Are "old" skills and technologies worth learning??

[AccountingDrone]

Medieval recreationist here - we regularly have power outages [especially in the winter] and other than throwing on my medieval turkish clothing [inner 'long underwear' type clothing of linen, heavier quilted leggings and coat]

I couldn't freeze snoozing in a snow bank

And since I regularly heat with and cook with my woodstove, and Rob always cuts a couple cords of wood every spring to dry for the winter, only thing I worry about is lighting, and internet.

Although in self defence for the summers mainly we have 2 generators - a 220V for running the water pump so we can flush the toilets and shower, and a 110V for most anything else we need that isn't 220v. I like flush toilets and showers

[dalesys]

... I like flush toilets...

Privy: That little building that in the winter is a hundred feet too far and in summer is a hundred yards too near.

[Moirae]

It's always worth the time if you're having fun.

[Seshat]

I'm finding that applying dressings to wounds is becoming a lost art among nurses. We've hyperspecialized; only wound care nurses and OR nurses (and old ER nurses) seem to know how to do it anymore.

That's actually scary. I'd go so far as to say terrifying.

Hell, I can clean a wound, disinfect it, and dress it. And spot if it's healing properly or looking like it should go to a doctor.

I wouldn't try debridement, lancing, or other procedures unless I had more training; but geez. If only specialist nurses can clean and dress wounds anymore, what happens when little Timmy scrapes his knee and has gravel all through it?

Surely people don't go to the ER each and every time Janie falls off her bike or Bob gets a splinter?

[Racket_Man]

I'm finding that applying dressings to wounds is becoming a lost art among nurses. We've hyperspecialized; only wound care nurses and OR nurses (and old ER nurses) seem to know how to do it anymore.

I guess I am a non-nurse who has that knowledge. My Ex had 7 major abdominal surgeries and I had to change, clean , pack and re bandage her significant surgical wounds. I also had to change, clean, pack and reapply the sponge and sticky sheet for a wound vac.

[AccountingDrone]

Privy: That little building that in the winter is a hundred feet too far and in summer is a hundred yards too near.

Cut to the SCA chase
I have a range of camping gear to make my life more civilized, a PET toilet that uses inserts to catch the crap [heh], a 2.5 gallon pressurized shower tank that goes over a burner to heat the water inside, I can cook and heat with the woodstove, with a 2 burner and oven camping stove, or outside on the grill. I rarely worry about being cold inside the house with the woodstove lit - there was a stretch of 2 winters when we were doing renovations where we didn't have a woodstove wher it did occasionally get cold, so we added a couple kerosun kerosene heaters - and yes we know how to ventilate safely

[crazylegs]

That's actually scary. I'd go so far as to say terrifying.

Not so much - in the same way I wouldn't want a dermatologist attempting an intubation I wouldn't want a mental health nurse attempting something outside their scope of practice either. I may of course be comparing apples and oranges (with now 3 different health care systems) but skill fade is very real and having seen some howlers with dressings from various skill levels I do wish people who haven't kept their skills up to date wouldn't 'have a go'.

[sms001]

I see three pages of endorsements and immediately want to turn Devil's Advocate, but in this case it's really tough to do. Above enjoying learning for its own sake, and beyond being able to adapt old skills to new tasks, what Chanlin said is the icing on the cake. ANY sufficiently new skill set builds brain power, and acts as a broader base for still more. Continuing to stretch and learn may even help offset senility. So what do you have to lose? (And I would totally mark down for "interview" someone who had 'Proficient in Morse Code' on their resume.)

[protege]

Above enjoying learning for its own sake, and beyond being able to adapt old skills to new tasks, what Chanlin said is the icing on the cake. ANY sufficiently new skill set builds brain power, and acts as a broader base for still more. Continuing to stretch and learn may even help offset senility.

Some of you know that I'm into older vehicles. Locally, there are very few specialists...and they're not cheap. Since taking that car on, I've had to learn how to do things. So far, I've fixed the speedometer (the drive off the transmission broke...I was able to bypass the drive by fitting a longer cable), rebuilt the front suspension, and overhauled the brakes. Next job includes fitting a rebuilt distributor...since the "generic" one currently fitted isn't quite correct. The car runs, but it's not set up properly.

Considering that at one point I'd taken the entire car apart, it was easy removing and replacing things. But....I still had to learn how to do it properly. Even though I'd grown up around old cars, and "helped" my dad build a kit car, I was still a bit of a noob. I never really had to do such things before. It was simply easier to drop my modern car off at the garage and let the mechanics mess with it.

With that said, my first attempt at bleeding the brakes (getting all the air out) was a bit of a disaster. After several hours of very colorful words, and the pedal hitting the floor I admitted defeat and had the car towed to a garage. Brakes are one thing that I don't mess around with, folks.

Turns out that the factory had changed systems mid-way through that year...and what I had learned, didn't quite turn into real-world experience. Well that, and the brake wrench I had was the wrong size. Oops. So it was a disaster. But, it was another learning experience.

Of course that has now brought another problem. No longer content with reading about how to rebuild an engine...has me wanting to give it a go. I know of a '75 roadster that needs the 'works.' Who knows...

[Seshat]

but skill fade is very real and having seen some howlers with dressings from various skill levels I do wish people who haven't kept their skills up to date wouldn't 'have a go'.

For serious wounds, especially anything which goes through the dermis or anything which might cause an occult infection*, I completely agree with you. Absolutely, positively, take it to a specialist.

But I find it difficult to imagine a person who can't treat an epidermis-only gravel rash, a minor burn, an epidermal cut or splinter. I know intellectually that such people exist, but it makes me want to shake them and say 'learn basic first aid and home medicine'!

Still, if they can't or won't, better for them to take these things to someone who does know.



* jargon translation: sometimes a penetrating wound can heal over on the top, while still being infected underneath. This infection becomes trapped inside the healed wound, and can become very nasty. It's called an occult (hidden) infection.

If you or anyone you love gets a long, narrow puncture, always let a doctor or (wound care!) nurse treat it. If the item which caused the puncture is available, take it to show the doctor.
If it's still in the wound, leave it there: support it for transport with wound packing stuff from a first aid kit, but leave it in the wound for the doctor to remove. It can show the doctor all sorts of useful stuff, plus it may be keeping the wound from getting worse.

[crazylegs]

* jargon translation: sometimes a penetrating wound can heal over on the top, while still being infected underneath. This infection becomes trapped inside the healed wound, and can become very nasty. It's called an occult (hidden) infection.

If you or anyone you love gets a long, narrow puncture, always let a doctor or (wound care!) nurse treat it. If the item which caused the puncture is available, take it to show the doctor.
If it's still in the wound, leave it there: support it for transport with wound packing stuff from a first aid kit, but leave it in the wound for the doctor to remove. It can show the doctor all sorts of useful stuff, plus it may be keeping the wound from getting worse.

I know, just finished my Paramedic Science degree

[Seshat]

I know YOU know. And I'd be surprised if our nurses don't, or our pharmacists, and a whole bunch of others.

But we do have some non-medical folks here.

[AccountingDrone]

Navy cross trained Rob as an EMT with benefits [he got to do more than just EMT1 stuff on the guys in the submarine] so I actually got to stay home back in 96 when I had an ovarian tumor and some lymph glands in my groin excavated. He did a hell of a job with wound packing and wound management. I had weekly appointments with the post surgical staff and went home with boxes of supplies. It would have sucked spending 3 weeks in a military hospital ... instead I got to spend it at home playing games on my computer

[Ironclad Alibi]

Though I get the vibe that some people believe these are "antiquated" and not worth learning. My only real rebuttal to that is typing. How long have people been typing?

Since no one has answered your question, people have been typing since 1870 when the first commercial typewriters were sold.

Another soon to be lost skill is cursive writing. I am told that children today are not being taught cursive writing, which probably means they won't be able to read it either. It will soon be a perfect candidate as a secret language, just like shorthand.

[Chromatix]

Old forms of cursive writing are already hard to read for people who were taught modern cursive writing. Doubly so if the writer saved paper by "cross-writing".