Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

People in the ER don't like it when I tell them it may take a while to see the doctor, but it calms them down all the same.

The ER is a pretty stressful place. But I've been there long enough to know that a lot of the stress is optional. It's the result of judgment, and of the withholding of information. When you judge a person in pain in whatever way - as "faking it," as "not having a real problem," they can sense it. And of course they can; we're social animals.

The best triage nurses I've seen have a remarkable ability to look at and talk to people directly. They can deliver bad news, they can tell you you're going to be waiting a while. They can tell you you're not going to be helped ("we can't give you that medication"). And you take it okay, because this person is sincerely telling you the lay of things. This person isn't judging you.

I think a lot of us read at least some of the 9/11 transcripts that came out. The hardest ones to read were the ones where the phone operator contradicted the caller about the situation or its significance. "It's not that bad." "You're going to be fine."

I think there are a lot of, from the outside, obvious social things about us that we, from the inside, are blind to. So - we're blind to the fact that others don't necessarily need a fix from us when they're in trouble. More likely, a distressed person is trying to orient in the context of warmth. In simpler language: the person who's dealing with the situation is going to deal with it. They're trying to regroup in the presence of a friendly other. "Friendly" doesn't mean "with the answer." Friendly doesn't mean, "is going to fix it for them." Friendly means, is going to let them acknowledge to themselves the thing they're experiencing, and not get in the way. The best 9/11 operators were able to listen to their callers. Just like the best triage nurses listen when you tell them where you are on the pain scale. And like, if I may include myself just a little bit in this amazing company, I try to listen when people tell me how they are.

The nature of crises is to cut off options. It's imperative not to cut off the people who are going to have to provide some kind of solution, for themselves if not for others.

Views: 23

Comment by Calida DeBello on May 14, 2010 at 6:51pm
Great wisdom here. I especially like the point about withholding judgment, how key that is to getting the crisis under control...

Comment

You need to be a member of Urgent Evoke to add comments!

Join Urgent Evoke

Latest Activity

Ning Admin is now a member of Urgent Evoke
May 17, 2023
N updated their profile
Sep 25, 2020
Sophie C. commented on Asger Jon Vistisen's blog post Stinging Nettle
"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
Aug 19, 2020
Meghan Mulvey posted a blog post

Fourth of July on the Lake

This past weekend was the annual celebration at the lake house in Connecticut. It is amazing that the lake is still so clear and beautiful after all these years. The watershed association has done a wonderful job protecting these waters from the damaging effects of development.The wood grill was finally ready to cook on, so we didn't miss the propane tank fueled grill anymore. The food actually tasted fresher than in the past and was easy to keep fueled.Dad was very proud of the solar hybrid…See More
Jul 6, 2020
Asger Jon Vistisen posted a blog post

Stinging Nettle

In this blog post I will focus on a plant that is abundant in our nature, and which is immensely nutritious. It's of course the Stinging Nettle. Let's start with the chemical constituents of this plant:37 % Non-Nitrogen-Extracts19 - 29 % Ash9 - 21 % Fiber4 % Fat22 % ProteinOnce the leaves are drid, their protein content can reach an astounding 40 %, which is much higher than beef, which even under the best of circ**stances can never exceed 31 % protein. In addition the Stinging Nettle consists…See More
Apr 13, 2020
Jonathon McCallum posted a blog post

The meal

It is 7'oclock, I was late home from work due to an assignment that i wanted to get ahead on. By the time I get home I am feeling extremley tired and I cannot be bothered to make a proper meal. I walk to the fridge and open it to see what there is for me to eat. All of the out of date foodstuffs have been automaticaly thrown away by the fridge, they will be recycled tomorrow as animal feed or something. I see i have organic local eggs and some local cheese. Foods are vacc** sealded for easy…See More
Mar 10, 2020
Jean Paul Galea shared a profile on Facebook
Mar 1, 2020
Kevin posted a blog post

Future

FutureToday is 2020/1/1. It is just like yesterday. The war is still continuing. It has started since 2010. In 2010, that year was a horrible year. Almost every energy ran out. Every country’s governments were crushed down at the same time. There were riots everywhere. All of the big company’s bosses were killed xdeadx in the riots. Troops fought each other everywhere. Food was bought up xawayx at once. There were no more food supplies in any shops. The economy was all crushed down. All the…See More
Jan 1, 2020
Namwaka Mooto posted blog posts
Jan 13, 2016
T D updated their profile
Sep 3, 2015
Brook Warner posted blog posts
Aug 25, 2015
Santiago Vega posted blog posts
May 5, 2015
Santiago Vega commented on Santiago Vega's blog post Act 8
May 5, 2015
Santiago Vega posted photos
May 5, 2015
Rico Angel Rodriguez posted blog posts
May 2, 2015
Rico Angel Rodriguez posted a photo

public servants

The exchange works directly for state and public workers and servants. It gives them credit in exchange for the amount of public work they contribute to the community. The more constructive they are based off a base rate the more credit they recieve.
May 2, 2015

Follow EVOKE on Twitter




Official EVOKE Facebook Page




EVOKE RSS Activity Feed










© 2024   Created by Alchemy.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service