From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Sat, 1/3/2026 3:53 PM, David B. wrote:   
      
   >   
   > When I did my Saturday 'duty call' to visit this 83 year old lady at 3.30   
   this afternoon, here's what I found:-   
   >   
   > https://gemini.google.com/share/732c398c036c   
   >   
   > (I got Gemini to put on her trousers to save you embarrassment)   
   >   
   > An ambulance was called - which took nearly 4 hours to arrive.   
      
   Well, at least you didn't find the individual in the fetal position,   
   as that's a sign of a severe brain injury.   
      
   A person like that would probably be a bit shocky, and a blanket to keep warm   
   would be nice. Foreheads bleed readily (if you've played soccer,   
   you get to see a few of those, bleeders from playing a header).   
   So while she is a bit bloodied, it might be a small cut on the   
   forehead, for that amount of blood.   
      
   But landing on a wooden flooring isn't good. When I passed out in   
   the hallway here, my head struck the shag carpet, and the carpet provides   
   a bit of cushion to the impact. I just had a bloodied nose when   
   I came to. I was in shock, from a soccer injury, and that's   
   why I passed out. Low blood pressure and... out go the lights.   
      
   Ambulances here, are controlled by priorities. If there is a   
   car accident up the road from that lady, her ambulance goes to the   
   car accident. You can be "robbed of your ride", by circumstances.   
   No question it sucks though.   
      
   It would be nice, if other emergency responders were   
   allowed to carry people, but I don't think it's allowed.   
   Policemen have driven people from a scene, where it isn't   
   likely they would get service in time, but other professionals   
   would deny a request to be transported. They would defer to the   
   wonderful ambulance system.   
      
   The closest thing to proper carriage, is the Access-a-Bus that   
   hauls wheel chair people around town. At least you could   
   stretch a person out on a thing like that. Other vehicles just   
   don't have the space to do that.   
      
   People have been hauled on the hose rack of fire trucks, but...   
   likely in a warmer climate :-) The fire truck has a back board,   
   which would not be as good as a gurney, but it would provide   
   a better-than-nothing surface.   
      
   On average, the Medivac helicopter flies over my house at   
   least twice a day. Since some of our hospitals are currently   
   at 140%, a lot of the flights are long term care patients being   
   ferried out of town ("to get rid of them" :-) ). The medical system   
   is rigged, so you can be transported 200 miles from town by such   
   a system.   
      
   The last time I was up at emerg, I was treated in a hallway, with   
   other patients standing by their gurney waiting their turn. This means   
   the entire emerg-core is now overrun with beds for patients. To make   
   more beds... out of nothingness. That's how a hospital operates above   
   capacity. You fill hallways. You fill treatment rooms. And so on.   
      
   My first time in a hospital (as a youth), I had just come out of   
   surgery, and apparently (this is just the way I operate) I'd come out   
   of the general anesthesia a little too quickly. And I needed to take   
   a wicked piss :-/ The gurneys from surgery were just left in the hallway   
   WITH NO STAFF. I couldn't signal to anyone. I also could not jump off my   
   gurney,   
   or my abdominal stitches might rip (appendicitis and not the pretty way   
   of doing it either). What do you do now ??? My answer ? Go back to sleep.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)