Brickbat: Time Is of the Essence

Bigapplestock / Dreamstime.com

It was 43 minutes after his family called for an ambulance that a Chicago man suffering a heart attack arrived at a hospital. Officials say that all their ambulances were on other runs or under repair. The man's doctor says he will survive but suffered irreparable damage to his heart.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

State standards require fire departments to provide advance life support assistance within six minutes.

Or else what?

[Get To Da Chippah]

Or else they'll have to come up with an excuse why it didn't happen, and then move on with their lives.

[Rat on a train]

The state will stamp their meal cards "no dessert".

[Rich]

Or else we'll call this requirement a suggestion.

[Cynical Asshole]

Or else what?

Or else NEEDZ MOAR FUNDING!

[Shirley Knott]

Single payer at work.

[sarcasmic]

The argument for single payer isn't one of efficiency or quality of care. It's a moral argument against profits. They'd rather a million people die from lack of care than have one rich person to make a penny.

[Shirley Knott]

Pretty much.
They may wrap the argument in cost, quality of care, access to care, and/or efficiency, but it's a zero-sum view of economics.
They only see one man's profit as another man's loss. Loss elimination for the win! sigh
(This is merely a variant of the "arguments" for tariffs, of course. Zero-sum thinking, no profit without a counter-balancing loss.)

[sarcasmic]

It's not even that. They feel that it is immoral for someone to get rich off of another's suffering. Even if the quality and timeliness of the care is superior, it's abhorrent to profit from sickness and death. Better that such services be doled out by government, because government doesn't profit.

The result of course will long waits for shitty services.

Example number 154 of how the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[perlchpr]

That, and that "if a medical technology exists, it should be available to everyone, irrespective of whether they can afford it".

[sarcasmic]

"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics."

Thomas Sowell

[Horny Lizard]

Scarcity in a place and time where the pets of the rich live more comfortably than most Americans? Capitalism is god sent but let's not pretend that people haven't rigged the system.

[sarcasmic]

Capitalism is god sent but let's not pretend that people haven't rigged the system.

Contrary to popular belief, the rich are not some static group of people. Poor people become rich and rich people lose their fortunes. Happens every day. If the US was like Venezuela or some other socialist paradise where the rich in fact are a static group of politically connected individuals, then I would agree. Because that system is indeed rigged.

But I can't agree that our system is rigged, despite the efforts by leftists to make it so.

[Horny Lizard]

That NY Congressman is a good example of a guy taking a big risk to develop a new treatment and losing millions. Rigged is a loaded term. The big banks for example have access to free money as one example and these rich fuckers game the stock markets. It's rigged like casinos are set up.

[perlchpr]

But I can't agree that our system is rigged, despite the efforts by leftists to make it so.

The game isn't impossible, but the playing field is hardly level. No, you're absolutely right, that poor people do become rich, and rich people become poor, but while they're rich, the rich try and get laws passed that will help keep them there.

[Cynical Asshole]

Scarcity in a place and time where the pets of the rich live more comfortably than most Americans?

*facepalm* That may be the dumbest unsupported assertion I've ever seen here. Congratulations, you've managed to outdo even Tony. Unfortunately I'm all out of blue ribbons though.

[Wizard4169]

They're oddly selective in their blame, though. Shouldn't farmers be despised for profiting from hunger?

[Cynical Asshole]

Depends on whether the farmers in question are growing EVUL GMO crops invented by EVUL Monsanto or if they're good little peasant growing organic, fair trade, carbon free crops on collective farms.

[Deconstructed Potato]

In a hospital within 43 minutes? I think that would have been considered very quick in the UK.

[Don't look at me.]

Next time call Uber.

[Jerryskids]

Or a private ambulance service. Unlike some places, Chicago doesn't have a city-owned/controlled monopoly on ambulance services. Did one of the paramedics think to suggest that calling a private ambulance service might be quicker, if more expensive depending on the old man's insurance?

[Adans smith]

Are city wokers even allowed to suggest such a thing? I bet not.

[Deconstructed Potato]

There is a legal argument that it falls under their duty of care to do so, but good luck fighting the city on that one.

[Echospinner]

Please don't call a private ambulance for something like this.

Private ambulance is basically a transportation service for people in nursing homes or who cannot go by wheelchair. They do not have the capabilities or communication with the hospital like a full paramedic staffed EMS. Also you will wait even longer.

[Longtobefree]

The ambulances have to be routed around all the places in the city that are too dangerous to go through, because of gun control and Obamacare, which are Trump's fault.
It's Chicago, people.

[Horny Lizard]

I saw first hand what happens in a system where people take advantage by not doing their jobs. It snowballs and makes completing the work even more difficult for the people picking up the slack. Eventually the hard workers grow resentful and that's when the shit really starts flowing down stream. Life is hard enough when you're caught up but it's near damn impossible when you let it slide and dig that hole. Some people and places are deep in that hole through no personal fault of their own.

[sarcasmic]

Rule of thumb: 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Life sucks. Get used to it.

[Horny Lizard]

Easy for a guy from Maine to say. You Yankees and your work ethic built this country. Thank god for your culture. Where I live it's different. Maybe it's the heat.

[Horny Lizard]

When the Union soldiers went through Tennessee during the civil war they couldn't believe how primitive the farming was. They were seeing things and techniques from ancient times. It was as if time had stood still frozen in the medieval past. That's hole I'm talking about. It's so large you don't even know you're in it.

[sarcasmic]

Here in Maine we build DDGs for the Navy, and they make the same ships in Mississippi. I know people who have visited Ingalls, and they were shocked at the work ethic. Or rather the lack thereof.

They said it's a different world. Totally laid back. Nobody hurries for anything.

So I do somewhat understand what you are talking about.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Read an interesting (but really dry) history of the early US. One of the differences twixt north and south was the way of accounting for favors made and owed. New Englanders kept books to document everything; Southerners tracked it mentally. Each thought the other's way was an insult. Neither understood the other's way.

New Englanders kept written records to make up for faulty human memory because everything was important. Southerners judged friendships by how much was remembered and forgotten.

[Cynical Asshole]

Lemme guess: there's no private ambulance companies because... something about "people over profits"... EVUL KKKORPORAYSHUNZ... etc.

[Agammamon]

You'd think someone would have just gotten up and drove the dude to the emergency room at some point.

[Longtobefree]

As in a non-union person transporting someone when there is a union job for transporting people?
What part of violence in Chicago do you not understand?

[Echospinner]

The city is adding more units. It is not so easy determining how to allocate resources for something like this. Just like the hospital ED there are times when you are sitting around with not much to do. Other times when you are stretched past your limits. You need to look at the numbers and see how many response times are going past your guidelines.

Time is key. If EMS is far away get the person to the hospital as quickly as possible. (Do not call a private ambulance this is not what they do )

Two things:

1) Read this. https://tinyurl.com/yamqyvmr

2) keep a bottle of aspirin handy. Regular strength not coated.
If you think you are having a heart attack chew one up and swallow with some water.