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  1. Complete the job on metrication that Ronald Reagan defunded

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    111 comments  ·  Obama CTO  ·  Admin →
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    usma commented  · 

    In his Inaugural Address, President Obama stated, "For the world is changing, and we must change with it." Perhaps this statement of his basic orientation for American action will apply to the metric system. It certainly has been an argument of many that the U.S. join the rest of the world by changing over to metric. However,the decision to metric is ours.

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    usma commented  · 

    There should be ONE system of measurement--the metric system, in healthcare. But the only way we are going to have metric-only healthcare is to have a metric-only society in the U.S. Australia did it; so can we!

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    usma commented  · 

    Ultimately, it falls to pharmacists to make sure the body mass in kilograms, not the weight in pounds, is used in the calculation, and U.S. healthcare workers are aware of the need to use kilograms only. But, the problems continues in the U.S. because the DUALITY OF MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS continues. An error of this type is very unlikely, but I am certainly with you: it should never happen.

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    usma commented  · 

    In medical records, the units used are always labeled. Even when the kilogram measurements are used alone, they are always labeled with the kilogram symbol. In my experience as a pharmacist, the danger comes when our non-metric CULTURE spills into the medical environment, i.e., someone fills in a space labeled "kg" with a value in pounds. The number "150" misunderstood results in an overdose.

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    usma commented  · 

    A number of powerful drugs are dosed in milligrams per kilogram of patient body weight, or even according to meters of body surface area, called BSA (BSA is calculated using patient height and weight in metric units). If kilograms get mixed up with pounds, the patient may get a serious or even fatal overdose. The solution is simple: measure in metric only and SPEAK in metric only, in healthcare.

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    usma commented  · 

    I totally agree with these posts on using metric units only for patient height and weight! This is where the U.S.' non-metric society must be kept out of healthcare. Already, the Joint Commission has issued a guideline that all PEDIATRIC patients should be weighed in kilograms only; I wrote JC to urge that this move be extended to patients of all ages, and also include measuring height in meters.

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    usma commented  · 

    (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.

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    usma commented  · 

    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.

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    usma commented  · 

    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

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    usma commented  · 

    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.

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    usma commented  · 

    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.

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    usma commented  · 

    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.

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    usma commented  · 

    GoMetricToday, most countries that changed over to metric in the 1970s set a 10-year conversion period. Once there a REAL national commitment to metrication, and the "starting gun" is fired, there is no turning back. Measurement is something that everybody does. It is beyond politics. Once it starts, and the economic and social facts are created, it has to proceed to completion.

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    usma commented  · 

    Supporters of U.S. metrication might want to consider adding their thanks to Mr. Gene Messick of OpEd News for supporting "Obama metrication." See
    http://www.opednews.com/articles/Time-for-America-to-go-Met-by-Gene-Messick-081201-701.html

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    usma commented  · 

    Old Engineer, the change would be painful for some Americans only if it is done without an effective public information plan. The everyday metric system is a snap to learn, but people need to know why the change is being made and what it will mean in their daily lives. See http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/lc1136lv.cfm#inchlb

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    usma commented  · 

    The focus of metrication would be on commerce. I believe that sports rules are generally outside of commerce. I'm confident that U.S. football and other U.S. sports could continue to use yards or feet without affecting the progress of national metrication.

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    usma commented  · 

    But, ynot56, how things are measured is, in part, how the world works.
    How things are measured determines the form in which things are manufactured and sold. If metrication is a non-issue, it is only so because it has suffered in silence for years. Surely, it is time to discuss the U.S. gaining the metric-system advantage. The national silence on metric has been deafening since about 1982.

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    usma commented  · 

    U.S. metrication may be perceived by many people as "socialism" or "government bureaucratic meddling." But, the power to make it happen is as old as the Republic. It is found in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution, which empowers the Congress to "fix the standard of weights and measures." Also, eliminating British units would complete our Declaration of Independence. All very American!

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    usma commented  · 

    Metrication of road signs is not something that can be done gradually. The whole process of metrication has to be done on a coordinated, national basis. First, there has to be public education on the change, as vehicles become equipped with mile-kilometer switchable gauges. Then, all states have to unveil the signs on a single day. All may not go smoothly, but disruptions can be minimized.

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    usma commented  · 

    NOTE ON USMA

    The U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc., is a non-profit, national organization, founded in 1916, and dedicated to U.S. conversion to the International System of Units (also called SI, or the modern metric system). Please visit our internationally acclaimed Web site at http://www.metric.org.

    Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
    Public Relations Director, USMA

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    usma commented  · 

    The goal of U.S. changeover to the SI metric system of measurement is not new. It was set down at the founding of our Republic, but often delayed due to lack of leadership in Congress, the executive, and industry. The U.S. is now the only nation without a plan to go metric . The time is now for our CTO to advance the process. Neglecting this goal costs the U.S. money and competitiveness.

    usma supported this idea  ·