Thursday, August 21, 2003
BACK FROM THE BEACH...
Had a good vacation. Got some non-surgical reading done. Was able to get through The Teeth of the Tiger and John Paul Jones : Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy.
A few comments on both...
The Teeth of the Tiger was OK as far as Tom Clancy's work goes. It felt more like his "Op Center" series than his other Jack Ryan books. It was short (only 480 pp) and lacked the military action seen in The Bear and the Dragon or Rainbow Six or the depth of character development sen in Without Remorse. The main action was a twin-brother assassination team using an injection of succinylcholine to kill their victims. Several problems that I see with this:
1. The dose they use is seven milligrams... way too little for an average size person. That dose would be 100-150mg.
2. IM delivery, too much variability of absorption to make a good weapon.
3. If someone was able to intubate or even perform rescue breathing on a victim, it may not work.
4. Patients given succinylcholine have fasciculations which may be noticable.
I've seen the same principle used in a made for TV movie before. The drug was used to incapacitiate, not kill.
John Paul Jones : Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy was a well-done historical biography. Jones is presented as a paradox, one who is a self-made man and who wants the navy to be a meritocracy, but who seeks adoration in the aristocracy of his time. Short as far as biographies go, it was able to be handled in about two days.
Glad to be back. |
Had a good vacation. Got some non-surgical reading done. Was able to get through The Teeth of the Tiger and John Paul Jones : Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy.
A few comments on both...
The Teeth of the Tiger was OK as far as Tom Clancy's work goes. It felt more like his "Op Center" series than his other Jack Ryan books. It was short (only 480 pp) and lacked the military action seen in The Bear and the Dragon or Rainbow Six or the depth of character development sen in Without Remorse. The main action was a twin-brother assassination team using an injection of succinylcholine to kill their victims. Several problems that I see with this:
1. The dose they use is seven milligrams... way too little for an average size person. That dose would be 100-150mg.
2. IM delivery, too much variability of absorption to make a good weapon.
3. If someone was able to intubate or even perform rescue breathing on a victim, it may not work.
4. Patients given succinylcholine have fasciculations which may be noticable.
I've seen the same principle used in a made for TV movie before. The drug was used to incapacitiate, not kill.
John Paul Jones : Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy was a well-done historical biography. Jones is presented as a paradox, one who is a self-made man and who wants the navy to be a meritocracy, but who seeks adoration in the aristocracy of his time. Short as far as biographies go, it was able to be handled in about two days.
Glad to be back. |
