All Branch Topic (ABT) President Trump at Walter Reed

[bogatyr]

I haven't been on this forum for a long time, but I just had to come on to vent. Tell me if you agree with me or not. I'm happy that President Trump was at Walter Reed over the weekend, and I'm sure he was getting great care.

What bothers me is this press conference. Can anyone tell me why none of the staff are in uniform? Most of them are wearing scrubs, for a press conference, outside of the hospital! I realize these days it is acceptable to go to the grocery store in scrubs, but how sloppy can you be? I am old enough that when I trained in medical school we couldn't even round in scrubs. You had to change into professional clothes during daytime hours. Then on active duty, I wouldn't have imagined doing something with the press out of uniform. At least Dr. Conley is dressed professionally, but why is he in civvies? He's an active-duty Commander.

What do you think?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DrMetal]

I haven't been on this forum for a long time, but I just had to come on to vent. Tell me if you agree with me or not. I'm happy that President Trump was at Walter Reed over the weekend, and I'm sure he was getting great care.

View attachment 319780

What bothers me is this press conference. Can anyone tell me why none of the staff are in uniform? Most of them are wearing scrubs, for a press conference, outside of the hospital! I realize these days it is acceptable to go to the grocery store in scrubs, but how sloppy can you be? I am old enough that when I trained in medical school we couldn't even round in scrubs. You had to change into professional clothes during daytime hours. Then on active duty, I wouldn't have imagined doing something with the press out of uniform. At least Dr. Conley is dressed professionally, but why is he in civvies? He's an active-duty Commander.

What do you think?

I think they were trying to convey that they're a 'medical' team, actively engaged and working, hence the scrubs + white coat, not just random military officers who took 5 hours that morning to get their uniforms right. They certainly could've worn both (a white coat over the khaki uniform if Navy, analogous for other services, etc).

Whatever the case . . .this is the least of our concerns.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I haven't been on this forum for a long time, but I just had to come on to vent. Tell me if you agree with me or not. I'm happy that President Trump was at Walter Reed over the weekend, and I'm sure he was getting great care.

View attachment 319780

What bothers me is this press conference. Can anyone tell me why none of the staff are in uniform? Most of them are wearing scrubs, for a press conference, outside of the hospital! I realize these days it is acceptable to go to the grocery store in scrubs, but how sloppy can you be? I am old enough that when I trained in medical school we couldn't even round in scrubs. You had to change into professional clothes during daytime hours. Then on active duty, I wouldn't have imagined doing something with the press out of uniform. At least Dr. Conley is dressed professionally, but why is he in civvies? He's an active-duty Commander.

What do you think?

Almost every resident or attending I’ve seen at WR has been in scrubs. It’s acceptable attire for rounds, etc. At some military hospitals, civvies are allowed outside of regular working hours. Not entirely sure if Walter Reed is one of them, but I’m guessing so since he was in civvies.

Also, who cares?

 

[HighPriest]

Maybe Trump just didn’t want to be surrounded by “losers.” That’s the term, right?

I suppose it doesn’t really matter. I agree it’s nice to brush your hair before a date. I think it would do more to bolster the public opinion of military medicine if they were in uniform. Make it clear that a military officer takes care of the president. I realize it’s in the title, but the imagery matters. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t have uniforms.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

If it didn’t, we wouldn’t have uniforms.

According to one of our guest ethics lecturers, we shouldn’t be (wearing uniforms as medical officers).

 

[JamesL]

Is it weird the first thing I thought was, "oh good it's day 3 so he has a qualifying medical stay".

Medicare must be obeyed!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Of course his response to feeling well is to tell America not to be scared of the virus and that he feels the best he has in 20 years.

 

[armytrainingsir]

Maybe Trump just didn’t want to be surrounded by “losers.” That’s the term, right?

I guess that's the term if you discount the folks with him, including some of his 'enemies' that state he never said that.

Biden, OTOH, is on tape calling troops 'stupid bastards'. But hey, he was just joking as 'one of the guys', right? Except one of my acquaintances' wife was deployed and present for his remarks. She said no one there thought it was all that funny; in fact, she felt it was quite condescending.

 

[HighPriest]

I guess that's the term if you discount the folks with him, including some of his 'enemies' that state he never said that.

Biden, OTOH, is on tape calling troops 'stupid bastards'. But hey, he was just joking as 'one of the guys', right? Except one of my acquaintances' wife was deployed and present for his remarks. She said no one there thought it was all that funny; in fact, she felt it was quite condescending.

Ah, yes, the old “you must like Biden” fallacy.

Just based upon Trumps long track record of being a douchebag, I’m inclined to believe the folks who were with him who say he said it.

For the record, I’m against any idiot running the country, on either side of the aisle. I’m also against the aisle.

 

[HighPriest]

According to one of our guest ethics lecturers, we shouldn’t be (wearing uniforms as medical officers).

Yeah, I could see that argument.

 

[Gastrapathy]

I don’t care that they are wearing scrubs and not standing in formation. But the smirky “he’s not currently on oxygen’” answers from Dr Conley made him look like one of Trump’s stooges rather than a military physician.

I do think it’s pretty wild that Trump’s “mild” case of COVID was treated with an experimental polyclonal ab cocktail presumably under compassionate use, Pepcid, remdesivir and dex.

 

[HighPriest]

I don’t care that they are wearing scrubs and not standing in formation. But the smirky “he’s not currently on oxygen’” answers from Dr Conley made him look like one of Trump’s stooges rather than a military physician.

I do think it’s pretty wild that Trump’s “mild” case of COVID was treated with an experimental polyclonal ab cocktail presumably under compassionate use, Pepcid, remdesivir and dex.

That’s what makes it not such a big deal. Anyone who gets sick can just go spend 4 days in the hospital and get any experimental treatment they want, right?

Don’t get me wrong, he’s the CIC, he gets special treatment. If only he realized that...or perhaps cared that not everyone can?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah, I could see that argument.

This guy said a bunch of stuff that was absolutely outrageous. The uniform thing was the least of it. I get seeing ourselves as different, but I think there’s also an argument to be made that separating yourself out from the line that much will make them less likely to trust you. The reserve unit he was with had a patch that said “train fight kill” or something on it, and he had something made to say “train fight kill hemorrhoids” so he wouldn’t have to wear something that implied killing people lol.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I guess that's the term if you discount the folks with him, including some of his 'enemies' that state he never said that.

Biden, OTOH, is on tape calling troops 'stupid bastards'. But hey, he was just joking as 'one of the guys', right? Except one of my acquaintances' wife was deployed and present for his remarks. She said no one there thought it was all that funny; in fact, she felt it was quite condescending.

As much as I dislike Biden, a tu quoque isn’t a valid argument, satisfying though they may be.

 

[HighPriest]

This guy said a bunch of stuff that was absolutely outrageous. The uniform thing was the least of it. I get seeing ourselves as different, but I think there’s also an argument to be made that separating yourself out from the line that much will make them less likely to trust you. The reserve unit he was with had a patch that said “train fight kill” or something on it, and he had something made to say “train fight kill hemorrhoids” so he wouldn’t have to wear something that implied killing people lol.

I can see that argument too, honestly. There will always be a line between being a cog in a death machine and being a physician. But, frankly, the military is where surgery was born and where a whooooole $#it-ton of medical innovation occurs. So this is a baby and bath water situation.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I can see that argument too, honestly. There will always be a line between being a cog in a death machine and being a physician. But, frankly, the military is where surgery was born and where a whooooole $#it-ton of medical innovation occurs. So this is a baby and bath water situation.

Yeah I can see both ways. Probably a little balancing that can be done.

 

[Lawpy]

I don’t care that they are wearing scrubs and not standing in formation. But the smirky “he’s not currently on oxygen’” answers from Dr Conley made him look like one of Trump’s stooges rather than a military physician.

I do think it’s pretty wild that Trump’s “mild” case of COVID was treated with an experimental polyclonal ab cocktail presumably under compassionate use, Pepcid, remdesivir and dex.

That’s what makes it not such a big deal. Anyone who gets sick can just go spend 4 days in the hospital and get any experimental treatment they want, right?

Don’t get me wrong, he’s the CIC, he gets special treatment. If only he realized that...or perhaps cared that not everyone can?

I'm not sure why Trump was treated with antibodies when the results weren't peer reviewed. But a lot of those he was taking were cheap steroids and supplements. Remdesivir is the problem but i think Gilead is working to increase the production?

 

[DrMetal]

an experimental polyclonal ab cocktail

and which has very little safety data. I think it's in early Phase 1? With a N=300? Well, now N=301. That's pretty ballsy. The other stuff at least has safety data to ensure (somewhat) little chance of harm. And most 74-yo obese Americans could probably use some pepcid.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Bumped their stock.

 

[Baron Samedi]

I guess that's the term if you discount the folks with him, including some of his 'enemies' that state he never said that.

Biden, OTOH, is on tape calling troops 'stupid bastards'. But hey, he was just joking as 'one of the guys', right? Except one of my acquaintances' wife was deployed and present for his remarks. She said no one there thought it was all that funny; in fact, she felt it was quite condescending.

You don't have to be a Biden supporter to recognize that the past 4 years have been an unmitigated disaster and disgrace to our nation.

The care he received is undoubtedly affected by politics. If there wasn't a contentious election, he wouldn't have received the medications he did, he wouldn't have left the hospital when he did, and power would have temporarily transferred to the Vice President as intended.

 

[j4pac]

Do we really need to talk politics here? Doesn’t really seem necessary, and frankly, many don’t care to hear about it.

There is no way you can keep things sanitary while using a military uniform. It was FINE when we weren’t in the midst of a pandemic, but now it’s just silly. Certainly, they could have changed out for the press...but dint physicians have better things to do right now?

 

[d2305]

Decadron does make you feel better for a few days.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

I haven't been on this forum for a long time, but I just had to come on to vent. Tell me if you agree with me or not. I'm happy that President Trump was at Walter Reed over the weekend, and I'm sure he was getting great care.

View attachment 319780

What bothers me is this press conference. Can anyone tell me why none of the staff are in uniform? Most of them are wearing scrubs, for a press conference, outside of the hospital! I realize these days it is acceptable to go to the grocery store in scrubs, but how sloppy can you be? I am old enough that when I trained in medical school we couldn't even round in scrubs. You had to change into professional clothes during daytime hours. Then on active duty, I wouldn't have imagined doing something with the press out of uniform. At least Dr. Conley is dressed professionally, but why is he in civvies? He's an active-duty Commander.

What do you think?

He is wearing what is likely a command-approved working variant of dress blues, a clinic coat vice a uniform coat. This is customarily worn with epaulets where under a uniform coat they are not typically worn. The officers in the background are wearing what is likely a command-authorized working uniform, here, the command-provided scrubs and which is likely required to be worn anywhere outside the OR or ICU with a long clinic coat.

So, they are in uniform, all of them.

 

[d2305]

I wonder how many ID patients there are at Bethesda including covid?

 

[pgg]

He is wearing what is likely a command-approved working variant of dress blues, a clinic coat vice a uniform coat. This is customarily worn with epaulets where under a uniform coat they are not typically worn. The officers in the background are wearing what is likely a command-authorized working uniform, here, the command-provided scrubs and which is likely required to be worn anywhere outside the OR or ICU with a long clinic coat.

So, they are in uniform, all of them.

The most astonishing thing about the photo is that they wore scrubs outdoors, and somehow a roving pack of nurse corps O5s didn't sniff out that transgression before attacking.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Those packs are vicious but move relatively slowly and they rarely journey as far from their dens as the stairs in front of the old tower. They prefer easier prey on the far side of campus where the innocent young medical students receive their nourishment

 

[d2305]

Guess they closed Walter Reed do to the med hold fiasco which relieved for cause their Surgeon General.

 

[backrow]

Guess they closed Walter Reed do to the med hold fiasco which relieved for cause their Surgeon General.

No, old Walter Reed was closed as part of BRAC. While the hold facilities were rightly called out they actually had nothing to do with the planned closure of the hospital.