The Legacy of Freedom House: The Black Men who became America's First Paramedics

Zoom Meeting Recording [1 hour 4 min.] Sponsored by JEMS in February 2024.



Kellee Selden highly recommends this JEMS webcast:

I attended this very interesting webinar. It was entitled: The Legacy of Freedom House: The Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics. The speaker was John Moon, a member of the original group from the Freedom House with an eye opening story to tell about the men, the female doctor who sponsored them, their journey through the years of existence and how they wrote the first EMT manual. The story is amazing in many ways and well worth viewing.

Additional Resources: Freedom House: First to Serve in EMS Book Review: ‘American Sirens’ Needs to Be Required Reading Freedom House Ambulance: The FIRST Responders [28 min. video] Unsung History: Freedom House Ambulance: The First Paramedic & EMT Service [2 min.]

Book review: The Wall

 Thank you to Robert Koehler for this book review. 

Book review: Brotherless Night

Thank you to Mini Prasad for this book review. Robert Koehler shared his review of this title in January 2024. 

Random TED Talks to get you thinking

I love a good TED Talk as much as the next person, but I find I'm drawn to the same themes over and over again. To break me out of my TED Talk rut, I thought I'd visit their website and pick a random one from their categories. 

What do you think? Anything here you'd like to view?

• TED-Ed: Can you freeze your body and come back to life?
• AI: Get ready for hybrid thinking
• Business: A 40-year plan for energy
• Communication: Want to change the world? Start by being brave enough to care
• Education: What is a poop transplant, and how does it work?
• Health: A tribute to nurses
• Language: Could an orca give a TED Talk?
• Leadership: 5 keys to shifting to a well-being economy -- and the cost of inaction 
• Mental Health: What we learn before we're born
• Motivation: What are you willing to give up to change the way we work?
• Personal Growth: Can you be yourself at work?
• Psychology: What's normal anxiety -- and what's an anxiety disorder?
• Sleep: What causes insomnia?
• Sports: Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger

Would You Give Your Kidney to a Stranger?

 

MM: I heard this podcast from Wisconsin Public Radio and To the Best of Our Knowledge, and it stuck with me, so I thought I'd share it here on the WHSLA Blog.  

Health Science Librarians (and others) will appreciate the descriptions of being in surgery while a donated kidney takes on new life ...  and what prompts someone to donate a kidney as a living donor.

By: 

Mark Riechers

When Missy Makinia saw on Facebook a little girl in her community needed a kidney, she immediately thought she could spare one.

The girl ended up getting a kidney before Makinia had a chance to donate — but Makinia, who lives in Ladysmith, decided to give hers to whoever might need it.

It makes her what's called a "humanitarian living donor," and it's the kind of selfless gift that can kickstart a whole chain of kidney donations, called a "non-directed kidney donor chain."

"She will donate her kidney. It will fly somewhere else in the country. Then that patient's donor will have a kidney go on a plane to somewhere else," UW Health transplant surgeon Dr. Josh Mezrich explained to "To the Best of Our Knowledge" host Anne Strainchamps.

Mezrich is Makinia's doctor and a renowned transplant surgeon.

"These chains can crisscross the country over a period of months," he said.

 Read more ...

Summary of Ashley Zeidler's Creative Commons Licensing Guide

 

Ashley Zeidler, MLIS, received one of the $500 WHSLA CE grants in 2023.  Last fall, she attended a 10-week virtual course on The Creative Commons (CC) and Licensing.  She graciously shared her learnings with WHSLA via the WHSLA Wisdom Chat on Feb. 9, 2024.

In her presentation, Ashley gave an overview of the following:

1. The Creative Commons Certification Online Course 
2. Creative Commons (CC) Licenses
3. Creative Commons Resources & Search Tools

She highlighted the following Creative Commons Search Tools that make it easier to find images in the Creative Commons: 

• CC Search
• Flickr
• Google Image Search
• Noun Project
• Wikimedia Commons
• Unsplash

Ashley distilled what she learned into a LibGuide for The Medical College of Wisconsin's Library on The Creative Commons Licensing. *   Please see her guide for more detailed info. on all aspects of The Creative Commons and licensing.

* Ashley's guide is licensed under CC BY, so it can be re-used and adapted via the Creative Commons.

Generative AI in Health Sciences Libraries (webinar recording)

"Generative AI in Health Sciences Libraries: What to Do Now" is presented by Lauren Hays Ph.D. from the University of Central Missouri.

In this webinar, Lauren Hays shared about the current state of generative AI. Then, she led a discussion about how this technology is impacting health sciences libraries and how it may impact health sciences libraries in the future. The webinar ended with information on how to effectively incorporate generative AI and address challenges it creates. 

The session was interactive and practical. Attendees were encouraged to bring their ideas and questions. 

The Network of the National Library of Medicine is funded by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services. Learn more at https://nnlm.gov

Why I Love Being a Hospital Librarian

Michele Matucheski, MLS, AHIP, of Ascension Health Care - Wisconsin, was asked to be part of a panel discussion hosted by the Hospital Library Caucus of The Medical Library Association on February 14, 2024.

I’ve been working in medical libraries for the past 30 years.

I started out as a runner in a medical school library, picking up ILL articles – I did NOT have to copy them!

When I was in Library School, I worked as a medical library technician at one of the area hospitals.  It was the perfect “lab” for what I was learning in school.

When I graduated, I got a professional job as a Reference Librarian back at the medical school library, but I missed being in the hospital library, where the drs would stop in asking for research, articles – or they just stop in to tell you their latest jokes.  You realize they are just people, not gods.

Why I Love Being a Hospital Librarian

• It’s a profession that is cooperative and collaborative.  Here we are sharing what we know …

• Sheer variety of what I get to do on any given day

• As a Solo, I have to wear all hats. I don’t have a Systems Librarian to troubleshoot access or build websites.  There’s no separate dept. for reference or instruction – I do the research and training.  I do the marketing and outreach, writing blog posts for the library newsletter.  There’s no one else to do it.  Archives, database renewals, negotiating licenses, ordering supplies, and everything else …

• In an academic library, those jobs would be split up among multiple people.  Everyone siloed for specific tasks.  I get to do them all - so you get lots of experience in a hospital library that someone in a larger library might not have.

• I can’t think of another job that would let me do so many interesting things.

• I learn new things every day just by the nature of research, or having to figure things out.

• I have a lot of autonomy with my job.  I set the priorities for my day.

• Connection to purpose here in the hospital: I may not be in direct patient care, but I do support those who are.  

• People in hospitals may be dealing with life & death issues – I learned so much from the Hospice and Palliative Care Physicians.  It seemed like they held the keys to the Universe, because they were not afraid to face death and dying with their patients.

• One of our drs switched from Pediatrics to Public Health / Population Health.  I asked why …  He said In Pediatrics, he helped 1 patient /family at a time.  In Public Health, he could help set policy and that way he had a much bigger impact, affecting many more people at one time.    Some of what I do is one person at a time, but some of it is on the policy level with a much bigger impact.  

And that is why I LOVE being a Hospital Librarian!

___________________________________________________________________

What do YOU love about being a Health Science Librarian?

Tell us and you could have your own post here on the WHSLA blog!

Spring Board Meeting: Friday, March 8 from 1-2:30 pm (virtual)

All WHSLA Members are invited to the Spring 2024 Board Meeting to be held on Friday, March 8 from 1-2:30 pm via Microsoft Teams. While only Officers may vote, all are welcome to attend and participate in the meeting. 

Current Officers and Committee members have received their invitations. If you are part of the general membership and would like to attend, please email brenda dot fay at marquette dot edu. 

Serhio Magpie, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Book Review: Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

 

I recently finished reading Lisa See's latest book, Lady Tan's Circle of Women.

It's a book of historical fiction based on the real life of a female physician in China in the 1500s.  Her practice covered mostly women with afflictions due to foot binding.  She lost her own mother due to an infection in her bound feet when she was still a girl.   After that, she went to live with her grandparents, who were both physicians, and to whom she apprenticed.   

For childbearing cases, she worked with a midwife who became her best friend and confidant.  Midwives could do things higher-born physicians could not -- like touch blood (There's plenty of blood in childbirth), and forensic exams.    

Although I still do not understand the philosophy informing Chinese medicine as far as the 5 pulses or the many herbal remedies, I can't argue with centuries of practice.   Lady Tan got results.   The real Lady Tan wrote and published a book about some of her medical cases, and her remedies are still used today in Chinese traditional medicine.   Apparently, Lady Tan and her friend even both got to go to The Forbidden City to help the Empress bear a child -- The trip of a lifetime for them both!

Ever since Snow Flower & The Secret Fan fell into my lap years ago, I've come to trust Lisa See as a storyteller.  Her novels focus more on the relationships and friendships of women, rather than romance.   There were so many moments when things could have turned ugly, catty, or mean, but they didn't.  The women in Lady Tan's Circle looked out for each other, and became family.  What other choice did they have?

Highly recommended!

Read more at Good Reads.