If you were disabled and unable to get out of bed on your own, would you smoke in bed? This woman did, and you can click the video and hear how the 911 call was handled. There's general outrage being directed at the 911 operators, and I'd agree some of that is deserved.
But who do you think is responsible for her death?
3 comments:
Funny - my extremely liberal paper failed to mention the fact that the moron was smoking in bed. Just that the 911 operators were slow in responding.
It's a tricky situation for sure. Of course, the woman caused her own death by smoking in bed. On the other hand, she was disabled and if she was going to smoke that's the only spot she had. Doesn't justify doing it of course but it doesn't justify a death sentence either. You know as well as anyone that the job of the 911 system is to get people out of trouble no matter what amount of stupidity was involved in getting into the trouble to start with. The 911 system sells itself as THE source for getting help. It's plastered on the the back of ambulances and on every police car. We pay tons of money yearly to staff and operate 911 centers so that we, as a people, can get help when it's needed. Getting six rings and then stuffed on hold for a while isn't acceptable in a 911 emergency regardless. This call could just as easily been about a child hit by a car or any of a thousand other inujuries where the delay actually did take a life. Don't get me wrong. I have huge respect for the EMS/First responder side of the house. They've saved my rear a couple of times... I'm just glad that when I called them that I didn't get put on hold. This sort of stuff just gets under my skin.
We have enabled the stupid gene to manifest and multiply over the years - by mandating seat belts, building in all-red delays at traffic signals, and allowing lawsuits that didn't pass the common sense test.
Chances are, if she was bedridden, and in that bad of shape, she also had an oxygen mask or tent - and smoking around that is against the law of nature, one that cannot be nullified, and which trumps the response time of anyone, including Superman.
I'm not meaning to be inconsiderate, but the lady was smoking in bed (taught to most first graders in their first fire safety lecture as a no-no). How much of a crutch do you give people like this? I can only feel so much remorse for her death, as it is tempered by the blazing lack of self-respect, accountability, and responsibility displayed by the victim herself. No, it shouldn't have been a death sentence, but again, she shouldn't have been smoking in bed in the first place.
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