I agree Ametrica. But it is going to take people like us to invoke the kinds of changes that are needed. We start by requiring our doctors and nurses to use metric only on us. Then we should contact the administrators of the hospitals and get them on board. Johnson City Medical Centre where I live uses metric on the patients. I had to go to the ER and was pleasantly surprised that they did.

What you are doing is not an answer and could create as many problems as it solves. Doctors must be forced to use metric on all patients. When it comes to matters of life and death there can be no choices or dual units. Metric units fully and only. Those patients who still want old units should be told why metric only is required and if they need old units, then convert them themselves.

Ametrica

That is why I require the nurses and doctors at my doctors office to use metric measures on me at all times. They know to set the scale on kilograms before I get on it. It is in very bold print on the front of my chart METRIC MEASURES ONLY. They all know that I am well versed in everyday metric and can understand when my weight is 96 kg. It took me a long time to find this office.

The medical industry is still not fully metric. Patient weights are still being done in pounds. This results in tens of thousands of patients being murdered annually due to dosing errors. Pounds must be converted to kilograms in order for the proper dose to be given, but if it isn't done at all nor done correctly then a huge dosing error and death result. This alone should motivate change.

I have been lecturing in less developed Africa when a change smoothly took place in business, streets and shops. The problem shifted to mathematical manipulation of the power of ten notation, SI prefixes, SI units, inter-conversion within the SI system, accuracy, precision and the uncertainties of measurement or calculated quantities. Then, there was no book for students on experimental science...

I can honestly say that I regret resisting metrication. When my son showed me that it was so much easier, I ask myself why we didn't convert sooner. I find now that when I go grocery shopping and the such I tend to look more at the metric measures to compare package sizes. My son has been a USMA member for almost 3 years now and is always leaving his USMA newsletters around for me to peruse.

(Sorry, I was typing too fast to spell "pharmacist" correctly, or to say "your" instead of "you"!!) Ease of use, in healthcare, or anywhere, attracts me to metric. What I fear is that we Americans will tend to confuse ESTABLISHING a measurement standard with IMPOSING the standard. The difference in the two is something that I call "assent," the only way metrication has ever worked.

Hello, Diane,

I am a phamacist as well as the Public Relations Director for the U.S. Metric Association (www.metric.org). I share you preference for metric, especially in healthcare. Years ago, nurses would think that two 1/100 gr. nitroglycerin tablets would equal one 1/200 gr., since, "of course," 1/100 + 1/100 = 1/200 (grin). Thankfully, NTG is now labeled as 0.3 mg, 0.4 mg, and 0.6 mg.

The inch/pound ones had 5/16 and 11/32. Never being really good in math I asked him which one was bigger. Since he primarily conducts his life in metric he said he didn't know. He said look at the millimetres. One had 15 mm and the other had 19 mm. I instantly saw which one was bigger. He showed me that I didn't need to make conversions to understand the metric system. Best of Luck. Diane

Hello there. I am GoMetricToday's mother. I just want to say I support this push to finish our metrication. I have to admit that I don't know much about the metric system. I went to nursing school learning drams, grains, and the like. My son showed me how easy the metric system was when we were shopping for garden hoses. The fractions confused me and he said look at the metric ones.

Metrication failed in the 1970s because:
1) Absence of full backing by government and industry leaders
2) No set transition period (i.e., no deadline)
3) Flawed mission. The mission of the U.S. Metric Board was not to make
the Nation metric, but merely to "coordinate the increasing use of the metric system"
4) The U.S. Metric Board contained members who did not even support the mission

I remember 5 years ago being told that TV was going digital. But like every other thing the government didn't educate the public and now they are playing catch up. My mother was even caught off guard. In this case the compulsory method is working and the transition to digital will be relatively smooth. Compulsory at this point in the game is the only way to metrication of the US.

USMA that just goes to show you what can happen when the public get the proper information and education. I think for the US though, our metrication will have to be compulsory. We tried the voluntary thing for too long and it didn't work, as I am sure you will agree. Like it was mentioned in another blog, the government made it compulsory for TV to changed to digital.

Actually, Australia's metrication was voluntary, and accomplished by national assent. Most Australians agreed that it needed to be done. The result was the changing of an imperial society to a metric one. I visited Australia last year, and can testify to the totality of the changeover. GMT, you are right to cite that country as a good example. They should be the U.S. ' metrication model.

I think that's a great idea, sort of like D Day in Britain, when they introduced the decimal pound (compare the old pounds, shillings, and pence to the English system. It's hard to tell the difference). Anyway, I think it would be great if America had an M Day. I think half of the worry comes from not knowing how to use the metric system, which could be solved with public education.

When it comes to road signs, I think Canada did a pretty good job of that. They systematically placed new signs and kept them covered until the day of the nation wide reveal. In one day they, like Ireland unveiled the new signs and took down the old ones. I agree that is what needs to be done here. With our vast size, I will take some logistical planning to get everyone on the same page.

Yes USMA it does have to be done right. First the public needs to be re-educated to learn daily average use of metric. I know I keep mentioning Australia, but I really think they did it right. They educated the public. Gave them all the information they needed. Let them know when the transition will happen. Then made the transition compulsory and they haven't looked back.

Regarding the posting of metric road signs, you're confusing rapidity with planning. Yes, the signs are unveiled in a single day, but you have to earn your way to that day. The posting of the signs must be backed up by cooperation of the DOTs with law enforcement, the general public, and the motor vehicle industry. THEN, darn right, you post the signs in one swoop on one day.

GMT, if you are at all like I am, you want the job done right. If it isn't done right, then U.S. metrication will fail the same way it did 33 years ago. It MUST be a truly national effort. Measurement involves everybody and everything, and it cannot be accomplished without the involvement of every cog in the American machine.

Slow conversion is not the way to go when metricating the highways. If you've ever done any driving in Canada, all you have is km/h signs, so you only look at the smaller km/h speedometer in your car, and you ignore the mph markings. Dual signs will lead to more confusion, and in the end, people would just ignore the km/h labels. Just do it and don't look back!