A small request

[frank10 12]

I've waited a while to post this because I don't want this to turn into a game of second guessing nor do I want it to be about this individual case. To protect the privily of the family I'd rather that no one connect this back to news story. With out going into details, I'll say an error cost a young scout his life. The young man was ill and alone. He had time to make one phone call. He called his parents cell phone and never got through to them. He should have called 911.

 

This week, could you please have a talk with you scouts and remind them that the first step in first aid is to call for help. Explain that they need not be sure and that they will not get in trouble if they are are wrong.

 

[Lisabob 13]

So sorry to hear that, wing nut. I will definitely share this with my young man. Thank you for passing along your message.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

All too easy a mistake to make.

 

 

A year ago my nephew was a somewhat isolated freshman in college. He got sick and in pain and toughed it out in a dorm room until his abdoman swelled up alarmingly.

 

He came fairly near to death because of delay in treating a condition that blocked food passing out of his stomach, and avoided calling his parents (both medical people) in order to avoid worrying them.

 

It's really an issue for me, too, as a single person living alone. When do you go in to see a doc or to hospital?

 

So far, my decisions have been reasonable. But it's easy to underestimate a problem.

[qwazse 4371]

My poor wife has called me on several occasions before calling 911 and had to endure me curtly telling her, 'Then what are you talking to me for?' Fortunately, nothing came of it, and we have had lots of years together correcting other bad habits!

 

Thank for the reminder.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

>

 

 

Yabbut it would be a mistake to train people to call for help every time for any reason.

 

Good first aid instruction would recommend against calling 911 first in some situations.

 

It requires good judgment and training to assess a situation with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Unfortunately, it sounds like this Scout perhaps received inadequate first aid instruction which led to a bad decision making choice.

[Stosh 3452]

When in doubt, call 911. Let them decide if it's a true emergency. I'd rather get my ears chewed on by the police than have them buried by the funeral director.

 

Stosh

[SeattlePioneer 144]

>

 

 

Sorry, I don't agree. Training and good judgment is a better guide.

 

Just as an example, first aid training recommends that a persons airway, breathing and pulse be checked first. If impaired, that may require treatment before calling 911.

 

And there are plenty of trivial injuries as well. They need to be assessed as well, and probably don't warrant calls to scarce and expensive emergency services.

[kari_cardi 10]

I agree with Stosh, especially when the person calling 911 is also the person who needs medical help. Likely his judgement was impaired by his condition. I don't think we need to second guess the quality of his First Aid training. The only training he needed to remember was 'when in doubt, call 911.' Which, by the way, is exactly the message that our local 911 call center delivers during our annual tours with Cub Scouts.

 

So tragic. I am so sorry for his parents, family and friends.

[Scoutfish 16]

"Sorry, I don't agree. Training and good judgment is a better guide."

 

Yet good training wuill tell you that you don't always judge yourself, that you might not be aware of all the facts and that your own judgement may verywell be compromised.

 

As a former EMT/firefighter...CALL 911.

 

It's easier to cancel an ambulance trip to the hospital than it is to cancel a van ride to the morgue.

[ScoutNut 147]

>>"first aid training recommends that a persons airway, breathing and pulse be checked first. If impaired, that may require treatment before calling 911."

[Basementdweller 608]

The reality of my world is my scouts are home alone alot at the age of 7. The pretty standard instructions are not to answer the phone or door. Single parent homes without the ability to pay for child care.

 

If something were to go wrong then they call mom's cell phone for instructions. They most definitely would not call 911.

 

I wonder if this may have been the case.

[Stosh 3452]

After 15 years of running with a volunteer ambulance service, whenever we got a call we went. If the run was cancelled, we followed through anyway just to make sure. When in doubt call 911, those responding don't mind, that's why they are there!

 

By the way, we were always happy to find out it really wasn't an emergency after all. Some of those really made our day!

 

Chest pains that were really stomach trouble...

 

Power-take-off accidents that resulted in only bruises...

 

Car accidents were everyone walked away...

 

etc.

 

We responded to all fires because someone might get hurt, too. Fire department went out on all rescue calls, car accidents in case of a gas leak, help carrying gurneys, etc.

 

Too much help is never a problem. CALL!

 

Stosh

[SeattlePioneer 144]

Somehow the genial insistance of first responders to "Call 911" reminds me that while fires in homes are way down, call for health related insistance continues to grow rapidly, along with proposals for ever higher taxes for more personnel. equipment, and taxes.

 

 

Personally I expect to continue to use some judgment before calling for assistance. It's not "free," and I imagine if those calling were handed a bill for $500 or so by first responders, people would be somewhat choosier about the calls for help they made.

 

 

[Stosh 3452]

There are a lot of hospital procedures that are tremendously over priced. A 55 year-old friend of mine needed carpal tunnel surgery and part of her pre-surgery physical was a pregnancy test. It cost $86.

 

A lot of over priced medications are out there on the market, too.

 

Surgery itself is a joke as well as any hospital stay. WAAAAAY over priced in my book.

 

Emergency/trauma costs? Worth every penny!

 

The last thing one wants anyone to do is second-guess themselves in an emergency situation. It may mean the difference between life and death.

 

Stosh

[Basementdweller 608]

hospital visits are so expensive because of the folks that can't pay and all of the law suits.

 

something like 40% of the people who enter the hospital I work for either are not insured or under insured. So basically the rest of us pay for the others who can't pay.

 

 

The US Citizens demand world class health care for 3rd world prices. Million dollar steerable heart catheter systems.....million dollar surgical robots.......People demand CT and MRI Scans for minor injuries.

 

So those trauma suites that you like so much blake.......how many times a day is it utilized??? Do you know what it takes to be designated a trauma center???? 24 hour staffing of anesthesia, radiologist, Neuro surgery, heart surgery, orthopedics and perfusion. So what does it cost to have all those folks on site 24 hours a day?????????

 

My son's asthma meds cost me $200 a month..... I buy them from a Canadian pharmacy for $35. again just sayin......

 

 

your friends test of that 85 bucks....the insurance company negotiated rate was probably like $12. Not sayin I agree with it.......it is what it is.