Sunday, September 30, 2007
Story took a callous view of 911 abuse
From the RoundTable blog
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Katie Wright
Wright is a social worker who lives in Roanoke.
I am infuriated to read the Sept. 24 story "Frivolous 911 calls: Abusing the system." This article was written so callously that I am ashamed that it came from my hometown paper.
The article starts by making an excellent point: Using 911 for obnoxious dogs and hangnails is abuse and is ridiculous. Yet, later in the story examples of an elderly woman who is short of breath, and someone who has been throwing up for two days are given as examples of citizens who "abuse the system."
I think the writer forgets that a large percentage of our city's population is impoverished or elderly. If someone has been throwing up for two days and has no ride to the hospital, he or she very well could die of dehydration, kidney failure, etc. To call these people "abusers of the system" is inhuman and elitist.
If the EMTs are not there to serve citizens, then what are they there for? Are they there only to help those who are seconds from death? Is an elderly woman feeling short of breath not serious enough for the EMTs? Shortness of breath is a serious sign of various medical emergencies, but according to the article, she was an "abuser of the system."
The man mentioned in the opening of the story could have been experiencing stomach pain so severe that he thought he was dying. Because his condition turned out to be benign does not negate the fact that he felt the situation was an emergency. Isn't it better that he sought help in case his condition was life-threatening? According to the article, no way.
I do recognize that abuse of the system occurs, but the story should have focused on those who really abuse the system.
When citizens feel their lives are in danger, they should feel safe calling 911.
Instead, this story makes a citizen feel that he'd better be sure of what his diagnosis is before he picks up the phone. If a man calls for chest pain and it turns out that he was only experiencing esophageal spasms, is he an abuser?
I doubt the EMTs in the Roanoke Valley feel exactly the way the writer portrays them. I would hope they'd be disgusted to be portrayed in such a callous and uncaring manner.
