04-06-2018, 08:39 AM
(04-06-2018, 07:55 AM)jamincan Wrote:(04-06-2018, 07:38 AM)Pheidippides Wrote: Yes, EMS has a duty to serve everyone in need, but I think the intent of the comment was that intentionally drinking yourself into a coma is completely preventable event where as someone randomly getting hit by a car or having a heart attack is largely unpreventable. Someone having a bad day and getting hit by a car shouldn't have to die at the expense of someone else's selfish and law breaking choices.
It is the same reason we teach children not to call 9-1-1 unless it is a true emergency - it ties up resources that can be properly used elsewhere.
That's a rabbit hole we don't want to go down. That person with the heart attack had McDonald for supper last night and is a smoker. The person hit by the car was on their phone and not wearing bright and reflective clothing. We triage based on need and in dire situations, prognosis, not based on virtue or moral deficiency.
I'll agree with the first and last sentences as excellent points; triage based on need.
The middle sentences are irrelevant. As a society we encourage safe choices and behaviours (healthy eating, no smoking, proper PPE, etc.), but we don't have laws requiring a nutritious diet, completely banning smoking, walking while talking on a phone, or requiring bright clothing to walk the streets. We do have laws regarding the consumption of alcohol in public and by those of age, and occupying a public space without a permit. There are natural consequences that go along with all choices which is why we have laws in some cases to help encourage people to make the healthier choice (at the individual and societal/collective level); some choices have immediate consequences (alcohol poisoning) others have longer term consequences (thickening arteries).
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.