Medical/ER Coverage in America

[Dantheman]

When will people realize that gunshot victims really take a toll on Emergency Response and health care coverage in hospitals nationwide? Was watching discovery health tonight and it showed two gunshot victims and a driver who was involved in an accident. Guess who had to wait for the ER team?

What are your views?

[brianw999]

As a UK paramedic I can sympathise with the moral view that "criminals" should come second to "nice" people but you have to remember that all injuries are treated in order of severity, regardless of how, and under what circumstances the injuries were inflicted.

I recall the case of a mugger who beat up an old lady to steal her handbag. A crowd of bystanders saw the offence and beat the crap out of the offender, so much so that he was unconscious and quite severely injured when we picked him up. The old lady had a broken arm but was otherwise stable.

Believe me, It took a great deal of self control to triage the situation and take the assailant in as a priority with the old lady following later in a second ambulance. She had to wait in the A&E / ER as a lower priority than the assailant.

As a footnote, the assailant went to prison where the "proper" criminals saw to it that he got a second dose of street justice so maybe things were evened out in the end.

[arnie]

As a UK paramedic I can sympathise with the moral view that "criminals" should come second to "nice" people but you have to remember that all injuries are treated in order of severity, regardless of how, and under what circumstances the injuries were inflicted.

I recall the case of a mugger who beat up an old lady to steal her handbag. A crowd of bystanders saw the offence and beat the crap out of the offender, so much so that he was unconscious and quite severely injured when we picked him up. The old lady had a broken arm but was otherwise stable.

Believe me, It took a great deal of self control to triage the situation and take the assailant in as a priority with the old lady following later in a second ambulance. She had to wait in the A&E / ER as a lower priority than the assailant.

As a footnote, the assailant went to prison where the "proper" criminals saw to it that he got a second dose of street justice so maybe things were evened out in the end.

In this case, *YOU* knew who was the victim and who was the culprit. In general, you don't know this. Just assuming that the a gunshot victim is the bad guy is a little bit shortsighted....

[brianw999]

Just assuming that the a gunshot victim is the bad guy is a little bit shortsighted....

Very true. the gunshot victim could easily be the little old lady.

The problem is, every day of the week I see people suffering from self inflicted or self caused injuries taking priority over the truly needy.

A drunk lying in the street because they've fallen over and are bleeding ( and it's not the AMOUNT of bleeding, our wonderful Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System does'nt take the amount into consideration, it could easily be a small wound ) takes priority over the little old lady who is conscious and breathing but has been on the floor for 4 hours with a fractured hip and is in great pain.

It's all very frustrating.

[Dantheman]

Well, what would happen if you take away guns out of the picture?

I could also talk about smoking and cancer etc.

[brianw999]

Well, what would happen if you take away guns out of the picture?

I could also talk about smoking and cancer etc.

Once seen on a car sticker....

"If you outlaw guns....only outlaws will have guns"

Proving to be very true here in the UK.

[P3_Super_Bee]

Well, what would happen if you take away guns out of the picture?

I could also talk about smoking and cancer etc.

I think it is pretty well documented that in the states that have more liberal gun laws have LESS Crime, than those that don't. But Anti-gun morons fail to understand that.

[brianw999]

I think it is pretty well documented that in the states that have more liberal gun laws have LESS Crime, than those that don't. But Anti-gun morons fail to understand that.

Exactly correct.

Since Michael Ryan let rip in the town of Hungerford,( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungerford_massacre ) , killing 17 including himself, the UK government banned the ownership of centrefire rifles and automatic weapons in a kneejerk reaction to that single incident.

Ryans' weapons were legally owned but better background checks would have revealed a psychiatric time bomb waiting to go off. Since then the carrying of unlicenced firearms by criminal elements has dramatically increased and it is now reckoned that if you pass down one mile of roadway in a lot of UK cities then you will have unknowingly passed by at least one unlicensed firearm.

[Dantheman]

So one solution is to have liberal gun laws. (States have rather liberals laws when it comes to owning a vehicle and a license to drive one but we all know how many actually do not have their vehicles registered or not possess a license or a combination of both. )

Not to deviate from the topic, but less # of people smoking = less # cancer patients = less # of deaths.

[P3_Super_Bee]

So one solution is to have liberal gun laws. (States have rather liberals laws when it comes to owning a vehicle and a license to drive one but we all know how many actually do not have their vehicles registered or not possess a license or a combination of both. )

Not to deviate from the topic, but less # of people smoking = less # cancer patients = less # of deaths.

A liberal with zero understanding....

Lets take you in your gun banned city. And someone in a city/state that allows someone to have guns and shoot dumbasses breaking into their homes. The criminals are not that stupid. Guess which city they are going to have a field day in? Sure isn't going to be the one that they take a change of getting shot while breaking in.... DUH!!!!! Statistics speak for themselves. Deal with them. Oh, guess which place has more muggings? The one with or without a concealed carry permits?

[TeeVee]

A liberal with zero understanding....

Lets take you in your gun banned city. And someone in a city/state that allows someone to have guns and shoot dumbasses breaking into their homes. The criminals are not that stupid. Guess which city they are going to have a field day in? Sure isn't going to be the one that they take a change of getting shot while breaking in.... DUH!!!!! Statistics speak for themselves. Deal with them. Oh, guess which place has more muggings? The one with or without a concealed carry permits?

Agree almost completely. the thing is, the areas with the highest crime rates are the most populated areas. the areas with the most liberal gun laws, are some of the least populated.

i'm in miami and have a ccw permit. miami's crime rate is far from low and there are plenty of violent crimes here. perhaps without ccw permits being handed out like candy there might be more crime...who knows.

[Dantheman]

How do you know that I am liberal? First, check yourself before you start making false claims. Where in my posts have I mentioned to ban guns or made any reference thereof?

If you read the first post in this thread one more time then you will realize what I am talking about here. There is no bloody use of the words "gun control" or "ban guns" in any of my posts. You have not even made one single point that is related to the first post in this thread.

You just think I am a liberal only because I gave a reference to non-registered vehicles and drivers.

A liberal with zero understanding....

Lets take you in your gun banned city. And someone in a city/state that allows someone to have guns and shoot dumbasses breaking into their homes. The criminals are not that stupid. Guess which city they are going to have a field day in? Sure isn't going to be the one that they take a change of getting shot while breaking in.... DUH!!!!! Statistics speak for themselves. Deal with them. Oh, guess which place has more muggings? The one with or without a concealed carry permits?