on the dorsal aspect front leg- proximal to the carpus. It also was prone to “back out” of this vein.

     Perhaps a sterile, transparent, flexible yet strong, adhesive backed material could be manufactured. There would be a small hole in the middle of this material for the butterfly needle access point. The strong material would “embrace” the medial, lateral and dorsal sides of the metacarpal veins as they cross the dorsal aspect of the hands. This would prevent medial and lateral movement of these veins while the butterfly catheter is in use. A small tab placed in this material and engineered to pull up to prevent the backward movement of this catheter would also be useful in human and veterinary medicine.

     The caregiver would place this sterile material on top of the hand with the iv access hole on top of the dorsal metacarpal vein. After the needle is inserted, the tab in back of the butterfly would snap up to prevent the catheter from “backing out” of the vein.

“Hospital Humanity”

     An indication that hospital administrators care about their patients would be shown if these administrators send gift cards from local small business owners in town to the patients who have recently been discharged from their hospitals. The attached thank you note would also indicate to the patients that hospital administrators exhibit humanity in thought and deed. This small gesture would also benefit the small business owners in the local area who are struggling to survive the competition from the large chain stores in town.

“simply wonderful-modern guided imagery!”

       Society has advanced to the stage of greatly enhanced in-patient satisfaction. Give these hospitalized patients a Samsung Galaxy Tab 5 mobile device ( or similar competing mobile devices) with a set of comfortable ear buds with extra long cords (or use pillows with speakers inside- see my “Recovery Radio” posting) , a customized android leather case-suitable for use attached to the front of the patient’s food tray, a box of alcohol wipes for ear bud and android mobile device sanitization and finally- a lifetime membership in the wonderful “calmradio.com” meditative streaming internet music service (this membership fee is paid for by the hospital staff and the fee is passed on to the patient through the hospitalization fees charged and billed to insurance). The Android tablet mobile devices in their customized cases are given to the patient to take home and the small charges for the mobile device and the lifetime membership are added to the hospitalization fees. The front of the food tray has one small female Android tablet receptacle for patient use after the android in its’ case with the male end of the receptacle is attached through the female receptacle.

     The visual spectrum for the patients’ guided imagery experiences are met through in-hospital streaming of wonderful, idyllic landscape, animal or other panoramic experiences seen through the patients’ new mobile devices.

      Another female tablet receptacle will be in the package that is sent home with the patient. An innovative use for the tablet is seen. The female and male receptacles can be used at home or traveling, again- in an innovative way. No tools are needed for this further use.

      Simply wonderful- modern guided imagery!

“lonely, bullied youth- so sad, yet treatable”

       KID’S CLUB units can be kept in psychologists’, psychiatrists’ and school counselors’ offices. They can be taken home, used and returned to the professionals’ offices for a return of the parent’s cash deposit. This concept is attractive if you consider the alternatives now available to divert stress and make new friends in a wholesome, safe way for lonely, bullied youth. The fun, challenges and self esteem elevating attributes of these units are also attractive.  If this concept saves one youngster from suicide- it would be considered valuable.

      Each KID’S CLUB unit consists of a modern, high quality amateur radio receiver, a small “active antenna” for indoor use, a DSP external speaker, a modern morse iambic key and keyer-trainer, the “Code Quick” CD to learn morse easily, a small gel cell twelve volt battery, a set of seven amateur radio comic books and coloring books, the latest Technician class amateur radio license study manual. These items are enclosed in a small, light weight, attractive wooden cabinet to be taken home for use. The modern, iambic key produces dots and dashes electronically. The physical effort once required to send morse is now gone. The modern iambic morse key has two vertical paddles. One paddle sends electronically a string of dots as long as it is pressed. The other vertical paddle sends electronically a string of dashes as long as it is pressed. This produces addicting fun and challenges.  Viewers of my outreach- exhibit are generally amazed when they see and hear me sending morse at speeds at or above thirty words per minute using the modern iambic morse key.  To view photos of the attractive KID’S CLUB enclosure, please view the KID’S CLUB page on this website.

     A small, very thin teen dropped by the youth center. He seemed shy and did not appear to have any friends at the center. He was attracted to my amateur radio station and morse practice station. He was fascinated and did not want to leave when his mother came to take him home. He enthusiastically took the amateur radio comic books I gave him.

     This is a true story about a thirteen year old boy named “Joseph”. Joseph’s mother-Pat inquired about my interest in helping Joseph study for his amateur radio license.  Pat told me that Joseph needed a goal to achieve that would require that he read and study. His reading skills were rather poor and he was struggling with spelling as well. I was also told that Joseph’s speech was poor because he tended to “mumble” and “chew” his words.

     Well, amateur radio came to the rescue. Joseph was so intrigued by the “Now you’re talking” textbook that he could hardly put it down. If he ran across words he was not familiar with, he would ask his parents about them and go from there. His reading skills shot through the roof because he was reading something that he was genuinely interested in. Once I got Joseph started on two meters and he became familiar with the repeaters in the area, he started “talking up a storm”. (written reference narrative available).

     What should be done is provide a school of education ( or school of psychology) university research faculty member(s) to sponsor the KID’S CLUB units for testing analysis in the public school system to provide evidentiary experience.
Would someone out there be willing to work to solicit this sponsor-it would be a good thesis topic for an advanced degree.

      Today’s school system has become too stressful for young people. They are overwhelmed by the stress of trying to keep up with the government mandated school curriculum. The parents, increasingly, cannot help these students with their increasingly inordinate amount of homework. The parents may be “stressed out” from their own societal pressures- single parenting, performance measured careers, economic stress, etc.

     Add the pervasive cruelty of bullying behavior to the students. Many of them simply cannot cope.

      School system administrators have to provide stress diversion for these students. Classrooms have to be started in which students  are informed about new, fun, wholesome, non violent hobbies. For instance- if a bullied student is lonely- he/she will learn about the amazing ,fun “discovery” that can be found in amateur radio and morse communication. This hobby is a relatively unknown way to find and keep worldwide new friends in a safe, wholesome way.

      Perhaps these “Hobby Haven” classrooms can be open on Fridays to students who have been in school every day that week (or absent with approved excuse). This may help to decrease society’s truancy issues.

“lighting a path to the future of healthcare”

    Red lighting has been shown to be beneficial for sleep. It is the least disruptive of our circadian rhythms and melatonin production.

    The current fluorescent lights in hospital rooms should be changed to newer LED overhead lighting that is capable of changing colors from red to blue to white through  user controlled internal electronic changes.

      

“I hope that this will help you”

     We are talking pillows. Yes, perhaps a hospitalized patient’s head may not comfortably fit the pillows on the hospital bed. Perhaps the pillow is too soft, too hard, too small or too large for the patient to be comfortable.

     The top quarter of the hospital bed mattress is adapted so that computer controlled microsized foam rubber or air can be injected into (or out of) this enlargeable mattress. The patient or the patient’s family members can tell the attending nurse which type of pillow material should be tried- microsized foam rubber or air. The patient (or family members) will tell the nurse when the proper softness or hardness of the pillow is reached and when the proper size of the pillow is reached. Once again, this pillow is computer controlled so the air or foam rubber can be added or removed from the top quarter of this biomedically altered hospital mattress. There are no contamination issues to be addressed because of the non porous, able to be sanitized mattress barrier separating the inside of this pillow from the patient.

“One of my ministry dreams”

        As you may know, amateur radio was a lifeline for overseas missionaries for decades. Internet and cellular telephone use have replaced amateur radio as this lifeline. However, I feel that there is still a great need to supply amateur radios and develop a worldwide missionary amateur radio network. This ministry is not currently available. My dream is to work to develop the missionary network and work to donate amateur radios to missionaries, along with working to help these people obtain their overseas amateur radio licenses.
      I hope that you will consider these advantages to developing this unique, not currently available ministry:
     

      1. Amateur radios are still valuable for emergency communications everywhere. Even in the Americas, where the utility and cell telephone network is much better than anywhere overseas, in a disaster- public service agency staff still rely on amateur radio operators to help them coordinate disaster response. The amateur radio service utilizes numerous frequencies- immune to overload and quickly deployed using emergency battery power and portable antennas. In a disaster, cell telephone networks becomed overloaded and unusable soon after the emergency. Public service frequencies also may develop this overload problem.
Consider the increased useability with amateur radio use in overseas emergencies by missionaries who may be accustomed to the poor utility and cellular telephone service.
These missionaries should have amateur radios available for possible use in their local communities if the needs arise. Through the years, amateur radio has saved many lives.
    

       2. Missionaries have families who may be homesick for their american friends, american shopping availabilities and american society. These family members can use internet managed methods such as Skype and email messages and internet messenger to communicate with american friends or family members. However, again, these services may be unreliable overseas and they are one on one communications, where “roundtable” communications are not available. “Roundtable” communications with several participants is possible via amateur radio. Missionaries could meet on a designated shortwave frequency,on a scheduled basis, to discuss with other missionaries and their families items of common concern. Missionary family members could talk other family members over the amateur radio bands.

      3. Amateur radio is loads of fun, it is useful to relieve the stress common to missionaries, it is wholesome- with the dangers common to internet use not a concern. It is fun to use.

      4. Amateur radio is favored by God because of its’ wholesome nature- a non-violent alternative to video game and television use and its’ lack of sexual paradigms. Computer virus acquisition and anonymous internet users are not problems with amateur radio use.

      5. Amateur radio use is free after the radios are obtained. There are no monthly fees in amateur radio. This may be valuable for financially challenged  missionaries and their families.

     My dream is to develop a ministry in which I and other volunteers would solicit amateur radios ( used and new) from amateur radio manufacturers and licensees to give to missionaries worldwide at no cost to them. The ministry members would help interested missionaries obtain their amateur radio licenses and develop a regularly scheduled frequency for amateur radio missionaries and their families to check in and have “roundtable” discussions.

” God answers prayer, sometimes in amazing ways”

     As mentioned elsewhere in this blog- I was a thin, shy adolescent. I was not good at sports (but I sure wanted to be).  This patentable idea is sports related, yet it still fits into the overall theme of improving patient care. The idea simply lowers the learning curve required to become outstanding in certain sports. It combines modern technology, professional coaching techniques with practice. With this idea developed, it is possible for a small, thin person to be on the “first team” in basketball, for example.  A “coach” would be available for the youngster while practicing.   Once again, if corporate staff will be willing to appropriate a small percentage of the profits from this idea directly to my three children- this idea is theirs. However, I am hoping that God will bring christian church leadership my way, so that they can benefit from the desires I give you here. I want God to be pleased- after all, they all come from Him. I asked God to take charge of my project and become it’s Leader when the project started years ago.

“Yes, today’s “Society” must require this”

      I wanted the readers of this blog to know that if you see “advertising” on this site- I receive no compensation for them. The advertising is placed there by WordPress managers in order to keep this blog available to me at no cost to me. I really do not care if the advertising is there as long as the advertising on my blog is in good taste, ethical, moral and attractive. I know that WordPress managers have to support their families also.

” At last- humanistic, patient centered care has reached the goal! “

     This post’s title is accurate. The details and design are safely inside my cerebral cortex. I can truly say that this idea is the most valuable, clinically relevant, innovative and safety oriented of any of these patient care ideas.

     I am not giving you the details at this time as I am searching for a technical partner to help me patent this idea. I am not seeking personal financial relief; I am simply seeking lifetime financial relief for my three children. Contact information is given to you in the “Imagine!” posting.

” Don’t wake him, he needs the rest- your Olfan worked it’s magic.”

       This old man still remembers fondly the smells of his youth- freshly cut hay, equestrian sweat, cleaning out the horse and cattle barns  and the peculiar smell of freshly shorn wool.

       He is now old, with only the memories and in the hospital confinement. Luckily, he is fortunate enough to have the progressive, caring, ” thinking outside the box” hospital management prescribing the “Recovery Radio” distraction curtain  to surround this patient and the “olfan” olfactory management. He is also fortunate enough to have the caring family members familiar with the fond smells of his youth.

     The “Olfan” is simply a small fan with the custom prescribed activated olfactory cartridges inserted in the cavity in front of this fan. Tbe family members had the choice  of the smells of freshly oiled equestrian saddles,  the faint but peculiar odor from puppies and kittens, freshly cut alfalfa, the barnyard smells, the pine forest in the air, the smell after a soaking rain, the Oregon seacoast, the sweet smell from the bakery, etc. to choose from. 

    

“Thanks, Lord.” prays the nurse-phlebotomist

      This prayer will be commonly thought  after the newly developed intravenous catheter placement “smart-tool” is clinically marketed.

      Technology exists to combine nano-technology, Robotics, sonographic guidance technology, laser and infra-red positioning technology, biomedical and mechanical engineering technology with software engineering to ensure proper placement of intravenous catheters without mistakes.

      Perhaps this scenario is possible:   A microsized computer flat screen on top of the smart-tool gives the user a sonographic (or similar technology) image of the vein and it’s width. A cursor, corresponding to the position of the iv. catheter, is seen in this sonographic image. A steady LED light on top of this device and a steady tone tells the caregiver that the correct catheter insertion angle is reached. If the light starts to blink and the tone occurs intermittently, the caregiver knows  that the catheter angle is too shallow or too deep for proper placement. The robotic arms on this smart-tool will  push the catheter through the skin into the vein after the user pushes the button on the side of the device. This tool may save valuable time in emergency situations in which “collapsed veins” are seen.

      This innovative device would be capable of performing a “self check” of all electronic parameters to be certain that these parameters are within specifications prior to each use.

      The  nurse-phlebotomist would manage this  sterilizable hand held device to place the catheters in the veins first time-every time.

      This innovation is also useful in the veterinary paradigm. Perhaps this device would also be widely used in the paramedic arenas.

“Wyatt’s Theorem”

 

What is “Wyatt’s Theorem”?:
        1. CW (morse) communication is rare. It is so rare that many people live their lives without seeing morse operation. Many people who do view and listen to morse communication find it fascinating to watch. The majority of young adults who view morse communication are fascinated when they see it in operation.
     CW communication is historic. It has an exciting history. This quality makes cw communication appealing to young adults. It has the “secret language” aspect because it is so rarely used by the public.
      2. Young adults learn cw faster and easier than adults. The civil war leadership utilized this fact by using young adults as “telegraphers” in the civil war.
     3. CW communication is like any “foreign language”. It takes many hours of effort to learn it well. Many people attempt to learn cw, but fail because it is difficult to learn it well.
     4. CW communication, if learned well, is so much fun- it is “addicting”. I have often “talked” to other cw operators who are in the midst of their “cw fix” for the day. CW communication may not be as much fun until the CW is learned so well it can be “copied” at speeds in excess of thirty words per minute without taking written notes. The “work” aspect of cw communication then falls away and the pure enjoyment of it starts. Modern technology has removed the physical effort once required to send cw. Modern cw keys attached to “electronic keyers” have two vertical paddles. One paddle sends a string of “dots” as long as it is pressed. The other vertical paddle sends a string of “dashes” as long as it is pressed.
     5. CW communication is challenging. It is fun to send the right amount of dots and dashes and send cw with the goal of zero mistakes.
     6. CW communication solves the need for everyone to have social interaction. It is valuable for “introverts” who have difficulty finding the words to communicate “face-to-face” with other people. CW communication gives these people time to find the right words to say. It solves this social interaction need in a non-threatening, safe, self esteem building, fun, relaxing way. “Facebook” use by these at risk young adults could possibly lead to the new psychological syndrome called “Facebook depression”. The KID’S CLUB units can be used in some cases to treat this depression.
     I told a newspaper reporter that CW communication combines the fun, challenges and self esteem elevating properties of video game use with the utility of cell phone texting to communicate with other people.
     However, cell phone texting is not nearly as much fun as cw communication. Cell phone texting can also be done by nearly everyone.

     Video game use exposes young people to violence- killing imaginary people and monsters does not seem edifying. Responsible people can assume that this video game violence will continue to spiral downward. Once young adults become “addicted” to video games, their appetites will spiral into the “mature” themes and worse that are now available. It seems to me that video game addiction now teaches young people: 1. how to “kill” people in ever more creative ways and 2. How to have “sex” with women figures in revealing clothing.

     I read today (06/05/012) that the Norway killer who killed 77 people in Norway last summer played the video games “World of Warcraft” and “Modern Warfare” for several hours every day for several months prior to his killing spree.
      It seems to me that this is objective evidence that video game addiction can be very harmful to people and there is a need for wholesome, safe, non violent alternative sources of fun and stress diversion such as amateur radio,including morse communication.

      These qualities of cw communication make it ideal as a self esteem building, stress diverting, source of fun for young adults. I am especially thinking about its’ qualities as a motivating tool for stressed, at risk, “troubled” young adults who have few obvious redeeming qualities.
      Why couldn’t learning and using CW communication be used as an alternative to “punishment” for selected populations of juvenile offenders? This select group of troubled young adults would have the choice of learning and regularly using cw communication or being placed with their troubled peers in the self esteem destroying, isolated buildings- separate from the “normal” population of young adults. This CW communication ability would instead be the “carrot” that places young adult offenders above their peers. The judge or prosecutor in the case would then loan a KID’S CLUB unit to the young adult.

      These young novice CW operators would possibly feel compelled to study basic electronic theory, become proficient in reading and spelling and study FCC rules governing the amateur radio service. They could then pass the FCC supervised test required to obtain a federal amateur radio license. The amateur radio service contains the last remaining pool of accomplished cw operators worldwide. I do not believe that this theorem has been tested and would be an ideal topic for a research project by an advanced degree candidate. It is so frustrating to me that the people who can influence educational and public policy will not even let me demonstrate the qualities of cw communication. I have the equipment and ability to demonstrate this, but rarely receive any replies to my solicitations for help and chairpersonship of my project. My idea of nirvana is a job that allows me to demonstrate cw communication to other people.

     I read recently that the national student school drop-out rate is 25 percent. This seems high to me, but it must be accurate. Why is there a twenty five percent public school drop-out rate? It seems to me the answer is obvious- school is not fun. There are national academic standards that require students to attend and learn ever more rigorous knowledge. The school student may be a victim of the ever increasing peer bullying problem while at school. The slower learning, slightly less intelligent students may have problems learning the academic curriculum.

      Increasingly, single parent households do not have the energy, time or knowledge to help these students keep up with the increasingly mandated educational curriculum.

     I would consider dropping out of school myself if I were a high school student these days. I was thin, shy and had few friends in school. I would have been a top candidate for the social networking criticism and mean ” put downs” by my peers. The bullying situation is now worse, because disparaging comments can now be distributed through social media on the web to countless people.

     I believe that the daily pressure on individuals simply to make it to the end of the day, week or year has greatly increased. School administrators are pressured to teach students academic curriculum, but the social paradigm has now changed in modern times. School administrators now MUST also expose students to strategies that will help them simply SURVIVE adult LIFE. Hobby exposure is one way to do this. It is not now being done by school administrators.

     I am a veterinarian, not a PHD. academic. It seems to me that they cannot see the “forest through the trees”. What good are standardized academic daily rigors if the school student is not there to learn the information? Make school fun. Have an amateur radio station in each school, supervised by amateur radio operator professional teachers. Tell students that if they will attend school all day, at 2:30 pm, the amateur radio station operator-teacher will contact and you can ask questions of:

     1. Mondays: an astronaut on the US Space Station (also an amateur radio station enthusiast).

     2. Tuesdays : a “sea-faring” cruise ship captain in the Atlantic ocean ( also an amateur radio enthusiast ).

     3. Wednesdays: a veterinarian, MD, pacific oil rig supervisor, actor, etc. (also an amateur radio enthusiast).

     4. Thursdays: the pilot of a Boeing 747 airplane on a transatlantic flight ( also an amateur radio enthusiast).

     5. Fridays: a scientist at the McMurdo scientific station in the Antarctic ( also an amateur radio enthusiast).

     Once again, to participate in these exciting discussions at the end of the school day, the participants will have been in school all day.

      Of course, these exciting discussions can be accomplished by using “Skype” or other computer managed methods. However, these tasks are routine to students nowadays. Ham radio is a communication mode that is different and unseen to them- thus more exciting to them. Also, there is no nebulous, ephemeral “magic” involved with communicating via telephone, cell phone or other internet lines. Only by realizing that the voices are coming into the classroom via the “magic” of airwaves, is the “magic” maintained even after all these decades of use.

     Or- student excitement could be generated by the teacher-amateur radio operator promising to those students who attend school the whole day that the amateur radio operator-teachers would attempt contacts by using the school’s “moon bounce” amateur radio equipment. Signals are bounced off the moon to provide world wide radio contacts.

      The idea mentioned above does not appeal to academics? Well, perhaps one hour of each school day is spent in the “Hospital’s Hobby Haven” type school rooms, devoted to student perusing of all the fun, new, exciting, stress diverting and different hobbies that are available to help people cope in today’s increasingly “stressed-out”, performance measured lifestyle. Once again, entry to this school room with the hobby directory on CD or DVD would be restricted to students who have been in school all day or every day of that week. If a hobby is selected- the teacher would make every effort to solicit and provide all the materials and contacts needed for that student to work on his/her chosen hobby during the last hour of each school day. Once again, the student would not be able to work on this hobby in the “Hospital’s Hobby Haven” school room unless he/she attended school for the whole day or every day that week.

“Imagine!”

       Imagine hearing your individual amateur radio callsign coming back to you through the aether in morse code from a scientist working at the McMurdo station in the Antarctic.    

       Imagine your callsign in morse being sent by a Boeing 747 pilot on a transatlantic flight.      

      Imagine your callsign being returned from the Space Station by the United States Space Station astronaut who is conversant  in morse code.        

       Do you see and feel the thrill these moments would create in the minds of medically challenged young adults?   Do you understand the feelings of pride and accomplishment these moments would create in medically challenged young adults, who have formerly felt the pain of underachievment and low self esteem?  How wonderful the moments would be if recreated under the audience of the youngster’s important peers  (who cannot feel this pride because they have not worked to accomplish morse proficiency and worked to pass the exam needed to obtain an amateur radio license).  

      You will not know how much fun, stress diverting and self esteem elevating amateur radio, including morse communication, is unless you are exposed to this impressive mode of communication.  Morse communication combines the fun, challenges and self esteem elevating properties of video gaming with the utility of cell phone texting to communicate with other people. However, morse communication does not have the risk of addiction to video-gaming, including addiction  to the mature video game themes. Morse communication is so much more fun and faster than cell phone texting.  

      Thirteen years ago, KID’S CLUB was imprinted on the developer’s mind. This developer has been searching for help (chairpeople) to move KID’S CLUB into the nation’s medical institutions and Ronald McDonald Homes.  He is still searching for the influential people who can move this wonderful project into the medically challenged young population. In the hospital discharge process, the young patient’s parents would leave a refundable cash deposit with hospital personnel, take home the KID’S CLUB amateur radio and morse communication exposure unit, use this unit at home and then return the unit to the hospital personnel for a refund of this deposit.  The young patient could also purchase this unit by forfeiting this deposit. The chairpeople of KID’S CLUB will solicit unit funding for these hospital supplied KID’S CLUB units from local service club membership (Kiwanis Club, Lions Club, Rotary Club, Shriners Club, or Elks Club).

      The project cannot succeed unless you step forward and volunteer your time and influence to enable success.       E- communication is so boring and routine- again, mental ESCAPE from worry and depression is possible by using KID’S CLUB units. Thanks so much for being kind and caring enough to consider volunteering.      

      My motive is humanitarian, not financial. I am now a senior citizen and would like to be able to utilize my ideas when I have to enter the hospital or nursing home. Thus, I guess that I have a selfish motive. It would be so nice to have my choice of  “Recovery Radio” distraction curtains surrounding me while my choice of soothing music is played into my pillow and my choice of olfactory management is maintained. I would like to see intravenous catheters inserted into my veins first time, every time- even if a novice is giving me this care. I would like to be able to use my ComCage unit while I am in the nursing home and would love to be able to enter a hospital room devoted to the information management for all the wonderful, healthy hobbies that are now available. I would love to see the young patients exposed to the “Hospital’s Hobby Haven” room and also have a KID’S CLUB unit available for use by hospitalized young patients, their families  and the pediatric mentally ill.    I would love to see “Facebook Depression” as a now extinct diagnosis because of the availability of KID’S CLUB units and the “Hospital’s Hobby Haven” DVD’s. I would love to see the two to six year old patients in the hospital energized by the availability of “Holiday Hams”- an effort to tell these young patients that they are loved, important and will be thought of during their stay. The patients’ favorite storybook hero will “talk” directly to the youngster.  It would be so nice to be able to “talk my attending physician” into signing off on my request to utilize the “bathroom independence” facilities that I talk about here and are now routinely in use. I would like to see the allied health professionals using my “Crib Note” idea routinely.  I would love to see the patient concern about adverse drug events a “non-issue”. The safeguards I propose in this blog make such mistakes impossible.       

       I have a patentable idea that would be heavily used in the amateur radio and possibly also the military communities.  This idea is not seen at this time, in this project blog.  It would be reasonably priced, very unique, easily used and would have no similar product like it. I will give this idea to any corporate staff who will agree to earnestly work on and help develop the KID’S CLUB aspect of this project. I would hope also for a licensing agreement with this partner that will give partial revenues from this patentable idea directly to my three children and my personal friend, Pastor Wayde Kenneke- to lighten their economic load in life.      

       I hope that there are people perceptive enough to see the value of one or more of these ideas.   Please email me at: duanewyatt@hotmail.com if you are interested in helping me.   My cell phone telephone number is  916-677-9799.     My wife’s  (Sheryl)  cell phone number is: 916-677-6936.

“Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”

     Yes, this post can certainly be considered “certifiably Jules Verne”.  But, perhaps the technology exists to develop this idea.  Here goes:

     Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients are not able to move skeletal muscles in the later  stages of this disease. Thus, communication with the caregivers may be a problem.

     The Morse Code alphabet is a truly binary language. It consists of combinations of dots and dashes- short and long sounds, lights or, in this case- higher and lower  brain wave frequency  patterns. I know that there are differing brain wave patterns.  These brain wave patterns consist of differing frequencies. I know that it is possible to manipulate one’s own brain wave patterns.  Perhaps research can find out if one or more of these patterns can communicate in the binary morse code language.

     The ALS patient could learn the morse code language during the early months of the illness and would be conversant in the language when it is needed to communicate with the caregiver. I can talk to other morse users at speeds up to thirty words per minute. I copy the morse in my head, with minimal use of written notes. I find the morse code language fascinating and loads of fun.

     Would it be a possibility to forsee a communication method in which EEG sensors distinguish higher and lower frequency patterns of brain waves, consciously produced by an ALS patient conversant in morse code? The software of the computer attached to this EEG device would then translate the CW (morse code) that is sent by  the patient. Perhaps this EEG could be combined with computer software-developed only for this purpose and would be a new medical device, invented for this purpose.

     Perhaps this communication method would also be valuable as a communication tool for Muscular Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Cerebral Palsy patients?

    As an alternative or in cases where total muscle paralysis is not present, Toyota motor company’s “Touch Tracer” technology could possibly be applied here to provide an alphabetized and symbolized pressure touch flat screen. The caregiver would slowly move each letter on this tablet under the patient’s finger. The patient would slightly press each letter and/or symbol  he/she wants to use and this letter-symbol  would be displayed on the room’s television monitor for everyone to see.

      Once again, I do not know if this post is a possibility and it seems far fetched to me,  but it is worthy of thought and perhaps pursued further with research?   I have read about the research being done with “Brain-Computer Interfaces.”

“Eliminating your elimination concerns”

     As I have stated, some of these ideas appear to be “Jules Verne” in nature, however I believe that they will one day be a part of every hospital, nursing home and hospice.

     When I am thinking about how hospital care can be improved, I think about my days as a patient  in the critical care department of a hospital. I think about my thoughts at the time and I then think about ways to correct the concerns I was thinking. This is one such correction. I still remember, years later, the “butt chewing” I endured from my nurse after I tried to go to the bathroom without her help.

     When  capable patients  have to eliminate (and/or bathe) , they can have the ability, although bed bound, to accomplish these bathroom duties without the help of a caregiver.

     Health-care providers will see the incidence of CAUTI (catheter associated urinary tract infections) go down if these facilities are developed and routinely used.

     There will be tracks in the ceiling of each room (One end would be at the ceiling of the patient’s bed and the other end of this stainless steel track  would cross the bathroom stool ceiling and end in the bathrooms’ bathtub ceiling.)  with a stainless steel “children’s swingset” seat customized with retractable stainless steel harnesses to keep the patients on these seats.  We are all aware of the harnesses that retract after roller coaster rides. Perhaps this system would work well here also. This system would differ from roller coaster harnesses in that the harness would have to retract from both the front and rear sides of the patients. Sensors in each harness would limit the  “travel” of each harness to prevent their placement around the patients in an adverse manner. Perhaps the harnesses could consist of two stainless steel “bars”. When the chair is resting below the hospital ceiling, the bars would be at rest above the seat. After the patient slides onto this seat, the patient would press the control button to move these bars down to rest at mid-femoral and mid-lumbar regions. This should provide enough stability for patient safety.

 

 

     The two ” children’s swing seat chains” would instead be two motorized, collapsible stainless steel tubes – one on each end of this seat. Thus, if the seat is not being used, it would be seen just below the bathroom door ceiling until it is used.

    Simple patient controls would be on the beds and just above one leg of the seat. UP-DOWN-BACKWARD- FORWARD -NURSE ALARM -HARNESS FORWARD- HARNESS RETRACT  and other simple commands would be present.  These controls would be battery operated and waterproof and easily sterilizable.  The controls would have a safety feature that would prevent this seat from moving above a specified distance from the floor while the patient is on this seat. The caregiver would be able to over-ride this feature to place the seat at resting level after the patient has gone home.

     Capable  patients would command the unit to come to the patient’s bedside and lower the seat to bedside level.  The patient slides forward to be placed on the seat, commands the harness to surround (or partially surrounds)  his body and proceeds to the bathroom for elimination duties and/or bathing. After these duties are accomplished, the commands would begin again. Toyota motor company’s ” Advanced parking guidance system” software could perhaps be used to “fine tune” the placement of this chair at the patient’s bedside, toilet and bathtub to provide ease of use and safety.

      Perhaps this system would free up the nurses for other duties.  Perhaps this idea will help correct shortfalls in nursing care due to adverse nurses ratios due to budget cuts and nursing shortages. Perhaps this idea may help reduce the incidence of patient falls while in the hospital. Perhaps paraplegic patients may find this idea valuable while in the hospital or at home. Perhaps this idea will not work. There would have to be informed consent forms signed before using this system and would be available only after approval of the hospitalist in charge of the patient. If the system is in use, a nurse’s station light will alert the caregiver of this use.

“Intravenous Reminders”

     We all know about the electronic signs that “scroll”  moving words across the rectangular screens.

      Perhaps, it may be useful and help the patients focus on positive news if the horizontal tops of the intravenous poles are made of these small horizontal battery operated signs that say,” Remember, with each drop of this medicine- you are one step closer to home!”

      These signs could be tastefully and professionally manufactured, with molded  (an integral part of the intravenous stand), stainless steel framing, small in size and with pleasing colors- i.e. the one inch high letters could be in the amber color or light blue color.

“This is simple but makes sense”

     This project blog contains ideas from  “simple to complex”.  This idea refers to the type of over the bed food tray commonly seen in hospitals. These trays are made of sturdy wood laminate tray tops with metal supports and pedestal casters. This idea would be valuable to patients in hospital beds who have to turn around and strain to try to find their glasses, or pen and paper, or wallet, etc. in the drawer by the side of their hospital beds. Perhaps, some patients  may worry about their eye-glasses being knocked on the floor if they are placed on top of this furniture. They may have to ask family members or hospital staff to help them locate items that may be important to them.

     Perhaps it is possible for the food trays that are currently used to contain a small drawer directly under the top of the food tray. Personal items that are important to the patient could be placed in this small drawer, within easy reach of the patient. If this idea is possible, it may alleviate one small concern from the many concerns these patients would have.

“Say goodbye to iatrogenic grief”

         I found the following information on the internet:

       ” Patient injuries resulting from drug therapy are among the most common types of adverse events that occur in hospitals.⁹ Although the incidence of ADEs (adverse drug events) and their effect on costs have been investigated in only a few hospitals in the United States, the implications are clear from published results that ADEs constitute a widespread problem that causes injuries to patients and disproportionately increases expenses.”

    

       The medical profession sometimes does not give one a second chance after an error is made.

      I foresee a medical paradigm in which the worlds of computer science, pharmacology, government regulation, nano-technology, nursing care and biomedical engineering collide to erase a nurse’s grief due to adverse medication events.

    The technology exists for FDA regulators to require pharmacologic bar-codes on bottles of medication which reflect the medication’s name, refractive index, specific gravity, osmolarity, osmolality, dosage, strength, route of administration etc.

      The method of delivery of  parenteral medication has not changed in years. Why couldn’t the computer laptops you will learn about in later posts on this blog be also used with infrared or laser barcode sensors to read the barcode of each bottle and consequently further infra-red or laser sensors attached to the neck of each bottle of medication by the caregiver reads the diameter, length, refractive index, specific gravity (perhaps also incorporating the colorimetric methods used by blood chemistry analyzers), etc.  of the medication in the syringe as the medication is drawn up?  Medication syringes that are marketed with the medication already in the syringes are scanned in a similar manner by portable infra-red or laser barcode and medication chemistry scanners. The name of the manufacturer of the syringe and other parameters would be entered in the software of the laptop computer so a warning can be given if the parameters measured in the medication syringe does not match the parameters in the software in the patient’s electronic medical record for the medication ordered by the physician. The software in the computers can also alert the nurse if the medication is being given at an unusual interval from manufacturer guidelines, or if the EMR for the patient lists an allergy  for the medication. The use of electronic medical records by the caregivers will facilitate this idea.

     These safeguards can also alert the caregivers if the medication in the syringe contains a drug that has not been premixed well (Perhaps this may be one reason for divergent measured refractive indices and/or specific gravities detected by the computer software.)

     Other similar methods can be devised to warn the care-giver if the per- os medication does not match the physician’s orders for the patient.

      Liquid medication that is required to be given orally cannot be  given parenterally because the laser or infrared beam from the microsized chemistry sensor attached to the oral medication delivery container is large enough to sense an attached needle. The computer then will give an alarm, both auditory and visual.

     Perhaps the cost of developing and using this technology would be offset by the decreases in liability insurance premiums paid by hospital management.

     This patient care idea is also useful in the veterinary paradigm.

   

“Beneath your hospital bed”

     We know about the “massage recliners and chairs” that are now available.  It is time for this technology to be applied to hospital beds. 

     I found the following information on the website- “Massagetherapy.com”:

     ” Any condition that reduces the frequency of voluntary or involuntary movements, decreases the closing pressure of capillaries, decreases oxygen carrying capacity, increases tissue demand for oxygen, reduces availability of albumin, vitamins, and trace elements needed for viability of cells, or reduces the resistance of skin to infection can put a person at risk for bed sores.”

     The same laptop computers that are used in the distraction therapy techniques described in my “Beyond your hospital bed” post on this project blog could be applied to this “massage therapy” use also. The hospital bed manufacturer personnel could convene a panel of physical therapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, internists, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, exercise physiologists, biomedical engineers and software engineers.  Because of the amazing communication capability of the internet, the dialogue with this panel of experts can be accomplished through internet conference calls.

     Toyota motor company’s T.H.U.M.S. software could provide the nexus and prototype “patient” to help provide this panel with the information needed to design this next generation hospital mattress.

     This panel of experts would design the optimum levels, duration and locations of tactile pressure depending upon the patients’ clinical diagnosis and physical and mental conditioning.

      The hardware and software would then be designed based upon this research. The laptop computers would control the sensors located in the hospital bed mattress which subsequently control the roller plates (or perhaps precision air pressure technology from “next generation” air mattress technology) in this mattress.

      I would like to see the “Beyond your hospital bed” idea posted in this blog combined with this “Beneath your hospital bed” post to create a hospital bed that provides both distraction therapy via the over the bed computer flat screen monitors and the benefits of therapeutic massage provided by this product.

“ComCage”

     This thumbnail photo represents the most recent change to my display. It is the most professional and streamlined looking. It consists of a portable amateur radio station, an amateur radio DVD viewing station and a morse practice station. Since the photo was taken, I painted the hinges on the sign black and removed the metal hooks on the laminated signs- replacing them with black nylon string.

      I am hoping for your interest and help with this project.    Personally, I consider this project a God given ministry. Once one makes the effort to learn the morse language, this communication method is so relaxing and fun. I consider this fun to be addicting. This fun is a wholesome, safe, non violent alternative to video game use and television and movie viewing.

     The members of the “Samuel F. Morse amateur radio club” are all morse enthusiasts. On August 9, 2012- this club was featured in a Sacramento Fox40 television news story. The video of this story is on the Samuel F. Morse amateur radio club website. The club website is at: W6SFM.com. This television news video is also seen on the “FOX40 video” page seen in this project blog.

      I have exhibited this neat display at Rancho Cordova’s annual “Kid’s Day at the Park” event one recent year.

      Some of the comments from the young viewers-participants were:

     “This is SO COOL!”, “You HAVE to try this!”, “Can I try it?”

      The excitement and amazement in the faces of the other viewers-participants of this display-exhibit was obvious.

       I would love to exhibit-display my project for classroom demonstrations. I have yet to convince educators of the value of this outreach for students. Once again, this display is a wholesome, lots of fun, historic, stress diverting, safe, self esteem elevating presentation of this wonderful hobby.

       To obtain an amateur radio license, these applicants have to learn basic electronics to pass the tests needed to obtain government issued amateur radio licenses. Historically, numerous electrical engineers have started their electronic careers by passing the amateur radio license exams.

      This week (starting Sept. 12, 2012) I started teaching the Capital Christian Center “Ranger” group of boys (fifth grade through high school) about amateur radio. The boys knew little about this wonderful hobby. They were enthused to hear about it and see and hear my portable amateur radio station. They were especially amazed to see me converse in morse at speeds in excess of thirty words per minute and to hear that most of our astronauts are amateur radio operators, have a ham radio station on our space station and like to use it to talk to school amateur radio club members. At the end of the mentoring sessions, nine boys studied to take the Technician class exam for their amateur radio licenses.

       At the 2014 ScholarShare Literacy event at Sacramento’s FairyTale Town, a teen approached my display. He was fascinated by my morse practice station and enthusiastically wanted to try the modern iambic morse paddles himself. He had a stuttering issue and badly wanted to do what he saw me do with morse. He came back to my exhibit three times.

       I personally feel that this wonderful hobby may fill the niche for those young adults who do not care about sports or may not be good in sports to find a wholesome, challenging, stress diverting, self esteem elevating,exciting historic, safe, fun way to relieve the increasing level of stress in lives surrounded by sexual and violent paradigms. Or, perhaps an amateur radio licensee will save one or more lives. This has been seen in the past.

“Beyond your hospital bed”

    I dreamed about my latest idea last night.
    Rising diagonally from the head of this futuristic hospital bed is a molded metal or fiberglass arm which ends in a three feet high by three feet wide square molded fiberglass LCD or LED flatscreen computer monitor several feet above the bed at feet level- tilted towards the patient.  The screen of this computer monitor may have to be covered by an unbreakable plexiglass shield.
    Inside this arm are the control lines for this computer monitor.  The arm would be freely swivable -up and down, left to right. Such mobility is available-we all know about the robots in automobile manufacturing plants. These robots contain arms that automatically perform movable tasks dozens of times a day. Perhaps the arms could swivel the flatscreen computer monitors under the hospital beds for storage.
    At the head of the futuristic hospital bed is a computer USB port and the female mono audio adapters for the ear bud extensions or under the pillow speaker wire port.
    An internet capable laptop computer at the head of the patient’s bed then controls the music which is downloaded and the idyllic scenery which is seen or even the television and movies which can be watched on this computer monitor suspended above the patient’s bed. 

     Because I am a veterinarian, I am not active in human medicine. Perhaps the following patient monitoring adaption is already in use.  Using the laptop computers at bedside, the patient’s medical system parameters could be transferred to the nurse’s station and software could be designed to make the system work well. Software could be designed to allow the hospitalist to also monitor critical patients via his/her I-phone. The medical system parameters could be transferred to the bedside laptop computer and subsequently transferred to the nurses station and physician’s I-phone.

      A miniature computer keyboard attached to a miniature swivel arm similar to the arm which is used with the computer LED monitor could be attached to the bed’s patient guard rail. This keyboard could be used to control the laptop computer, including sending text messages to the nurse’s station if help is needed. Software could be devised to warn the nurses at their station that urgent or non urgent help is needed by the patients. The patients could type out their request to the nurse or any key could be pressed for longer than two seconds, which sounds an emergency alarm. This keyboard system could replace the buzzer system that may be used.

       Perhaps the staff of the manufacturers of the existing hospital beds can retrofit them to accept the over the bed computer monitors, monitor arms, computer laptop control ports and ear bud or under the pillow (PILLOWSONIC tm.) speaker ports.
      Research has proven that distraction therapy decreases the amount of opiates needed for analgesia in some patients by up to fifty percent.
Since hospital management charges the patients the same fee for opiate use, regardless of dosage, the cost of retrofitting these beds will eventually be recovered.
        I know that there are other benefits to this therapy as well, I just have not read about them. I do know that I would like to see this feature available to anyone who wants to use it. It would sure be nice to be able to listen to your choice of music  while you are viewing your choice of pastoral image in front of you- easily viewable at several angles in front of you- on any day, at any hour of the day or night.  Personal digital photos can be downloaded into this over the bed computer screen for viewing while bed-bound.

     There are many possibilities available if  computer monitors are readily accessible.  Performances, celebrity hospital visits, family gatherings can be recorded and family pets can be taken to the sidewalk outside the hospital reception area and can  then be immediately viewed by the patient (through these over the bed computer monitors) . We all know how prevalent and inexpensive internet computer cameras are. These images are immediately downloaded into the patient bedside laptop computer for viewing by the patients. If the patient then wants to keep the image in front of him/her for a period of time, the nurse in charge of the patient can “freeze” this computer image.  Some patients cannot leave their hospital beds for some period of time.

     The very young patients’ parents could be interviewed to determine the young patient’s favorite fantasy hero. The hospital staff would then play the prerecorded, customized DVD to the young patient- giving him/her the message that ”  Hello  Amy (or other pre-recorded customized patient name) : This is “Snow White” (or other pre-recorded fantasy creature ) in the “land of fantasy”.  “Grumpy” told me that you are hospitalized here in Sioux Valley Hospital (the hospital’s name).   All of us here in the land of fantasy want you to know that we will be thinking of you while you are sick, you are very special to all of us and we all want you to get better as soon as possible. Please remember that all of us in the land of fantasy will be thinking of you”.  Perhaps, a local professional theatre group would be willing to do the voice overs for the various fantasy creatures and Super Heros  along with the customized names- i.e. Amy, Laura, Carrie, Brittany, Daniel, Thomas, Ben etc.  for these pre-recorded DVD’s or CD’s.

“Senior Signals”

     I purchased a “Crosley Radio” brand of replica vintage console am/fm radio. This radio looks just like the old time radios that were used in the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s. Hidden inside this commercially available console radio is a CD and cassette player. I also fabricated a wooden harness that holds a small amateur radio receiver.  This harness is attached to and hidden in back of the Crosley Radio until needed.

      I wanted to have regular “vintage radio programs” in nursing homes and retirement communities nationwide.  The program would start with one half hour of listening to amateur radio conversations. The wooden harness holding the ham radio receiver that is hidden in back of the vintage looking am/fm radio is pulled out of it’s hiding place by pulling upward, forward and down to rest on top of the Crosley Radio. After the residents listen to ham radio, there would be one half hour of listening to the vintage radio programs that were aired in the 1930’s and 1940’s. “Gunsmoke”, the “Jack Benny Show”, “The Shadow Knows” and “The Green Hornet” radio theatre are now available as CD reproductions. World War Two veterans and their peers used to listen to these radio programs as youth.

      I would close the weekly program with one half hour of listening to classical music via the hidden CD player.

     I had a working prototype of this modified vintage looking Crosley Radio, but gave it to a friend  (Tom Barron of Ruthton, Mn. ) as payment for helping me move out of my veterinary clinic when it closed.

     I also want to mention that my KID’S CLUB units can be used in these nursing homes and retirement homes as a compromise to the institution management who are hostile to amateur radio. There are lots of ham radio operators who have loved this wonderful hobby, who are not able to use their hobby because they are now in nursing homes or retirement communities.

“Recovery Radio”, “Holiday Hams”, “Hospital’s Hobby Haven”, “Crib Notes”

example of distraction curtain technology (please click on this thumbnail photograph to enlarge it)

 

     1.  Recovery Radio:    

     Soothing music – Infrared remote controllable I-Pods along with a small audio amplifier-sewn into a pocket in the wall side, bottom margin corner of the “distraction therapy” curtain, with two speaker wires in a flat rubber runner, running on the floor by the wall to the pt.bed (programmed with choices of classical, contemporary,christian,country,instrumental music)  to be plugged into a PILLOWSONIC tm “under the pillow” speaker, (or ear buds) extension cord for the pt.-with idyllic, pastoral scenes on patient privacy curtains (now called “distraction therapy” or “guided imagery curtains”)are needed in hospital rooms. Custom scene selection of these high quality silkscreened pictures could be chosen by the pt. or patient’s family (choices of medieval castle scenes, New England villages, quaint English villages, father and son fly fishing mtn. streams,horses grazing rolling pastures, puppies and kittens playing etc.). This aspect of the project would be especially valuable in nursing home or hospice settings.    

     Another possible benefit of the use of these curtains is the possibly beneficial improvement of the psyche of the caregiver who looks the myriad of high quality images on these curtains for several hours each day.     

     Virtual reality glasses are expensive, have the possibility of being dislodged and broken, must be monitored closely and may become uncomfortable to use (the patient may not be able to move his/her head during use).      

     Dr. Yosaif August in Seattle has been producing choices of “Bedscapes” distraction curtains with the ocean sounds coming through the room’s television speakers. My idea takes this a step furthe

      2. Holiday Hams: 

       Young  children believe in fantasy creatures and “Super-Heroes” are important to them. The following narrative was taken from the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital  website ( Please know that no one at St. Jude’s  Children’s Research Hospital  is endorsing any of my ideas. I am giving you this narrative for your information only.):    

     “With pomp and circumstance, Angie Koeneker presents the colorful sticker. “Captain Cooperation, for holding still during your blood draw, you have earned this medal!” Ceremoniously, she places the “medal” on the super hero’s small cape. Grinning, 5-year-old Landon Brereton twists his cape around to admire his latest medal of honor. Everyone cheers; his parents and nurses smile with pride and relief.      Before Koeneker presented the young patient with his cape—transforming the small boy into a powerful super hero—Landon had barely been able to pass through the front door of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital without crying.

     “He was having a really tough time coming here. Even the parking lot upset him. He was scared and anxious, plus he felt awful. The nurses had difficulty assessing him,” says Koeneker, a Child Life specialist.

     After discovering that the little guy liked super heroes, Koeneker bought him a cape and, across the back, wrote “Captain Cooperation” in big, emphatic letters.“His nurses and I gave it to him and explained that he didn’t have to be happy when he came to the hospital but, being a superhero, he’d have to use his powers to help the doctors and nurses try to help his body get better. Every time Landon cooperated, he would earn a new sticker—a new medal of honor,” she says. “Our ‘captain’ was able to use his cape as a way to cope with what he was going through at St. Jude until he didn’t need it anymore.”

     At Christmas, 2003, young patients at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls were thrilled to talk directly to Santa and his elves at their workshop at the North Pole via the magical amateur radio. “Rudolph” was also interviewed by the young hospitalized patients. Like the patients, he was a little “under the weather” that day. You see, he ate too many carrots and had an upset stomach.

      The preschool pt. parents could be interviewed and the pt would listen/talk to pt.’s favorite fantasy hero over the strange/magical amateur radio tell the patient how special and thought of he/she will be during the patients’ illness. The sick child may be too ill to talk, but the pt. would benefit from knowing that the pt.s’ fantasy hero is thinking about the patient and thinks that the preschool pt. is special and that perhaps they can talk again when the patient is feeling better.These thoughts may give the very sick child the willpower to fight the illness that is consuming his/her young body. Disneyland is built on this type of fantasy.  “Super Hero actors”, in Superhero costume are often asked to visit chidrens’ birthday parties and other events.  If a licensed amateur radio operator is not available, the hospital maintenance department’s own business band radios can be used. “Personal Communication Service”  (PCS) or “Family Radio Service” (FRS) hand held “walkie talkies” can be purchased at Walmart or Radio Shack and used for this purpose after the in house biomedical engineers have given their approval for this use. I feel that it is important that a communication device other than a cell phone is used. The “magic”  is lost if an electronic device is used that the young patient has seen before.  Perhaps Microsoft and/or Apple corporate scientists would be willing to develop a “PalmPilot” sized invention. This invention would have lots of magical, mystical lights and buttons and would actually be an internet capable handheld sized computer. The dialogue and patient-fantasy creature interaction would be performed via the internet. If this invention is used only for this purpose, it would be new, magical and mystical for the child. Perhaps the  child life specialist would be willing to say that this strange machine was invented because the child is special, important, and loved. Perhaps RFI testing would not have to be done if these types of new computers are used.

     Another way to obtain the needed benefits to the young patient of his/her thoughts about being “special and thought of ” by the young patient’s favorite fantasy hero would be to have a local actor’s theatre group donate their time to prerecord a message on CD for the young patient. The message would state that “This is a message to _____ (patient’s first name) now being treated at ______ (name of the hospital). This is _______  (child’s favorite fantasy hero’s name) in the land of make believe. The Tooth Fairy (or other fantasy creature) told me that you are ill. I just wanted you to know that all of us here in the land of fantasy are thinking of you, think that you are very special and I hope that I can talk to you again when you are feeling better.” This would be the end of the prerecorded message and this message would then be personalized with the patient’s name in the message, hospital’s name in this message and the pt.’s fantasy hero’s name by modern digital editing techniques. The prerecorded master copy can be reused with other young patients and the lapses on the tape would be personalized with the above mentioned names to match each young patient. This prerecorded message would then be uploaded into the Infrared remote controllable I -Pod that is in the patient’s personal distraction curtain (see above). Perhaps this method of self esteem building would be easier for you to implement.  

     If the hospitalized young patient has a birthday while in this hospital, the patient’s special day would be brighter if he/she had a special birthday conversation with this patient’s “birthday bunny” in the land of “make-believe”. 

        

     3. Hospital’s Hobby Haven:     

      Comprehensive Hobby (all the healthy hobbies exhaustively discussed-along with the needed disclaimer information)  DVD’s should be routinely given to the patient by the caregiver. This should be a part of the treatment for any patient. If I had not happened to see an amateur radio station at the county fair when I was thirteen, I would have missed  the life saving stress diversion this wonderful hobby provides. Don’t you see? People have to be exposed to a systematic, comprehensive information base for all these healthy, fun hobbies.  Perhaps a “Google Search” of “healthy hobbies” may be a good way  to start or perhaps the best way to start this aspect of the project would be to obtain an unabridged dictionary. Start with the first word in the “A” category and finish with the last word in the “Z” category of this dictionary. Write down all the words that name the healthy hobbies and then start the work involved with describing each healthy hobby- complete with script, photographs, and perhaps videos.     

      4. Crib Notes:   

      To be  developed in the allied health arena: Relevant and important information for students in all the allied health (including veterinary health) arena can be typed on standard eight and a half by eleven inch typing paper and then reduced in size to pocket sized by modern copying machine methods. These notes are then laminated for durability and easy cleaning and two holes punched in the top of them with two stainless steel rings placed in these two holes, to be used as “binders” to hold the notes together. Two sheets of paper can be left blank, reduced in size, laminated and used with an erasable pen as a  “white board”,which can be wiped clean after the notes are no longer needed.The crib notes can then be easily carried in students (including preceptors and interns) professional coats or pockets. I phones are being developed for this use. They require a monthly subscription fee, may be hard to disinfect properly after use at the patient’s bedside and may be hard to utilize (the menu may be difficult to access for the proper information). The I-Phones also do not allow the easy compiling of written notes. 

     I had a working prototype of my echocardiographic information in the crib note form described above and used it while a preceptor student at Duke University Medical Center. My colleagues at the Duke University Medical Center were impressed with these crib notes.