Ben's Blog: GETTING HURT BY A HOSPITAL BED

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

GETTING HURT BY A HOSPITAL BED

Occasionally I hear someone say they were injured by a hospital bed. I once was hit on my nose while repairing a bed and I had several other interesting experiences with hospital beds.

One day while working at Tomball Regional Medical Center, I was paged to come to a certain room “stat.” Nurses had just removed a patient from a bed shaped like the letter V. The patient said all at once the head of the bed and the knee part came up and were squeezing him. He pushed his nurse call button and also yelled “Help.” A nurse came immediately, unplugged the bed and called for additional help and a stretcher. They were able to remove him from the bed without further injury. We took the bed to our workshop and discovered the inside of the control box was wet. Further checking determined the problem was caused by urine. His nurse said the patient had recently used the urinal, but she was trying to get his IV working so she hung the urinal on the footboard. She walked to the supply room to get some supplies and while there she heard him call for help. We found the urinal on the floor when we moved the bed. I called the factory and also filed a written complaint. We “waterproofed” all of the control boxes on our existing beds but we never heard back from the factory. Such malfunctions make one wonder how we ever got a man on the moon.

When our hospital added rooms to grow from 70 beds to 140 beds, Administration decided to make the new rooms look like nice motel rooms, with headboards, footboards, bedside tables and chairs. Head and footboards were to be stained hardwood to match the other furnishings. When the 70 new beds arrived we were told the head and footboards would be shipped directly from a furniture factory, I believe in North Carolina. Since the patient rooms were not yet finished we left the beds in the corridors. As each room was completed and inspected we placed a bed in that room. When the head and footboards arrived I sent two men to install them. In a short time they returned and said the headboards were fine but the footboards were backward: the finished side was facing the mattress and the back was facing out. I called the bed factory and was highly insulted by what they said about our intelligence. I insisted there was a problem and they finally said they would send someone but if it was my mistake, we would have to pay for a service call. I agreed.

Within several days, two young men with three-piece suits and briefcases flew in from St. Louis and came to our administrator’s office. They let him know what incompetent people he had working at his hospital. I had not told him about the problem, thinking I could solve it myself, so this was his first time hearing about it. When he called me to his office, I said I would show the men the problem.

We walked to a room where a new bed had the headboard in place and the footboard leaning against the wall. One of the men grabbed the footboard and slammed it into place with the good side out. Words cannot describe the look the two men gave me. I walked over to the bed and asked, “How will we install the IV poles, the traction equipment and the other equipment, now that you have covered up the holes where they are inserted?” The man who had slammed the footboard down picked it up, reversed it, looked at the holes, and said they would send us 70 new footboards.

In about a week a truck from the furniture factory came with the new footboards. I asked the driver to let me open a box before they were unloaded. You have already guessed it – the footboards were still backwards. I took one and asked the driver to go with me to look at the beds. He understood immediately and left with his 70 wrong footboards. In several weeks the correct footboards arrived.

The factory did not want the bad boards returned, and it seemed a shame to burn them so I took them to my shop. Over the years I have used the wood from about 20, but if you need some hardwood I have about 50 boards left in the back of my shop.

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RECIPE CORNER

TUNA "SURPRISE"

I recently made Tuna Helper, following the instructions on the box and adding margine, milk, etc. Priscilla and I had generous portions for lunch. When she asked about my recipe, I pointed to the kitchen table where the box was sitting...and only then noticed the unopened can of tuna sitting next to the empty box.

Well, we enjoyed our macaroni & cheese lunch and already have the tuna on hand to make another box of Helper.

HONEY COOKIES

I watched the TV news show "The Eyes of Texas" for years. When in the mid 1980s they announced the publication of a Texas cookbook I wrote down my grandmother's honey cookie recipe. I asked Priscilla to type it, and she mailed it along with several of her personal favorites.

When the book was published Priscilla's recipes were not included but mine was, with a special mention in the cookbook's introduction. I was invited to the signing in Houston, where I got all three of the main Eyes of Texas contributors to sign the front and while standing in line got a number of contributing cooks to sign their recipe pages.

Some might consider the description "somewhat chewy" an understatement. For those who are dentally impaired, I recommend soaking a cookie in milk or hot coffee before trying to chew it. The good news is, these cookies will keep indefinitely.

Eyes of Texas Cookbook introduction:
My great-grandparents August and Caroline Weiss operated the first cotton gin operated by steam, near Salem in Washington County, Texas. They were among the first German settlers in that area. Money was scarce; however, they always had bees and native pecans...consequently, this recipe was a favorite.

1 1/2 pints honey, warmed
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
Dash of salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans or other nuts
1 tsp. baking powder
Enough flour for a very stiff dough

Mix all ingredients well. Roll dough out on a floured board and cut with a cookie cutter, or drop the dough in a greased pan and flatten with a floured glass. Bake at 325 degrees until golden brown, with edges slightly darker. These cookies will be somewhat chewy.

Ben's Bio

I was born in Rose Hill, Texas in 1925 and at age 18 drafted into the Army. After my discharge I settled in Tomball, which although a small town had more opportunities than Rose Hill. I ran my own appliance installation and repair business for many years and in 1977 accepted a position as Plant Engineer and Director of Maintenance at Tomball Regional Hospital, where I worked until retirement in the late 1980s. In the 1970s I served two years on Tomball’s City Council, was elected mayor and served for six years during which major streets were paved and guttered, utility lines were extended, and a new jail and city hall were built. After retirement from the hospital I spent time on a genealogy project that included two trips to Germany to visit relatives and look up archival records. I have also gotten into writing, chronicling my WW II experiences and authoring Growing Up in Rose Hill, published by private press and sold as a fund-raiser for the Tomball Community Museum Center, where I have served as a volunteer, trustee and Chairman. I am still involved with the Tomball hospital as a weekly volunteer and serve as General Manager of Tomball Emergency Assistance Ministries (TEAM), a church-sponsored operation that provides food and other assistance to area families. I continue to be involved in writing about my childhood and personal interests, and I still enjoy woodworking and other handyman projects. My wife and I still live in Tomball and are not far from most of our 8 surviving children and 14 grandchildren.

Ben's Book Reviews - 2010

Memories of Anne Frank by Alison Leslie Gold (1997)
Recently my wife and I watched “Diary of a Young Girl” on cable television. This was about the third time we saw the movie. Soon after, while looking at the books for sale in TEAM’s resale shop, I spotted a book of stories told by Anne’s best friend. They were neighbors and attended the same school. The friend’s name was Hannah Elizabeth Pick Goslar and she was interviewed in Jerusalem by the author, beginning in 1993. Hannah and her sister, father and grandfather were sent to a concentration camp shortly after the Franks went into hiding. First Hannah’s grandparents were sent to their death, then her father died, leaving her and her young sister. Hannah was barely alive when rescued by the American Army. She spent years in a hospital and sanatorium in Holland and then in Switzerland before moving to Israel. If you were interested in another book, movie or play about Anne Frank you will be interested in this book.

The Man Who Would Be President by Ralph de Toledano (1967)
This book gives a brief background of RFK and then a very detailed report of his years as Attorney General, his election as a senator from New York and his plans to become president, something he wanted so much “he could almost taste it.” It shows what can be accomplished when a man has unlimited resources from his family and a burning desire to fulfill his father’s ambition to have another son as president. It’s scary to think what could have happened to our nation had RFK been elected.

The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk by Jennifer Niven (2000)
Vilhjalmur Stefansson organized an expedition to prove there was land under the ice at the North Pole, engaging Robert Bartlett to get a ship and crew to prove his theory. Stefansson hired the crew and found a ship, the Karluk, which was not the ship to brave the ice but was the only ship available under the limited budget. After the ship froze up in the ice and eventually sank, the crew stayed on the ship and then in tents. The scientific crew left on foot and with dog sleighs, and most reached safety in Siberia. The boat crew split up and after over a year most were rescued. The writer had access to most of the diaries kept by the boat crew, and this book is mostly about these men. Only small bits of information about the scientific group are included. Jennifer Niven, an award-winning screenwriter, did the research and write this book.

Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters (2008)
This lengthy book, 580 pages, takes the reader from a family background in Poland and Eastern Europe to the New England area in the present (2008). Walters spares no details of her life, her marriages, her parents and grandparents, her adopted daughter and her handicapped sister, for whom she was responsible. I only occasionally saw her on TV and had no preconceived impression of her. I thought her book was very honest and I enjoyed it, especially the sections on her contacts with all the world leaders.

Today’s Best Nonfiction (a Reader’s Digest book containing four books)

Blind Faith by Joe McGinniss, 1989
My short summary: the father of 3 sons has his wife killed for the insurance money to pay his debts.

Richard Burton by Melvin Bragg, 1987
A detailed account of Burton’s life with pictures and a diary supplied by his fourth wife Sally Burton and other living relatives.

Two Lives, One Russia by Nicholas Daniloff, 1988
Daniloff’s ancestors were prominent people in Russia before being sent to Siberia by the Czar. He is a writer and was an employee of the American Embassy when he was arrested by the KGB and accused of spying while researching for information about his ancestors. He was released when Reagan released a Russian spy.

Monday Night Mayhem by Marc Gunther and Bill Carter, 1988
Tells the story of how Monday Night Football started and the people involved for a period of about 20 years.

All four books were very interesting although I never watched Richard Burton perform and never watched Monday Night Football.

Blind Ambition, the White House Years by John Dean III, 1976
In July 1970 Dean flew out to San Clemente, Nixon’s West Coast base, to be interviewed for the job of Counsel to the President. On December 24, 1974 he was in jail.

He went along with Nixon and his “dirty tricks” until he realized that Nixon was publicly blaming him for everything. He hired an attorney and admitted to the Grand Jury and the Senate Select Committee his part in the cover-up. Had it not been for “Deep Throat,” an FBI man who remained unknown until almost 40 years later, reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward from the Washington Post, its editor Ben Bradlee, and the testimony of John Dean, Nixon might be remembered as one of our great presidents.

I had watched the daily hearings each evening on our small black & white TV and after about a week was convinced Nixon was guilty. My wife Evelyn and I had both voted for him. She died in September 1974 believing he was innocent.

Updates:
Dean had been given 5 years in prison for obstructing justice but was released at the end of the trial. Nixon resigned and the Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in. His first act was to pardon Nixon.

Lincoln by David Herbert Donald (1995)
Little was written about Lincoln’s early years. After Lincoln’s death his law partner Herndon wrote from his memory of things that Lincoln had told him. There is little recorded about his years as a merchant, a surveyor or Indian fighter. Beginning with his “reading the law,” entering politics and serving as a circuit judge, more information was recorded and saved. Iin the back of the book the author lists 599 sources from which he took material. Several northern newspapers were gleaned. This is a very interesting book – you will learn many things you did not know.

Today’s Best Non Fiction 1989, 4 books a year (from the shelves at TEAM)

Kings of Cocaine by Guy Gugliotta and Jeff Leen: In the mid 1980s four men controlled more than 50% of the cocaine that came into the US. This is a very detailed story.

Mixed Blessings by William and Barbara Christopher: The man who played Father Mulcahy on the TV show M*A*S*H and his wife tell their experience with a second son who was retarded. After years of working with him, trying every new treatment and finally admitting they could no longer control his actions they placed him in a group home. The parents alternate in telling their experience.

The Ultra Rich by Vance Packard: The author interviews a number of wealthy persons, most of who started with nothing. Hard work is important but luck seems to be the key ingredient.

King of the Night – the Life of Johnny Carson by Laurence Leamer: Reading this book I learned much more than I ever wanted to know about Johnny Carson. In all the years he was on late-night TV I don’t think I saw the show more than 3 or 4 times, although I have seen several of his reruns. After reading the book I have realized that he was a very unhappy man and made many of the people around him unhappy.

Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick (2003), America’s Voyage of Discovery: The US Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842
Six sailing ships including a battleship and a supply ship left New York with the purpose of establishing the United States as a naval power. In 4 years they surveyed and named the Antarctic, charted and named numerous islands in the Pacific, and made accurate maps of the Pacific Northwest and many islands in the Pacific. They collected thousands of specimens that became the foundation of the Smithsonian’s scientific collection. A very interesting book.

Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie (1980)
This is a very detailed book about Peter the Great, over 900 pages with small print. The most unusual thing about Peter was that he had a natural interest in everything. He enjoyed working with his hands and always took a lathe and hand tools with him. He worked with his hands nearly every day. Peter learned shipbuilding from the Dutch and originated shipbuilding in Russia. He founded the city of St. Petersburg and built many of its early buildings. Peter fought wars with nearly every country in Europe and Asia including wars with his cousins the kings of England and Sweden. His descendant Nicholas was the last Tsar of Russia. The book includes numerous maps and pictures. Many of the names are not pronounceable but it is a very interesting book.