Some U.S. medical products might continue to use expressed fractions, but these are in a tiny minority. Ezra, I'm not sure why Walgreen's carried syringes other than insulin syringes (which are scaled from 1 to 50 or 1 to 100 to correspond to the units being delivered from 0.5 mL or 1 mL of insulin). There may be a few types of general use syringes that are labeled in expressed fractions, but nearly all products used internally in U.S. healthcare are labeled or scaled in decimal metric units. The only exceptions I know of are large syringes (30 mL and 60 mL), which are dual-scaled in milliliters and fluid ounces. To my knowledge, there is absolutely NO need for a fluid-ounce scale on syringes in U.S. healthcare. That scale must be there for other uses.
What is a 1/10 cc syringe? The volume usually refers to the total capacity of the syringe, and that would be too small to consider.The smallest syringe used in healthcare is a 1 mL or tuberculin syringe, which is scaled in 0.01-mL gradations. Paul T. Quoting Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > On 2008/09/03, at 6:26 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > I was waiting for my prescription at Walgreen's this morning when I > > noticed on the back shelf a large supply of boxed syringes in > > different sizes. > > > > What struck me (aside from the medical world still being stuck with > > "cc's" rather than "ml") was that the major brand name used units > > like 1/10 cc or 1/2 cc. To Walgreen's credit, their house brand for > > the same products used "0.1 cc" and "0.5 cc". > > > > Funny how years ago it was the medical profession that was perceived > > by most Americans to be the major user (outside of science) of > > "metric". Now these units look downright hokey to me. Can't wait for > > them to upgrade to SI usage! > > > > Ezra > > Dear Ezra and All, > > It would even be good to get the medical community to upgrade to the > decimal metric system as it was legalised in France in the 1790s. > > If you need to argue the case, the history goes something like this: > > Simon Stevin pointed out that all calculations in all trades, > professions, and crafts could be done with decimal numbers and decimal > fractions. In 1585, he pointed out that common or vulgar fractions > were redundant. Some folk are still having trouble with this concept; > for example the Reserve Bank of Australian dropped our interest rate > today by 1/4 of a per cent! Economists don't look like catching up to > the modernity of 1585 anytime soon. > > John Wilkins took up the cudgels to promote decimal numbers and > decimal divisions of numbers when he developed his ideas for a > 'universal measure' in 1668. See > http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/CommentaryOnWilkinsOfMeasure.pdf > > George Washington and Thomas Jefferson learned about the ease of using > decimal numbers when they practised surveying using Gunter's Chain > that was divided into 100 parts. > > George Washington and Thomas Jefferson worked together to pass the law > that provided a decimal currency for the USA. Benjamin Franklin made > the printing plates for the notes and he devised and minted the first > one-cent coin. > > The French philosophes and the French revolutionaries looked to the > USA for guidance on how to 'go decimal' in the 1790s as they developed > the decimal metric system. > > The decimal nature of the metric system (and the SI) were strongly > supported by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson who were > successively Ministers of State from the USA to France in the 1780s > and 1790s. > > You can find all the details about these issues in the Metrication > timeline at http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/MetricationTimeline.pdf > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > > PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, > Geelong, Australia > Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 > > Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has > helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the > modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they > now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for > their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many > different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial > and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. > Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, > and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See > http://www.metricationmatters.com/ > for more metrication information, contact Pat at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: > http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/ > to subscribe. > > -- Paul Trusten, R.Ph. Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc. www.metric.org 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 USA +1(432)528-7724 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
