This bad boy is called a Kelly Clamp and I encountered it for the first time during my operating room rotation as a student nurse. It’s one of many instruments used during surgery, especially useful for using or removing sponges from ...well, never mind. Imagine my surprise when, following Hubby as he scoured every corner of his favorite tool and hardware store one day, I saw old Kelly sitting on a shelf with a price tag of only a few dollars. How did he escape the operating room? I nabbed him right away.
So far, he’s proved terrific for digging out the lint that hides deep in the filter area of my dryer. Clamp a cloth or sponge in his long teeth and you can reach just about anything that needs cleaning. He’s even recently proved useful for getting socks on when one can’t reach their toes because of injury.
There are other medical items or terms that have particular surnames as well as Kelly clamp. There’s the Foley catheter designed to remain in the bladder for more than a day. Lest we leap to the conclusion the Irish (Kelly and Foley) have a lock on medical engineering, there’s a position named Trendelenburg in which the patient’s head is lowered and the feet are raised. It is used to prevent shock by keeping blood flowing to the brain while blood pressure drops due to hemorrhage. I heard a physician remark that whoever Trendelenburg was, he gets more famous every time a doctor shouts “Trendelenburg position!” He sounded almost jealous.
So there’s the Three Musketeers of the medical world. Remember Trenedlenburg in case you need to use it, grab Kelly if you can and I hope you don’t need Foley.
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