I think they're misusing google

[redbird]

I have just told a complete stranger on the Internet to get her partner emergency medical care ASAP. I shouldn't have had to do this: but she shouldn't have dealt with the situation by, apparently, googling, finding an old blog thread on "A simple bump on the head can kill you," and posting to describe a concussion followed immediately by slurred speech and trouble finding words, and a day later by continuous headache and the person saying he couldn't think straight.

This is what the emergency number, NHS Direct, and maybe the Mayo Clinic website are for.

I hope she sees and follows my advice. (The person whose blog it is answered a similar comment on the same post from some months ago with "we don't dispense medical advice here, but I suggest getting him medical care." But I'm not a doctor, so the constraints on me are different and, in this case, I think lesser.)

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

Many years ago I learned to be disturbed by what people will go to the internet to deal with. I was an IRC operator. Kind of like being low-level staff on LJ for a rough comparison of what that means. We dealt with problems on the IRC network.

Someone came to me saying how he thought an intruder had entered his home. After a brief o.O moment, I told him to call the police. There are things that online people can help with, and then there are times for the proper real world emergency services.