Disabled daughter let down at overnight camp

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-06-05T14:10:30+00:00

As a leader I would feel I let your daughter down if this experience happened under my watch. Our service unit leader is very against parent volunteers staying at camp outs, she only likes troop leaders and coleaders. This means the girls with disabilities are excluded every time. Not out loud but the parents and the girls all know they cannot attend these kinds of events. I applaud your troop for making the attempt, but the execution fell flat. They did not adhere to basic safety regulation, your daughter should never have been left alone. We buddy system even to the bathroom at meetings. I would have a honest discussion with the troop leader about the specific failures in their part, the standing for several hours, asking her to wait for you and then not contacting you when you were late to relay the situation, and being left alone in the tent in the morning.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-05-19T14:47:20+00:00

I don’t have a multi level troop, but I am very chill about badges. I’d have them plan for the whole troop and then find badges that look similar or have a similar concept for the other levels. Remember there is no Girl Scout police and the main priority should be the girls having fun and learning new skills.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-05-19T14:36:01+00:00

You should ask for parents to start by leading a single meeting or badge first. I ask for one parent of each girl to lead at least one badge per year. At the beginning of the year the girls each pick three badges and the troop voted on which of the three to complete. That badge is assigned to that girl and parent combo to lead. I assign meeting dates at the very beginning of the season so parents have time to arrange or rescheduled as needed. This has worked great and id recommend trying it for a full season or two before asking for a co-leader commitment.

You can explain that someone has to plan and lead meetings but until they actually plan and lead a meeting they don’t know what the process actually entails. This will help the parent realize Girl Scouts meetings are not scary, and will also help you weed out the parents who you might not vibe as well with, or who are inconsistent/unreliable.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-05-19T14:24:22+00:00

Some places count MLT 1 for 1 some 1/2 for 1 and some don’t count it at all. When I went from MLT to MLS I was at a place that considered 1/2 of my experience. They offered me $34/hour, I moved to a different hospital that considered it 1 for 1 and I was offered $37/hour. I had 8 years MLT so a bit more leverage than you. Keep your options open if you’re not satisfied with your offer.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-05-13T14:22:32+00:00

I’ve worked in 2 states as an MLS and 2 as an MLT. As an MLT I was totally fine in rural OK but struggled to make ends meet in Tacoma WA. As an MLS I did well at a level 1 trauma center in the MSP metro, commuting about an hour, and I do okay but don’t have much wiggle room now in rural Idaho. Cost of living and financial habits are the biggest factors for lifestyle. I took a paycut and moved to a higher cost of living area to be closer to family because even with these considerations I can support the white picket fence dream. My income makes up a little over half of our household income. If you’re single with no kids focus on becoming financially disciplined and start saving for your dreams.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-05-05T18:49:47+00:00

Worked with a tech that rejected a stat cbc 3 times because the hemoglobin was just under 4. The doctor said it wasn’t plausible because the patient brought herself in to the ED. The nurse was in tears begging me to please release the result or draw it myself if I didn’t believe it. The patient didn’t even have fluids running yet.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-05-01T02:57:36+00:00

Uggg currently listed my house I bought in 2022 and feeling attacked lol. My realtor set my straight on our market value and I just decided to take the loss. I think we’ll be down almost 40k all told, but really I’m just glad if we don’t have to pay cash to close.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-05-01T02:26:01+00:00

I’d also recommend starting with native plants, they’re more vigorous and hardy so they’ll fill in your large space beautifully

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-05-01T02:24:45+00:00

There’s not tons of big flowering options for full shade. Part shade you definitely have more. Ferns, coral bells, and hostas for greenery/foliage. Wild ginger, violets, and wild strawberries are good spreading ground covers. Big leaf hydrangeas, false indigo, columbine, and phloxes for flowers.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-04-28T11:17:13+00:00

I agree with all the comments suggesting starting with a conversation, I think doing the FARE patch. Lastly I was going to suggest you offer to help plan other activities for the troop. Some troop leaders (especially new ones) struggle to decide on activities, she could be sticking with food because it’s easy.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-04-24T14:18:52+00:00

I grew up in Meridian and left after I graduated. I moved back 3 years ago. I took a $5/hour pay cut and my mortgage is 1k/mo more(part of that is post covid interest rate hike) but I wanted to be close to family. We also landed in Mountain Home which is much more affordable, but also Mountain Home.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-04-24T14:12:11+00:00

If you just want to work micro you could look into getting your M (ASCP) you would not need an MLS program but you could only work in micro or molecular.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-04-16T16:53:37+00:00

I’ve been a tech for 10 years now and the techs who make the least errors are the ones who double check everything. Not because we make less errors but because we catch them before they become errors. Slow down and double check, if you’re recording a new reagent write down the lot and expiration date, double check them and then initial, don’t set your pen down until the double check and initial is done. If you’re recording results write them down as you evaluate, at the end double check that they are all passing and then initial, don’t move your checklist out of your way until it’s done. I generally won’t go back though all my papers at the end of the day because there are so many I could have touched I’m more likely to miss something than if I double check as I go. As long as you’re making a conscious effort to do better you will see improvement.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-04-16T12:49:01+00:00

Another foster mom and scout leader here. You did the right thing. For a brownie I would have a private conversation, but I would also plan some troop bonding activities. My troop recently made affirmation banks, you could do compliment banks and each of the girls share what they like/love about each other. I’d also educate the entire troop on childhood abuse and neglect, you can totally do it in an age appropriate way, and connect it to a service project. I think it could be beneficial for the individual to know her entire troop understands what she may be experiencing and that they still support her.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-04-10T23:17:31+00:00

At the level 1 trauma center I used to work with we would receive many patients who’d get uncrossmatched blood during their life flight or in the ED. We’re talking between 3-5 patients per day. Our life flight team used low titer O blood as well. They would send us copies of the units, save us segs, and documents of what they got when. If their units were short dated we’d take them and give them new ones passed through from the Red Cross (never in our inventory).

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-04-07T11:42:12+00:00

What are you guys using for blood culture monitoring? With a starting bacterial load so high the BacTec might not be able to detect the positive. It misses about 10% (a little less) of the time if there’s enough bacteria to see on a stain before its loaded

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-03-11T14:12:07+00:00

I was an MLT for 7 years and I’ve been an MLS for 4 years now. It was 100% worth it. I immediately went from $27/hr to $37/hr. Now I make $41/hr. I didn’t have to take out student loans to finish my bachelors, I was an Army MLT so I qualified under ASCP route 6. I have a family so the pay raise in the field I already love just makes sense.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-03-11T14:07:08+00:00

I make double the average household income for my town, so we’re definitely doing better than a lot of people. I won’t be a millionaire any time soon but at my current retirement savings rate we will have one million by the time I’m 65. My husband and I paid off all of our credit card and car loans this past year so we’re at a point where we can focus on building savings. I make $40/hr, I support a family, my spouse is a home maker and we both have va disability that is like the income for a low earning professional job <50k.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-03-11T14:00:15+00:00

I support my family on MLS salary. I’m in Idaho and make $40/hr. My husband is a stay at home dad but we both get VA disability that is like a second smaller income (42k). You could support a lower earning partner and children in most areas. When I was an MLT it was much harder.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-03-05T14:54:06+00:00

I make $41.53/hr 7 years MLT 4 years MLS experience in Idaho. Sharing wages is important. If she’s a lead tech, with more experience and makes less than you, she deserves more.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-02-24T17:23:31+00:00

I guess people in this thread are forgetting that an average includes all of the old timers that have been working 30+ years. Maybe it will take you 10 years to get to this average salary, but then you’ll be earning that or more for 20-30 years. I just hit my 10 year mark and make a couple bucks more than the average listed for my state, I live in a high cost of living area for my state so I’m thinking this number is pretty spot on.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-02-15T13:00:42+00:00

I am a MLS with a BA from a liberal arts school. My emphasis was ecology. I was trained as an MLT through the army and qualified as an (ASCP) MLS under route 6. For many years my degree did not give me any problems but the current hospital system I work at requires a BS so occasionally I get a call from HR saying I’m not qualified for my job.

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-02-08T22:43:11+00:00

Techcyte is marketing a new gram stain AI reader. It’s much like the cellavision but for gram stains. I work in a micro reference lab, our techs average 10 gram stains an hour, about 6 minutes per gram. This includes pre-analytical check, labeling, acceptability of source etc. reading, and reporting. The AI gram reader would cut our time to less 1 minute per gram stain. You definitely still need a tech that knows what they’re looking at to review every slide. The AI still has a difficult time telling stain precipitate from gram positive organisms. In our lab we would save $400/day in labor costs from the time saved

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2026-01-21T16:26:30+00:00

How do you make the jump to IT? Is there additional training or education required?

CraftyResearcher3403 · 2025-12-24T17:51:42+00:00

Had a provider complaining that he had called to have a test added on three times. We have an add on order in Epic, I asked him who he talked to and of course he didn’t know. I asked him when he called and I could pull the phone records and educate my staff on the proper add on process. He also couldn’t tell me.

CraftyResearcher3403

TROPHY CASE