It’s not older members of the public Martin. Also at private hospitals and NHS ones I’ve always noticed guides on walls behind weighing scales.
Re ‘Older’ - In a zoom meeting at work we discussed health regarding this virus. The audience was Brits and Americans I mentioned that I had lost 16 lbs since the lockdown (due to 3 hours exercise per day). I used pounds due to the type of audience. The youngest person (late 20’s) made a comment you might find funny. He said - Whats 16 pounds? I dont use the new stuff I still use stones. I had to say ‘just over a stone’ :-) > On 22 May 2020, at 6:14 pm, Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]> wrote: > > A number of years ago I read of a death in the United Kingdom that resulted > from misuse of imperial units. Unfortunately I no longer have the details, > but as far as I can remember, the baby concerned had an underlying condition. > Two different midwives checked and weighed the baby at the post-natal clinic > – one used metric units and the other insisted on using imperial units. The > result was that no-one noticed that the baby was not putting on weight. The > resultant death went to the coroners court and the midwife who insisted on > using “proper” units was criticised by the coroner, as was the health > authority concerned for allowing “dual” units to be used. > > Any switch to metric units HAS to be authorised from the top (or at any rate > the organisation that looks after the database concerned). The norm in the > United Kingdom is that data entry is in metric units, but most health workers > have a conversion chart readily to hands to “translate” for the “older” > members of the population. > > From: USMA [mailto:[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Paul Trusten > Sent: 22 May 2020 17:05 > To: Metric List Postings > Subject: [USMA 1412] Re: Ancestry survey > > Dear ListServer Folks, > > As a hospital pharmacist, I regret to say that, generally, true U.S. > metrication of this patient data (patient height and body mass)may not yet be > complete. Because American society AND American healthcare workers continue > to use feet/inches and pounds on an everyday, colloquial basis, those legacy > units persist strongly in the culture, and in most U.S. healthcare cultures, > the legacy units continue to be the spoken units of measurement, I.e., when > asked for height and weight, patients quote them in feet and pounds, and the > nurse or doctor initially records them as such. > > Once entered into the electronic health information system, however, they are > substituted with metric measurements, and posted in kilograms and centimeters > only. But they have not yet been exorcized from our midst. SI units are > simply not yet “in the entire lingo“ of American healthcare. > > In the absence of early metric education, pounds and feet are frames of > reference that we Americans are unwilling to abandon without good reason, and > I fear that good reason will come in the form of a medical Mars Orbiter or > Gimli Glider. > > Paul Trusten > Midland, Texas > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > > > On May 22, 2020, at 10:28, Michael Payne <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >> I believe all US hospitals also use kilogram body mass and centimetres as >> well as celsius. >> >> >> >> On 20 May 2020, at 22:24, Martin Vlietstra <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> In the UK hospitals use metric units for height and weight measurements >> while in Australia everybody uses kilograms. Since Ancestry.com >> <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fancestry.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C02cc0e3d5c3e4af35a1108d7fe9037cc%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637257767677898106&sdata=Wc0UmtD%2B5XxWlJt4mHJT9dfmRpye5q06%2BYuV3kCeu0Y%3D&reserved=0> >> is a world-wide organisation, it makes sense to give users the option of >> either units. >> >> From: USMA [mailto:[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Michael Payne >> Sent: 20 May 2020 06:29 >> To: USMA List Server >> Subject: [USMA 1410] Ancestry survey >> >> I recently received a survey from Ancestry.com >> <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fancestry.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C02cc0e3d5c3e4af35a1108d7fe9037cc%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637257767677898106&sdata=Wc0UmtD%2B5XxWlJt4mHJT9dfmRpye5q06%2BYuV3kCeu0Y%3D&reserved=0> >> regarding a genetic survey on Covid19, they want to see if anyone who’s had >> a DNA test with Ancestry has had or been exposed to Covid 19. One of the >> interesting aspects were when it got near the end of the survey they asked >> for your height and weight, apart from “American Standard” as they termed it >> you could choose metric which gave you the option of cm and kg for height >> and weight. >> >> Mike Payne >> >> _______________________________________________ >> USMA mailing list >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma >> <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.colostate.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fusma&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C02cc0e3d5c3e4af35a1108d7fe9037cc%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637257767677898106&sdata=wiFdsG1UqrwjXJhdPns3uCgoOj6T8MNPXY%2BKlJLmgOI%3D&reserved=0>_______________________________________________ > USMA mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.colostate.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fusma&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C02cc0e3d5c3e4af35a1108d7fe9037cc%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637257767677898106&sdata=wiFdsG1UqrwjXJhdPns3uCgoOj6T8MNPXY%2BKlJLmgOI%3D&reserved=0 > > <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.colostate.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fusma&data=02%7C01%7Cusma%40lists.colostate.edu%7C02cc0e3d5c3e4af35a1108d7fe9037cc%7Cafb58802ff7a4bb1ab21367ff2ecfc8b%7C0%7C0%7C637257767677898106&sdata=wiFdsG1UqrwjXJhdPns3uCgoOj6T8MNPXY%2BKlJLmgOI%3D&reserved=0>
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