Put Your Own Mask On First
Posted by Sean on September 14, 2009
For those of you who don’t know. I just got back from vacation. (Great BIG SIGH) My wife is what you would call a novice flyer, I myself have been riding in Airplanes since I was teenager. I never gave much thought to the pre-flight instructions until I became a nurse. More specifically, I never thought much of those infamously boring and popularly ignored (yeah, you know you do) instructions until I graduated from Nursing School. In fact, the night of graduation to be exact.
You know what instructions I’m talking about (need you look at the above picture for a small reminder). The flight attendant ( You notice the word Stewardess was NOT used! ~ Ah-hem! Hello! Male nurse here!) gives you the safety speech involving the layout of the plane, the exits, the emergency lights, whether or not you sitting by and exit door, etc. Then comes the part where the cabin pressure may change in the event of an emergency and oxygen mask may deploy from the overhead bulkhead (sorry, it’s the Military training in me).
This is where you are instructed to "Put your own mask on first, before helping others in need". "This includes small children"
The night of my Nursing school graduation ceremonies, we had a local Physician as our guest speaker (I graduated from a diploma program. We students actually chose this physician from the hospital system where we did our clinicals – he was awesome)
He had a knack for the vernacular, as well as an amazing bedside manner. He was the nursing staff’s favorite, and we students were great fans as well. He was THAT physician you wanted to work with, be around, take orders from, and care for his patients. He was THE nurse’s physician. He treated you with respect, kindness, and valued your opinion, And above all he constantly recognized how difficult our job was. He never stopped thanking us when on the floor. (Sorry… I digress)
Back to graduation…
So for his guest speech his topic was Self-Preservation. He echoed his sentiments from the floor and conveyed how much he loved and appreciated all the nurses he’s ever met and worked with. Our tireless hours of work. The sacrifices we’ve made, the sacrifices we will make. His take home message was the self-less actions of nurses, and how we as a culture find everyway in the world to care for everyone. Everyone but ourselves. We always go to great lengths to give the very best care and strive to be the very best patient advocate, but somehow we neglect ourselves.
Physical exhaustion
Mental anguish
Emotional depletion
All of which we battle with an empty shell.
How can we truly take care of others, if we haven’t taken care of ourselves?
Think of it this way.
In that Airplane emergency. The cabin pressure changes. No oxygen available…
The oxygen masks deploy and you have two choices. Put your mask on first, or help the person next to you put theirs on first without a mask.
Put your mask on first:
- You panic
- The person next to you panics. And panics more.
- The person next to you is flailing like a fish out of water
- You blindly find your oxygen mask
- You can’t see much through the debris.
- It’s a little difficult, but you get your mask on.. And now your breathing well.
- You reach over and search for the other’s mask
- They’re still panicking. I don’t think they can hold their breath much longer.
- As you find the mask the dust starts to settle ever so slightly
- You can see the silhouette of the person next to you.. And you see and feel the oxygen mask
- You now can safely apply the oxygen mask to the person next to you.
- You’re both breathing well.
You turn to see more need your help
Help the person next to you first without a mask:
- As you hold your breath from a lack of oxygen you stumble to affix the mask
- The person next to you is panicking
- You’re beginning to feel light headed
- It’s that initial blow with a lot of debris
- Through all the debris, you can’t see much.
- Little time left, so you feel your way through the task
- As you use up the last bit of oxygen reserve you have…
- You get that mask secured
- Then you pass out
What about the others.
Take care of yourselves and each other and put your own mask on first.
‘Put Your Own Mask On First’ originally posted on Scrubs–The Nurse’s Guide to Good Living
Joc said
Amen! This makes catching up on all the fave blogs a lot easier, haha Thanks!
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
Joc said
Amen! This makes catching up on all the fave blogs a lot easier, haha Thanks!
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
unsinkablemb said
Great job on COS! I’m catching up on my blog reading. This was the way to catch up with my faves and find new blogs to follow. Cheers! mb
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
unsinkablemb said
Great job on COS! I’m catching up on my blog reading. This was the way to catch up with my faves and find new blogs to follow. Cheers! mb
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
Sean said
Wow! Top notch edition. I really loved the quoted text for each submission. Sorry so late to thank you! Great job!
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
Sean said
Wow! Top notch edition. I really loved the quoted text for each submission. Sorry so late to thank you! Great job!
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
NPs Save Lives said
Thanks for the inclusion in the COS! Nice edition.
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
NPs Save Lives said
Thanks for the inclusion in the COS! Nice edition.
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
medicblog999 said
Hi Jeff,
Yup, thats one of our new rapid response cars.
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
medicblog999 said
Hi Jeff,
Yup, thats one of our new rapid response cars.
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
Jeff said
Nice job. Thanks.
Is that your ambulance in the header? I have never seen such a bold one before.
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
Jeff said
Nice job. Thanks.
Is that your ambulance in the header? I have never seen such a bold one before.
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
seejanenurse said
this is great reading! thank you!
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
seejanenurse said
this is great reading! thank you!
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
Kim said
Very nice – thank you so much for hosting (and had forgotten you were a nurse, too! I blame age-related synapse degeneration)! : D
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
Kim said
Very nice – thank you so much for hosting (and had forgotten you were a nurse, too! I blame age-related synapse degeneration)! : D
This comment was originally posted on Medicblog999
Medic 999 welcomes Change of Shift « Medic999 said
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Tweets that mention Put Your Own Mask On First | My Strong Medicine -- Topsy.com said
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CPorterE said
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For those of you who don’t know. I just got back f.. http://bit.ly/RP4Pt
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
bthenextstep said
New Blog Post Put Your Own Mask On First:
For those of you who don’t know. I just got back f.. http://bit.ly/RP4Pt
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
bthenextstep said
New Blog Post: http://ping.fm/qGJ5j – Put Your Own Mask On First
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
bthenextstep said
New Blog Post: http://ping.fm/qGJ5j – Put Your Own Mask On First
This comment was originally posted on Twitter