From the article: “The couple called 911, but acknowledged that it was probably difficult for dispatches to understand the expecting mother between contractions.”
Life is a reading rainbow, my friend.
11 Likes
Since we don’t know, all we can do is jump to conclusions. Even you right?
I get it, you give them the benefit of the doubt, other people don’t, perhaps this is what you mean to address.
1 Like
It’s quite a leap to go from speaking between contractions, to being “hysterical”. And considering the misogynistic connotations of that word, well, probably not the best linguistic choice.
1 Like
Precisely this.
The woman might have been screaming for her husband not to stop (and with all the hormones going crazy this is understandable), but the husband should have simply used his brain for two seconds and realised that speeding at 30mph over the limit (which is speeding pretty damn fast) while cops were in pursuit wasn’t going to end well. The best thing they could have done was pull over once the lights went on, tell the police “my wife is in labor and contractions are coming hard and fast” and they probably would have given them a police escort all the way to the hospital.
Regarding the “called 911 in advance” comments: it sounds to me like the couple called 911 only after the cops started pursuit. Sure the couple wouldn’t have had time to call 911 before they got in the car, but they could have dialed it a minute after they left. Again, I understand the couple probably wouldn’t have thought of this right away but it isn’t totally unreasonable.
2 Likes
Seems like a good method to get out of any speeding ticket, let the cops go ahead with the sirens on then take a sharp turn at the first opportunity.
What, on your bike?
2 Likes
My god, that’s so civilized. So… European.
6 Likes
Because obviously it hadn’t occurred to anyone to call in to dispatch, “white Honda Civic, plate no. xxx-yyyy, displaying makeshift medical emergency symbol. Unit 718 will escort to hospital.”
1 Like
Well, there’s @SirCracked upthread who knows the area, and is saying that it could well be a speed-trap situation of a quarter mile of road with a 25 mph limit on a road that is otherwise 55 mph- not because it’s more hazardous, but to make profit for the town it goes through. And saying that even not on that particular bit of road, 30 over is not particularly dangerous, and certainly not dangerous enough to warrant the use of potentially-lethal force (which spike strips are).
3 Likes
Well, being as in such a case it actually is her womb causing the stress, perhaps not so much…
(also, from my limited experience of contractions, there is at the very least something of a sense of, ah, urgency, let’s say in the expectant mother’s communications)
If you will allow me to offer my professional opinion people should call 911 and let the ambulance do the driving failing that at least a cab has a professional and uninvolved driver in control. Many people do stupid panicky things for their family and friends on the day they finally are expected to drive in a manner they determine to be ‘emergency style’. The truth is that except in a rural area fast driving at best saves a few seconds at the risk of many lives and the stupid driving behavior of cutting corners may actually slow an emergency vehicle down. Taking vigilante roadblock drivers into account and police deadly force like spike strips and pit stops driving a loved one at 30 over is really taking your own life into your hands for little gain.
It is easy for me to say after delivering babies in homes, hospitals, and in the back of ambulance but birth is most often a natural but painful thing which requires but a few interventions. It should be part of a standard first aid course taught in high school rather than feared as some voodoo spell only dispelled by a doctor in a well staffed hospital; except for epidurals.
Sum up: very few emergencies ever call for even police or ambulance to exceed the speed limit by over 10mph and almost never call for blowing red lights. But especially police will never fear a citation for reckless driving and deadly driving is super fun even if it results in the occasional unpunished manslaughter. Fire and ambulance who have a real reason to speed are phasing out or have banned speeding and entering an intersection against the light relying only on people pulling over to the shoulder to permit them to pass in heavy traffic when running the lights and sirens.
And if ambulances were free at the point of use in the US (as they would be in a sane single payer healthcare system), people probably would. I would never use one except in the direst of circumstances (and even then, I’d try to drive) since its just money down the toilet otherwise.
It is fucking nuts that you have to think about finances in a medical emergency.
7 Likes
1,000,000% correct, I didn’t do any billing work as the EMS director, the department outsourced that and/or the secretary’s office handled it but it was a problem. There was pressure from the chief and board to add services or upgrade to advanced life support by starting an IV or applying ECG pads. Fighting that eventually got my appointment pulled by the board, state EMS said all that they could do is keep an eye out for a major violation but their mandate is mostly to support EMS agencies not screw them. Ambulance rides were and are a major part of the emergency services budget, either the fire and rescue leans on that irresponsible crutch or there is a private money sponge agency, both throwing people to the debt collection agencies to support budgets.
All I can say is never carry any real ID if you have a choice when being transported from a home, not much you can do when you are in an auto accident, the cops have your registered car, give a shortened nick name and hope the hospital can’t ID you, never-never give a SSN, these are ridiculous made up on the spot ideas for not getting that bill. Even so called public or volunteer ambulance is mostly dealing with budget conscious sharks, they must to transport you if you need it, but may try to talk indigent looking folks out of it as a policy if they think they can get away with it.
(edit)A word of caution for faking ID, you will screw lookup of hospital records which can be harmful to patient care, nice catch-22 eh’?
(edit2)When I was in for a few years when we had real hope for Clinton-Care, single payer is the only way to have a functional system designed to serve the public, Obama-Care is a Joe Biden subsidy for insurance companies and a high hurdle for poor people to acquire. It is embarrassing to all good paramedics/EMTs and firefighters that our skilled work and intense training intended to be an asset to the community is too often being billed in a heartless and immoral way to impoverish families behind our backs.
(edit3)Still, if you wont call an ambulance call a taxi, you don’t want to be transported by an amateur wannabe ambulance driver who panics and trys to race to the hospital, slow and steady wins the race.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
