Let's say that you were sleeping comfortably at home. You're all snuggled into your bed, you're recovering from yet another day of studying mind-numbing medical school pain, and you wake to a sound much like something exploding outside your bedroom window. Suffice it say that you are extremely awake. You look around your house trying to figure out if anything important has detonated... Nothing... You fly over to the window to discover a single light shining up from your front yard. It is a light that should not be there. This is what happened to us about a week ago.
So, of course, I call 911 and report a MVC car vs. pole, unknown injured and request PD and fire/rescue. My wife and I suit up in our handy Carhartt cold gear and head to investigate. Here is what we discover:

We discover 2 individuals that have self-extricated. 1 is vomiting and the other has complex hand lacerations. Fortunately, a good Samaritan stops and the poor bastards take refuge in his SUV. I call 911 again to update the situation with 2 patients. The operator informs me that there has already been multiple calls and there were units dispatched. The Good Samaritan informs me that he has also called 911, hand lac guy says he called 911, and apparently the douche neighbor of mine did as well. This makes a total of 5 911 calls for this accident. This is about 5:30 am. We wait and wait. I get the Good Sam to pull off the road and into my driveway. 45 MINUTES AFTER MY 911 CALL police pull in. Of course, this is after a police cruiser drives right by us waving, shouting, and flashing our lights at him. The officer realizes there are injuries and calls for EMS. 1 hour 2 minutes after my call, they arrive and transport. This is simply unacceptable. There were multiple epic failures here.
#1 No ambulance was dispatched
Why? I reported injuries. I reported car vs. pole. Unacceptable
#2 45 minutes for PD
The officer tells us that he wasn't very far away when the call came out, but that it was close to shift change. When he picked up on the fact that I was pretty pissed that they seriously f'd up, he shut up.
Thankfully they were able to get out and they didn't die. Also, big kudos to the guy that stopped and offered 2 hurt strangers the warmth of his vehicle. It is a rare things to see such kindness. Good job. I notified the mayor's action center about this incident and have yet to hear back.
Remember, when seconds count, the police are just minutes away.
BONUS PICS
Here's where they slid clear across our front yard. You can't see the neighbor's mailbox (or what is left of it) or the demolished cable box. Hitting ice is bad.

Here is where they were airborne. You can just see where they landed past the red cup.

Here is my poor tree. It looks like this is what they hit before they rolled onto their side.

This is what the bottom of a car looks like.
Crappy Hospitals? Tired Docs Killing People? Drink Coffee!
It is a sad day when government controlled hospitals have to be taken over by the government because they are so poorly run. Wait... The government runs them and they suck, yet there is a push to have the federal government take them over? Anyone else going WTF? Plus, their solution to tired health care workers who are "being forced to work up to 80 hours without a break" is to drink six cups of coffee. Is it any wonder why they are having issues getting doctors? Take note folks, this is the future of government controlled health care. While I LOVE coffee, it isn't a panacea for the woes of a poorly run medical system. Enjoy the train wreck below.
Technorati Tags: epic failure, socialized medicine, australia, coffee
Posted at 09:29 PM in Epic Failure, Medicine, Social Commentary | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)