Baby drops through toilet hole of train and lives

by Jamie Rhein on

Here’s a story that tops the version of the parent who unwittingly sets a baby strapped in a car seat carrier on top of the car and drives off. That can add a bit of a nightmare to any vacation. It also beats my story of how I dropped my car keys into a toilet –or any of the stories I’ve heard of people accidentally dropping items down a latrine. These are popular Peace Corps tales. It also tops my version of having a baby in New Delhi, India by a long shot–a very long shot, and I took a train ride to Pushcar Pushkar when I was eight months pregnant.

This past Tuesday, a woman headed off the the toilet on a train in India and gave birth without planning to at that particular moment. Unfortunately, she passed out during the activity. When she came to, the baby had fallen through the open hole of the toilet onto the tracks. That was a big problem, made bigger because the train was moving. Her relatives pulled the emergency brake to stop the train.

The baby, eight to ten weeks premature, was later found in the middle of the tracks less than two hours later. She was alive and taken to a hospital. The prognosis isn’t great, according to the doctor, but medical care in India can be excellent, so hopefully the baby will pull though.

This story will probably forever top the stories of “the most exciting thing that happened to you when you were on a trip,” regardless of who you are: the mother, the relatives, the train workers, the other passengers or the baby. My son already surprises people when he tells them he was born in India. I’m glad our version of his birth is more mundane than this one. This baby’s story is really a miracle with a capital M. [via msnbc]

What strange things have been found on planes?


Click the image to read the bizarre story…

Should you postpone your travel plans when ill?

by Erik McLaughlin on

The recent incident involving the woman who died mid-air has drawn attention to travelers who choose to fly when seriously ill. CNN ran an article offering advice for those who fly while sick, and to summarize, they advise against it. I consider myself a student of remote medicine and medical care with limited resources, and I am finding it difficult to think of a more remote, under-equipped location than a commercial airliner at 30,000 feet.

The CNN article discussed a company called MedAire and their advice to consider postponing flight plans when ill. The basic theory is that if someone is sick on the ground, their condition will likely be exacerbated by the cabin pressure, making them worse. MedAire reports that they receive approximately 50 in-flight calls per day from pilots with sick passengers and documented 97 on-board deaths for 2007.

Federal law requires that all US commercial airliners carry basic medical supplies including an AED (automatic external defibrillator), oxygen and a basic medical kit. The purpose of the AED is to detect a lethal cardiac arrhythmia and deliver a lifesaving shock, that hopefully converts the heart to a safe rhythm. The contents of the medical kit vary, but generally include aspirin, nitroglycerin, alcohol swabs, anti-histamines, broncho-dilators, epinephrine, dextrose, a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, shears and IV tubing with saline fluid. The article also points out that although flight attendants have training in handling in-flight emergencies, they are not medically trained.

Perhaps the most important lesson that can be learned from this article is that a traveler is ultimately responsible for their own safety and well-being at all times. There is a tendency to take for granted the fact that most people reading this live in areas where an ambulance service and trained medical care are merely a phone call away. This is not always the case when traveling — especially at 30,000 feet above the ground.

Some basic pre-planning for a flight should include a carry-on bag with ample supply of medications and a list of medical conditions. Loose, comfortable clothing and proper hydration cannot be stressed enough.

A very good and informative article from the Aerospace Medical Association offers some tips for healthy airline travel.

Towns where John McCain might feel young

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Does eating well help you live longer? Well, duh. But does religious faith? How about inbreeding? The answers may surprise you.

The residents of three towns spanning a great distance– Okinawa, Japan; Ovodda, Sardinia; and Loma Linda, California– seem to have discovered the secrets to living long lives. These towns are host to the longest-living populations in the world, but each has its own explanation for the distinction.

In Okinawa, diet is the key. Residents of this Japanese island eat more tofu and soya than anyone in the world, as well as following the practice of hari hachi bu, which means to stop eating when one is about 80% full. Scientists believe that their exceptional diet causes residents to continue producing a hormone called DHEA more than normal, which slows down the aging process. About 900 of the one million people living in Okinawa are at least 100 years old, which is about four times the amount in the US.

Residents of Ovodda, Sardinia, live long lives as well, but for a more surprising reason. In Ovodda, marriage within the same few families is more common than elsewhere, and one professor believes this, in addition to their Mediterranean diet, might have something to do with their long lives: “From a genetic point of view when this happens there’s a higher probability of having genetic diseases, but also of having positive results like centenarians.” That seems to be because the 1,400 residents of Ovodda seem to share (more than most places) specific genes that are associated with longevity.

Finally, the town of Loma Linda, California, composed of a heavy population of Seventh Day Adventists, can credit its residents’ longevity to a balanced diet and, maybe, religion. Seventh Day Adventists live about five to ten years longer than the general U.S. population, thanks in part to their religion’s discouragement of drinking, smoking, eating meat, and basically anything fun. Still, the BBC article notes, “[N]ot all members do [abstain] and even they live significantly longer than average. ‘It does certainly raise the question if there’s something about spiritual life that also has an impact on longer life,’ says Dr Gary Fraser, who is researching the community.”

The doctor adds: “[T]here’s been one interesting fact that’s been known now for 20 or 30 years and that is that people that go to church regularly – whatever faith they have – live longer and there’s no question about that.”

Then again, when asked what her longevity could be attributed to, the chef Julia Child once remarked, “Red meat and gin.” I’ll drink to that.

More here.

American Airlines denies wrongdoing in passenger’s death

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Earlier today, we brought you the story of Carine Desir, a woman who died aboard an American Airlines flight from Haiti to New York on Friday. Her cousin who accompanied her on the flight, Antonio Oliver, claimed that the flight attendants initially refused the woman’s pleas for help, and eventually supplied her with empty oxygen tanks after she complained of difficulty breathing.

Today, a spokesperson for the airline denied Mr. Oliver’s version of the events, stating that “American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working, and the defibrillator was applied as well.”

The flight attendants tried to help the woman one to three minutes after her initial complaints, the spokesperson said, and they “acted very admirably.”

Despite the airline’s denial of responsibility, I predict a lawsuit will be filed in 5, 4, 3…

Ebola Outbreak over in Uganda

by Erik McLaughlin on

The Ugandan Ministry of Health declared their outbreak of Ebola Virus officially over on Februrary 20th. If anybody have seen the movie Outbreak, they will remember the first few scenes involving the Ebola Virus. This is one of those dark, scary viruses that has crawled out of the forests and has been wreaking havoc since 1976.

Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever is spread through direct contact with body fluids of someone who is already infected with the virus. Another likely way to get this is from handling dead animals found in Central African forests. Famous for its case fatality rate of an amazing 55-90%, this is something you want to avoid. Symptoms include high fevers, rash, vomiting and diarrhea. Then it gets bad: multi-organ system failure, uncontrolled bleeding from the eyes, gums and rectum are common in the severe forms. There is no known cure.

This particular outbreak was a source of much attention, due to neighboring countries closing their borders in an attempt to contain the spread. Of interest to travelers to the area, the general traveler is not at risk for Ebola and the WHO did not issue any travel precautions to the area.