This was on our county forum......

[MedicNorth]

Ah Michael - I am a dilettante at this compared to you! I'm often in awe of your responses, knowing very well that I can't compete!

[emtannie]

As disappointed as I am in the intelligence of elected officials, I am very happy with the posts on that link made by Rid and Mike. EMS services continue to be misunderstood by the general public, and as a whole we do need to educate our communities more.

Although I do hope that original post was a joke, my fear is that it is not. We deal with the same mentality from some of our elected officials here, who didn't think it was necessary to provide a new rescue truck when ours was deemed unfit for highway travel by the department of transportation. Our council's recommendation to us was "leave some of the equipment at home - you will be fine." (by the way, we do have a new truck now).

I would hope that the departments in question attend a meeting with the elected officials to educate them further on the merits of NOT going back to the good ole days.

[Michael]

dilettante

a) I wrote "mastered the principle," not "mastered the practice"; may your brutality always remain theoretical.

I deny knowingly attacking or neglecting the weak (that would be no fun), only the strong.

c) When the strong don't know their own strength, their victim's scream may alert them.

d) There are many ways to scream, some more fun than others. As in medicine, the least intervention is the best.

"If the indicated treatment for a presenting condition is feline-administered dentogenic surgery, the referring practitioner has a moral obligation to monitor the treatment until it is completed rather than abandon the patient, and at the first sign of a reversal of pathology, to discontinue therapy and reintegrate the convalescing subject into the community."

~ Principles of Paleolithic Emergency Medicine, Central Florida State University © 1,000,000 BC.

[becksdad]

Since the decline of the saber-toothed tiger population, referring practitioners have all but abandoned the practice of monitoring treatment to its completion. With the advent of HMO's in response to skyrocketing healthcare costs, the more popular treatment modality is to throw one to the wolves.

[Michael]

to the wolves

"Man's destructive hand spares nothing that lives; he kills to feed himself, he kills to clothe himself, he kills to adorn himself, he kills to attack, he kills to defend himself, he kills to instruct himself, he kills to amuse himself, he kills for the sake of killing. Proud and terrible king, he wants everything and nothing resists him... from the lamb he tears its guts and makes his harp resound... from the wolf his most deadly tooth to polish his pretty works of art; from the elephant his tusks to make a toy for his child - his table is covered with corpses... And who [in this general carnage] will exterminate him who exterminates all others? Himself. It is man who is charged with the slaughter of man... So it is accomplished... the great law of the violent destruction of living creatures. The whole earth, perpetually steeped in blood, is nothing but a vast altar upon which all that is living must be sacrificed without end, without measure, without pause, until the consummation of things, until evil is extinct, until the death of death."

~ Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821)

So who needs wolves?

[becksdad]

And yet, the pictures of the earth from outer space appear so beautiful and serene.

[Michael]

pictures of the earth from outer space

Let's just hope those aren't the "Before" pictures.

[becksdad]

Hehehehe....

Good point.

[Asysin2leads]

You all have very valid points. But wouldn't it be great to go blazing down highway 40 at a high rate of speed in a late 60s, early 70s Cadillac hearst amublance with a 500 cu inch motor with the red lights flashing and the high-pitched, whiney siren a blaring, weaving in out of traffic? Imagine the astonished & incredulous looks of others; it would be a once in a lifetime experience. Of course, one would eventually be arrested and hauled off, but what an experience it would be. Imagine the thoughts and confusion of the 911 op and the initial cops who receive the complaint and dispatch calls ?

If I am ever told by my doc that I have a terminal disease without much time to live and then get a snort full of ole' whiskey...who knows....

Okay, as a master of sarcasm and satire, I still can't figure out if this guy is joking or not. The above response to the initial post leads me to believe he is, but its really horrifying to me think maybe he still isn't.

[hfdff422]

Yep, I am right there with you. He posted something on the safety thread that showed his ignorance, so I am inclined to believe he is just an ignorant old timer, but it just still seems too out there.