1. Fist: Make a fist around the epi-pen, don’t place your thumb/fingers over either end
2. Flick the blue cap off
3. Fire. Press down into the outer thigh (the big muscle in there), hold for 10 seconds before removing (the orange cap will cover the needle). Bare skin is best but the epi-pen will go through clothing. Avoid pockets and seams.
- Ring an ambulance even if everything seems to be fine!
Oh my god. So as someone who has to carry an epipen EVERYWHERE I am so happy to see that there’s an info post about them. Like in the extreme case that I can’t inject myself, somebody else would have to do it, but nobody knows how to do it! Thank you, this may just save my life some day.
Don’t be wimpy about it, either. I know friends who are like, “but idk if I could stab you with a needle!” Please stab me with the needle, don’t be hesitant about it.
In my case (I can’t speak for all allergies), an epi buys me 20 minutes of breathing to get to the hospital. It is not a magic bullet, it’s a few critical minutes to help get me where I need to go.
For those who don’t know, people with serious food allergies carry epinephrine which is an adrenaline shot just in case they have anaphylaxis, which is a life threatening allergic attack. This shot is life-saving and must be administered to someone who is having an anaphylactic attack as SOON AS POSSIBLE, because an extra waited minute could mean their life.
It doesn’t hurt much at all to use this needle. The first time I used mine, I didn’t even feel it. But be sure to stab it IN THE OUTER THIGH. Do not stick it anywhere else or you could seriously hurt or kill someone. Just right to the outside of the thigh and then call the ambulance - even if your friend starts doing better, they could have a biphasic reaction, meaning a reaction that comes back (or they may need a second dose, be on the look out). If your friend has an epipen, then they have an epipen trainer that doesn’t have a needle and you can try it out just to be sure you know how to use the real thing if you have to. I’d also advise holding it a few more seconds then 10, maybe go for 14 just to be sure all the medicine is administered and that you didn’t count too fast - that’s what I did.
Here’s a graphic of where to stick it:
THANK YOU FOR THE GRAPHIC I was about to ask because my mom carries one around and so do some of my friends and I wanted to make sure I would do it right if I ever needed to!
A good idea if you carry epipens would be to print this out and carry it with you (but those of us that don’t should still remember this) just an idea that might help :)
First of all: A+ on this whole post, you’re all great people, I love everyone in this post, go forth and help people suffering from anaphylaxis.
Second of all: this is something I had to teach my Dad when he got his EpiPen (hella shellfish allergy, folks, it ain’t a picnic), but hold it like the picture shows you, not with your thumb over the top. Your instinct might say to hold it with your thumb over the top. Your instinct is wrong. Why is your instinct wrong? Because there are lots of people who, in a panic, hold it the wrong way, and that needle is an inch and a half long and spring-loaded. It will go straight through whatever’s in its way (the reason people say “don’t aim for a pocket” is because many wallets are more than inch and a half thick, and cellphone shards won’t help the person much), including your thumb. I shit you not, my friend, this is something we were explicitly warned about for an hour in EMT training.
Third: press hard. Slam that sucker home. Better your friend be around to bitch about a bruise than dead.
because I’m tired of the ‘male love interest can’t navigate a kitchen to save his life bc apparently even microwaves are a menace to romantic leads’ trope - *squints at fsog* - I now present a list of culinary aus that I need as of right now:
rival chefs au
chef trying to impress this one picky food critic au
“you said you would help me make dinner but now you’re criticising my onion chopping skills and when exactly did this turn into a not-so-friendly round of master chef???” au
“when I questioned your ability to critique food I wasn’t expecting you to be this good at bullshit about the ‘flavour notes’ you detect and ‘spring-plucked plums’ and… wtf even is ‘umami’? shit this pretentious pedant thing might be a teeny bit hot” au
NO RESERVATIONS AU
“you simply happen to be the only foodie I know and so what if that means I occasionally blow off dates to check out that new French restaurant downtown with you it’s not like it means anything” au
“yes, I am blackmailing you into wearing that novelty apron fite me” au
“no, you can’t just make me dinner and think that will make it all better… but it wouldn’t hurt” au
“when I said we should experiment with some chocolate sauce sexytimes I didn’t expect you to immediately bring out the double boiler! I mean, I have simple tastes, I could totally go pick up some Nesquik- alright, alright, I won’t mess with the ‘integrity’ of the thing bc wOW this is absolutely delicious and… babe of course I’m still into the whole sex part of the plan but is that a hint of chili I detect?!” au
“I started singing 'feed me seymour’ and I’m not stopping until you either burst into song or make me a snack” au
“what do you mEAN you bought a whole round of roquefort WHEN WOULD WE EVER NEED THAT MUCH CHEESE” au
“bringing me leftovers of the meal you cooked with mY gourmet prosciutto does not negate thieveryeven if it was delicious. worst. roommate. ever.” au
“so we may have set off the fire alarm. twice. and I know there’s a worrying amount of flour everywhere. but we made cupcakes together without killing each other and that’s the importan- nO OF COURSE WE DIDN’T MAKE OUT ok maybe a little” au
Just once I would like the mentor’s beautiful daughter to actually, sincerely hate the hero’s guts.
Like, not like ‘belligerent sexual tension’ hate his guts. Not ‘learn a valuable lesson about resentment and gets over it’ hate his guts. No, just straight up, 100%, wouldn’t-piss-on-you-if-you-were-on-fire, the-sound-of-your-name-makes-me-puke-a-little-in-my-mouth hate his guts.
And my entire kingdom for a story where she ‘helps’ him train and then goes and hands a detailed list of all of his weaknesses and strategies to his rival like ‘kick his fucking ass’.
Alternatively, how about the ‘hero’ is actually the villain, because it turns out that the mentor not trusting his own daughter’s capabilities enough to let her be the chosen one and instead granting phenomenal cosmic powers to the first rando farmboy who comes along actually wasn’t the smartest idea he’s ever had.
Having trolled some of the AO3 Fury Road tag, I’ve learned something interesting.
I am AGGRRESSIVELY here for everything involving Max and Furiosa.
I like them best as Epic Lifelong Drift-Compatible Postapocalypse Badass Bros. They are the BroTP to end all BroTPs. But hey.
Aromantic casual sex buddies who snark and spar? I’m down, let’s go, I’m so down with that shit.
Asexual partners who drive around and sleep next to each other because it makes them feel safe? Give it to me.
Soul mates in every way, sexual, romantic, practical, all of the above, who cobble together a slapdash system for running the Citadel and work through their issues? Hell yeah, hELL FUCKING YEAH.
Long-suffering pseudo-parents to the Wives (who ship it like FedEx) and the War Boys (who worship both of their badassery in a much more healthy way than they worshipped Joe)? I AM READY.
okay but like can we talk about star trek just for one second.
because.
like.
so much tv and so many movies and so many books are all about how the future is a disaster because technology ends the world and aliens attack and humanity is awful.
and then there’s star trek. motherfucking star trek. where, yeah, shit goes wrong all the time, but technology lets us reach and grow and learn, and humanity builds itself starships and warp cores and makes contact with aliens and builds this interstellar family out of all these disparate cultures and it names its flagship Enterprise because that’s what it is, it’s this enterprise of hope and discovery, and no matter how often they all risk their necks and get in fights and end up shooting it out with the Borg or the Klingons or the Romulans or whatever, humanity still looks up at the stars and says “you know what, let’s boldly go, motherfuckers,” and that’s the kind of future I wanna see.
Windows 10 defaults to keylogging, harvesting browser history, purchases, and covert listening
By default, Microsoft gets to see your location, keystrokes and
browser history – and listen to your microphone, and some of that stuff
is shared with “trusted [by Microsoft, not by you] partners.”
You can turn this all off, of course, by digging through screen after
screen of “privacy” dashboards, navigating the welter of tickboxes that
serve the same purposes as all those clean, ration-seeming lines on the
craps table: to complexify the proposition so you can’t figure out if
the odds are in your favor.
Oh, and if you’ve already chosen to use Firefox as your default browser, Microsoft overrides your decision
when you “upgrade” and switches you to the latest incarnation of the
immortal undead monster formerly known as Internet Explorer.
Anonymous asked: The idea of biological sex is false. It equalizes genitals with gender when in reality it's just that they have certain genitals, such as a penis or vagina. If you need to know something about a person don't ask what's your biological sex, just ask what chromosomes or genitals the person has, because those things don't determine gender. Stop using the term, it's harmful to trans people and unnecessary in the first place.
I assume you’re referring to this post and I understand your point, anon. I will even acknowledge that I could have phrased that better, but I wasn’t sure how. I personally am not trans, but please realize that I realize that dysphoria can be incredibly destructive to trans/nonbinary individuals. If my wording was insulting or hurtful to you in some manner, please know that I am genuinely sorry for my error and was coming from a place of concern for people’s physical health, and I will do my best to explain the reasons that I used the wording that I did in the hopes that you will understand.
First and most simply, most of the trans/nonbinary people I know find asking about their genitalia incredibly invasive and exceptionally rude (not to mention rather exclusive of intersex individuals), which makes sense, doesn’t it? It makes sense to me, at the very least, and as a result I would make an effort to avoid such a question in a medical situation unless absolutely necessary.
And the idea that genitalia is defined by chromosomes is also quite problematic from a medical perspective, because (contrary to what your high school biology class might have said) chromosomal alignment does not necessarily determine genitalia/physical sex at birth. A good example of this would be Swyer syndrome, or (more technically) XY gonadal dysgenesis. What this essentially means is that a person is born externally and internally female (although lacking ovaries), but has the normally-male chromosomal arrangement XY, which can have effects ranging from relatively minor (lack of breast/hip development, lack of menses) to potentially highly dangerous (adrenal failure). This link will take you to the Wikipedia page, which is rather brief but includes more helpful links at the bottom of the page. Swyer syndrome affects approximately 1 in 80,000 people, and there are a number of other chromosomal conditions involving a mis-arrangement of sex chromosomes. These include such things as Turner syndrome (one X chromosome, child will be designated female at birth), Klinefelter syndrome (XXY chromosomes, child will be designated male at birth), or even XXXY syndrome (child will be assigned male at birth). So, yes, for many people asking their chromosomal arrangement would answer the necessary question, but beyond the strictly medical issues, it can be very intimidating to start asking about their genetics, particularly someone in pain or in the midst of a panic. People suffering from an acute medical issue tend to already be very afraid, and it’s human nature to jump to the worst case scenario, which, when you start throwing around words like ‘chromosome,’ could be many a terrible thing.
The final reason I used the phrasing ‘biological sex’ is because sex and gender are fundamentally different, although through the vagaries of the English language the two concepts often become confused and conflated. In the strict definitions, gender refers to someone’s identity–man or woman; binary or nonbinary; him, her, them, or another pronoun. Sex, on the other hand, refers to what you were discussing, genitals and (in all likelihood) chromosomes, the category to which an individual was assigned at their birth.
I intended for it to be a more gentle way of asking that question, and if I was wrong I’m deeply sorry and invite any trans/nonbinary individuals to suggest a better one. In retrospect, I possibly should have phrased it as ‘what sex were you assigned at birth.’ The reason I would ask someone that question in a medical crisis is because if I’m speaking with a woman who has stubble and a bass voice, I don’t want to ask “did you used to be a man” because maybe she never was, or maybe she’s a man some days and a woman on others. I don’t want to ask “what is your genitalia” because if they have had gender reassignment surgery that question won’t be helpful, and if they haven’t then I don’t want to trigger a bout of dysphoria. I could ask “what are your chromosomes”, but I don’t want to scare them in the event that they would infer that I think they have a genetic disorder. In a high-pressure situation, I know myself well enough that I prefer direct questions over beating around the bush, because sometimes time really is of the essence. So I would probably say, “I’m sorry that I have to ask you this and I assure you that I will use whichever pronouns you prefer, but I need to know which biological sex you were born with.” Again, if this is a harmful way to phrase the question, I would gladly take any other suggestions from trans or nonbinary individuals, but there really are some times when that information is necessary for the patient to receive the best care possible. The system has many flaws related to the issue of gender, yes, from professionals who refuse to use the correct pronouns to the lack of distinction between ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ on many intake forms/patient records, but I do not intend to let that stop me from caring for people as best I can. Thank you very much for your input, anon, and I hope you understand where I was coming from.
