Busy, for a day off.

The Non-Ruger 10-22 rifle is languishing, waiting to be finished.

Best laid plans and all that. Mayhaps I will get to it tomorrow.

Mebbe not. Shall see what happens.

And I freely admit that my knowledge of advance trauma care is …..limited. Maybe nonexistent, really. And having posted this, I am likely going to get to find out what kind of gravy goes best with shoe leather…..

But I can’t help but wonder about the actions and decisions of the EMT’s as seen from the outside at a distance….Yeah, I am armchair quarterbacking here, and all that….

But:

Here’s the thing: I live near an area that the EMT folks use to land the LifeFlight helicopters and  to transfer patients.

So, today, about a mile from this area, there is a Motorcycle vs Truck accident, with predictable results.

Now, the ambulance picked up the motorcycle rider, and brought him to the transfer area. Where they sat for approximately 15 minutes waiting on the chopper.

The copter landed, and still, the victim was in the ambulance for another 40 minutes I assume they were trying to stabilize him or stop bleeding long enough to get him to better care.

However:
When you add in at least 15 minutes flying time to a trauma center in either Chicago or South Bend (likely Chicago is better, and closer by a minute or two and that was the direction the chopper flew off towards)…..you are at, with the time spent in the ambulance on the ground while the chopper is waiting, at or beyond what it would take to drive to said hospital (Ferinstance, *I* can get to the trauma center in Chicago (Northwestern Memorial), in “normal” traffic, in 45 minutes, maybe 55 if traffic is heavy….and I don’t have red lights and a siren.

Now, I don’t know if the EMT’s can do more sitting still than they can in a moving ambulance, but time from pickup to hospital had to be, including while the chopper waited on the ground, at least at least an hour and 10 minutes….which is actually MORE than what it would have taken to ‘Scoop and Run” to the Trauma Center by road. Remember, road time is 45-55 minutes in my personal vehicle, no lights, no siren, etc. There is a “Normal” hospital with an emergency room less than 15 minutes away by car …likely about 10 minutes by ambulance….maybe a minute or two less. One would think that they would have brought him to a nearby emergency room, stabilized him there, then, if need be, transported him via chopper from hospital to hospital. In the time the ambulance was waiting for the chopper to arrive, (not the time the chopper waited on the patient to be moved from the ambulance) he could have been in an emergency room….perhaps not a Trauma Center, but a much better equipped facility than the back of an ambulance.

Again, I don’t know if sitting still allows the EMT folks to do more than what they could do moving…if so, then the ground hold maybe makes sense. If not, them there was no real reason for the Chopper that I can see. .

I just don’t understand the concept of hurry up and then wait…..then Wait and Hurry up! If you need the chopper, then I would assume time is of the essence….And if it isn’t, then why call the chopper to begin with?

Again, I may be doing the EMT’s, professional that they are, a disservice by questioning their actions. If so, I will apologize in advance. Perhaps there were unforeseen circumstances that changed things as the situation unfolded.

But it really doesn’t make sense from the outside.

Where were you? The first time a man set foot on another celestial body.

46 years ago.

My, those men had balls that clanked,

And Our nation, one of the youngest, helped put them there.

Using Feet and Inches and Miles and Pounds, not the metric system.

Odd that.

Iffen I got this straight:

Dylan Roof was a terrible person, who represents all of us white people….We secretly hate black people and want to kill them all because  Confederate Flag….

But Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez was a lone gunman who did not represent any culture or religion….. was merely a lone psycho who was not motivated by anything like Islam….

for the Non-Ruger 10-22. (although I may have to use factory Ruger mags unless I wanna go with extended capacity ones) (ETA: Oops, I forgot to order a bolt buffer….Amazon, Baby!)

Now there is the fitting of the barrel to the receiver, the receiver to the stock, and other small fitments.

Damn it though, I’m fairly busy until Monday afternoon. Lots of fine work to do to assemble this .

It’s gonna be pretty. Red receiver, blue barrel, white stock….’Cause ‘Merica! that’s why.

Pics as I have time.

Everyone is pointing out that the recruiting office in Chattanooga was a “No Guns” zone. and everyone is at lest insinuating that had those folks been allowed to arm themselves that things would be different.

Maybe.

Probably not, however. Likely nothing would have changed. The asshole (I won’t bother naming him, everyone else has used his name way too much) reportedly used a “High Powered Rifle” to shoot at the recruiting center and kill the marines from OUTSIDE the facility.

Shot through the glass.

When you are working, or shopping are you that vigilant that you are watching the people 100 feet away OUTSIDE THE BUILDING?

I’m likely one of the most….some might say…paranoid…people that I know. If I could remount my eyeballs to scan better, I’d have it done. Always in “Condition Yellow” .Yet I’d have likely missed a threat outside the building a hundred feet away while I was working as well.

You can’t be 100% vigilant all of the time and still be out in the world doing things and getting wotk done. At some point you have to look at what is in front of you. Do a job, read a printout or a computer screen.

You are probably at home reading this. And if you are reading this, then you aren’t scanning for threats…… what about the guy driving by pointing a gun at your house?

Oh, you didn’t see him? All you heard was when he popped of three or 12 shots at the walls in which you reside?  Yeah, well, too late.

And you CAN be armed. Not that it matters, really. The Marines weren’t looking for a threat. Had no reason to believe that there was one….Even if they had been armed. what would have changed?

I mean, we haven’t had one for a while. Strangely, people of other races/culture/religion just don’t seem to have the issues,

And he is quoted asking, at the end of this article :”My name causes national security alerts,” the quote reads. “What does yours do?”

Well, now you know why your name gets special scrutiny, junior.

Wanna be treated like everyone else? Stop going “Islamic nutball killing machine”, and keep others who look like you from doing so as well. Condemn those who go “Sudden Jihad” and shun their supporters…

That would go a long ways to help you.

ETA:

Murphy has some thoughts about the subject as well

Wholeheartedly.

Let us hide the evil that is islamic flags

It is after all only logical. Somehow, dead black churchgoers were killed bu the confederate flag.

This mess in Chattanooga where 54 marines were killed bu someone who was islamic.

Let us tear down those flags then. And, while we are at it, let us burn the book from which he got his inspiration.

‘Tis only logical.

Australia has slammed the door shut on any new government-funded investment in renewable energy schemes as Prime Minister Tony Abbott extends his “war on wind power”.

How many BILLIONS has the western world spent on the wind boondoggle?

Look: wind and solar are a great idea if you cannot easily use another fuel, or if you have very limited or intermittent needs, or cannot easily bring power in from the grid.

But as main baseline generation? Nope

Never work. Ever. History has borne this statement out.

So the Non-Ruger 10-22 is coming together….at least the parts are becoming co-located…

Picked up the receiver from my FFL today. 4473 and all. The ATF(e) calls it an “other” …. why?

The Kidd trigger is very sweet. 12 oz and 12 oz  2 stage…Very, very nice. …. the pins holding it in place in the receiver are at exactly the right size. If you hold ’em in your hand too long, they won’t go into the holes in the receiver. Very close tolerances in all of these parts….

So I have receiver, bolt, cocking handle/recoil spring, trigger. Barrel is on the way. I have a Hogue stock that the assembly will live in until I find a better stock. For starters, it’ll get an old Redfield 4-16 X 40 scope that I have laying around to wear until I find something better.

I fully expect that the gun will shoot much better than I can. We shall see. I should be close to MOA shooting, even if it is .22LR.