Zeal For Truth

For those of you that don’t know, I am currently in the UK working on my postgraduate education. In my own (anecdotal and non-scientific) way, I am experiencing Universal “Government-Run” Healthcare firsthand and writing about it here.

Last night, my wife and I were parked a couple of roads down from our flat in order to use wifi internet - we’ve recently moved and it takes upwards of a month to get internet hooked up here. As I prepared to drive away, I noticed two women walking from their car to the corner of the street, where a body lay on the ground in a fetal position.

I rolled down my window and asked if everything was alright. The women said that this man (about 50 years old) had fallen and seemed to have broken his arm - he couldn’t move and his legs were in an awkward position.

“Do you think we should call an ambulance?” they asked me. I was shocked at this - I figured they had already called one. Why in the world would these women hesitate to call for an ambulance? Even if the man wasn’t injured, it was around 40° F and was raining. He obviously needed help. I dialed for an ambulance right away.

On the phone, they quickly obtained my location and gave me instructions to keep the man from moving, and to keep him on the ground - that an ambulance would arrive shortly. I, along with a 19 year old who had come upon the scene, waited in the dismal weather.

And we waited. And waited.

In the interim, the man kept reaching for his head and holding his left wrist - he appeared to be unable to move it. He was also drunk (probably why he fell over). He was muttering incoherently, repeatedly asking where he was and complaining of pain in his arm, stomach and knee.

After fourty minutes of waiting in shorts and a t-shirt in the cold weather, I called again. With as much civility as I could muster, I told the operator that I had been waiting fourty minutes now for an ambulance - and that there was a man who was clearly injured , out in the cold and rain, and he needed help. She apologised, saying that it was a “busy night” and that an ambulance would be with me shortly.

The Ambulance Arrives - And It’s Just The Beginning
After an hour of shivering out in the rain, an ambulance finally arrived. It went first to a pub down the road - one of the people assembled around the man had to run over and grab the paramedics and bring them to the street-corner.

Before even looking at the man, the lead paramedic slowly walked towards us and asked “who dialed for the ambulance?” I raised my hand. She then said, “right, I am going to beat you up.” I am not sure if she was joking, or if she was upset about something, but in the ensuing encounter, she made it very clear that she felt this was a big waste of her time.

She never touched the man. She calmly walked over and began to mock him - making fun of the fact that he was obviously drunk. She played games with him, asking him questions about what he was doing and where he was going - responding with sarcasm and cold, uncaring paternalism. She never looked at his knee or his wrist - didn’t look for concussion or any other injury associated with a fall.

He complained that he was having pain in his stomach. She replied that it was probably a hernia or something, and that he should go to the doctor first thing in the morning. But she “asked” several times - “you don’t really need an ambulance do you?”

Without checking out the man’s legs or any of his other injuries, the paramedics then stood him up to see if he could walk. He couldn’t. He was either too drunk or injured.

He then held up his wrist and began to complain. The paramedic swiftly pushed his hand down and said, “you’ll be alright, won’t you.” It was a statement, not a question. She then turned to me and the 19 year old and said, “you two can walk this man home, I’m sure he’ll be alright.”

And then they left -and we carried the man a half mile uphill to his apartment.

As we walked back, we all felt a little guilty calling for help. We had obviously been far to concerned for this drunk old man who was complaining of pain, and couldn’t get up. I now see why the women who first found him weren’t sure whether they should call the ambulance - it might very well have been better to leave him out in the cold, wet night - lying injured on the street-corner.

For more of my experiences with Universal Healthcare, read:

• My Latest Experience with Universal Healthcare
• Christian Morality and Universal Heathcare
• In Defence of Daniel Hannan And His “Unpatriotic” Comments on Universal Healthcare