PLATINUM MINUTES AND THE GOLDEN HOUR


THE GOLDEN HOUR AND PLATINUM MINUTES

In emergency medicine, there are two concepts that govern the delivery of life-saving treatment.

  • the platinum minutes
  • the golden hour

Maybe you have heard of these concepts? They refer to the delivery of time efficient and competent emergency medical care.

The term 'platinum minutes' refers to the care that is given to a patient in the first few minutes after they have developed a catastrophic illness or sustained a catastrophic injury. Giving CPR (i.e. cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is an excellent example of this type of treatment. Similarly, knowing how to apply a tourniquet to stop severe bleeding is another example of this level of care. Often, this care may be given by a family member, friend, stranger or a paramedic.  That's why basic first aid training is so important for all adults to know. You can literally save someone's life during the platinum minutes phase.

On the other hand, the 'golden hour' refers to the specialist care that is given to a patient in the first hour of a life threatening illness or injury. Usually, this care is delivered by a team of doctors and nurses in a hospital setting.

Good medicine, i.e. successful medicine, is time bound. The care giver must give the right care at the right time. If you give the right treatment but it is given too late- the patient will still die! Time is of the essence.

SPIRITUAL CPR!

Now, I can hear you asking- what does all of this talk about emergency medicine have to do with the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost?

As you go about your daily life, how often do you give emergency spiritual care to others in obvious need? No one should want the non-believers in our lives to suffer eternal death for lack of proper 'treatment' (i.e. information). 

NO! NO! NO!

Remember too, that it is NOT just what you say that matters; what people see you doing also matters! Do you remember the lessons of Matthew 25:31-46, Matthew 28:19-20 and Revelation 20:12-15? At judgment time, Jesus will be dividing us into two groups- sheep and goat, based on our actions and our commitment to His commands. The sheep will end up in heaven but the goats will end up in hell.

So, if you want to help save somebody's soul, what is the most essential thing that they need to know? Whatever you decide to focus on here is analogous to the 'platinum minutes' in emergency medicine! For me, I would focus on this one fact - God exists! 

What would you focus on in your platinum minutes with someone?

And if you had a little more time to spend with them (i.e. the golden hour), what else would you want them to know? For me, this is when I would start sharing information about God's word (i.e. the Bible).

What would you focus on in your golden hour with someone?

And if my 'patient' survives, only then I would introduce information on Jesus, the Holy Spirit, love, peace and righteousness! Many times, I think that people start sharing the good news of the gospel backwards! I believe that we should start with information about God and everything else will flow naturally from Him.

We are living in turbulent times. Anything may happen. And nothing may happen. But as believers, it is our responsibility to prepare the world for what is to come. As Jesus instructed us, we must teach the world to- LOVE GOD and LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

REMEMBERING DR. COWLEY

If you are interested in learning more the 'golden hour' concept in medicine, click on this link: 

The Golden Hour: the critical time between life and death

The article begins with this quote and this paragraph:

“There is a golden hour between life and death."

In the early 1980s, R. Adam Cowley, a U.S. military surgeon popularized the term "golden        hour," words often used in trauma and emergency medicine settings. The term's origins lie in photography and reference the first hour of light after the sun rises and the last hour of light before sunset. That concept of a critical window of perfect sunlight was co-opted by emergency medical providers to refer to the crucial period of time immediately after an injury when appropriate life-saving medical or surgical intervention can offer the highest chance of survival for a traumatically injured patient.

This 'Golden Hour' article is published on the ThinkGlobalHeath.org website (September 7, 2021) and it was written by Laura Hoemeke, Nigel Rossiter, Sylvio Augustin, Alejandra Cortés-Rodríguez, Michelle Joseph

  • Laura Hoemeke is a global health consultant and adjunct professor, University of North Carolina (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health.

  • Nigel Rossiter is a trauma consultant and orthopedic surgeon, and chair of the Primary Trauma Care Foundation, United Kingdom.

  • Sylvio Augustin is an attending general surgeon and adjunct secretary of the Haitian Surgical Association, Haiti.

  • Alejandra Cortés-Rodríguez is a doctor and a public health fellow at Anahuac Institute of Public Health, Costa Rica.

  • Michelle Joseph is a trauma and orthopedic surgeon and instructor at Harvard Medical School, United States.
*****

HARVEST TIME Prophecies’ is the blog post site of TNG Academy. Our blog post site gets its name from Matthew 13:30- the separation of wheat and tares that occurs at harvest time (i.e. the endtimes). Remember, the ‘wheat’ symbolises the things of God and the ‘tares’ symbolise the things of the devil.

The purpose of this blog is threefold.

1. Some of the posts are written to help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the theology of Christ’s core message- i.e. the ‘gospel of the kingdom’.

2. Some of the posts are written for the reader’s personal discipleship journey. We need to understand what God expects from us. After all, all believers should be on a journey of ‘becoming’ our best selves, capable of impacting and changing the world!

3. Finally, some of the posts are written to answer this question:

    What would our faith look like today IF we had fully embraced Christ’s doctrines, as recorded by His Apostles, and rejected the doctrines of Paul and the other false apostles?

If we are sincere about our desire to restore Christianity to its roots, i.e. a return to Christ’s original message, then we must start by admitting that ‘while men slept’ (Matthew 13:25) the enemy planted false teachings (tares) into the New Testament!

Visit our website- WWW.TNGACADEMY.ORG, to see our Bible study books. Which books would I recommend for you to read first? Start with these three-






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