“I can walk on it, so it’s
not broken…” “I can move it, so it’s not broken….” Never forget that popular health beliefs are
generally wrong. I walked on a painful foot for a week before an X-ray that
revealed the fracture.
My greatest service to
injured hotel guests is not in diagnosing fractures which is usually impossible
but saving them the misery of spending hours in an emergency room. Doctors do
little for cracked ribs and broken toes except to relieve pain, so X-rays
aren’t necessary. All bets are off with the elderly, but it requires a good
deal of violence to break a young bone. Lifting a heavy suitcase won’t do it;
experts urge doctors in vain not to order spinal x-rays for minor injuries.
Most injuries are not
emergencies, even if a bone is fractured. If guests are willing to wait, I can
send them to the more civilized atmosphere of an orthopedist’s office.
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