"Common Sense???"

We have heard many times over our lifetime, “Well, that just makes common sense.” We have said many times over our lifetime, “It’s common sense.” Is it?

I’ve always said that getting medical training just makes common sense because it makes sense to me and many others.

I had an interesting conversation about common sense this weekend in our class in Atlanta and really thought about what we talked about. I agree with what my friend was saying and have concluded that not only is common sense not ‘common’, it’s a learned trait.

Basically, the gist of it is, “you don’t know what you don’t know until someone shows or tells you what you don’t know.” At that point, you become educated and not ignorant (ignorant is not a negative connotation but merely a lack of knowledge). Once you’ve been “shown the light” and educated, you then have the chance to make an informed decision. You take that information and do one thing or the other with it and that’s either pursue it and gain more knowledge or simply ignore it.

Many people simply don’t see the need for proper medical training or a medical kit because they’ve never been presented with: A) A situation which would require them to use it or B) A person to give them reasons why they need it.

Once upon a time we didn’t wear seat belts and now we do. Why? It increases our survivability..

Once upon a time we didn’t wear bike helmets and now we do. Why? See the aforementioned answer.

In the end, it’s all about increasing our survivability.

We would like to see people not getting medical training as a thing of the past as well. For now, though, all we can do is preach, teach and educate to the best of our capabilities and hope that someone is listening, learning and telling others about why they need it. What if no one told you that you needed it? Would you think that you didn’t need it?

You do need it. Hell, everyone needs it. But, to me, that’s common sense.

-Pocket Doc