Without evidence of benefit, an intervention should not be presumed to be beneficial or safe.

- Rogue Medic

Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow

Cliff Tuttle at Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk has a couple of posts about the death of Curtis Mitchell. The Power of Saying “I’m Sorry”. Then there is the posting of what I wrote in the comment section. Medic’s Perspective on Mitchell Case.

The original post by Cliff Tuttle is good. I agree that the problem was one of not enough snow plows. My only complaint was that the apology of Public Safety Director Michael Huss is not a real apology. Public Safety Director Michael Huss is only passing the buck and blaming the medics.

It is as if Public Safety Director Michael Huss is saying, I confess! They did it!

A comment from EMS PRACTITIONER makes the following assertions.

The fault lies with the medics and them alone.

That makes me wonder if this is a pseudonym of Public Safety Director Michael Huss or someone else at City Hall.

and

Even if the ambulance is stuck in the snow… SOMEONE should have WALKED to the house to verify and left their partner with the truck awaiting dig out.

Why even provide ambulances to the medics, at all? The lazy slobs only need to get out and walk and just make it happen (which is the Enron motto). It’s as simple as that. They really are squandering resources that might be better used by the management for vacations and other more important things.

Because, in the eyes of the alleged EMS PRACTITIONER, all EMS does during a snow storm is sit around waiting for someone to pull them out of the snow.

I was shoveling for hours that weekend. With all of that shoveling, I only cleared a small amount of ground. The wind was blowing some of the snow right back where I shoveled. Nobody needed to come pull me out of the snow, because I dug myself out of the snow. I was exhausted, wet, and frustrated. And I didn’t even try to walk a quarter of a mile up and down a steep snow-covered and ice-covered bridge, leaving my partner behind to make excuses about where I went.

What would my partner say?

Dispatch. I don’t care that we are canceled. I don’t care that you are ordering us to leave this location and respond to another patient.

We are unable to respond to any more calls, because my partner decided to head off into the snow to be able to say that somebody got to the residence. He brought a flag to plant as proof that we made it.

Tell all of the other patients that since we are psychic, we know that only this patient will die if we do not reach him. Now leave us alone!

Then maybe a half hour later, maybe 2 hours later, . . .

Dispatch! I see something!

I can’t tell if it is my partner, the patient, or something else. If the patient left the residence by one of the other roads in the area, my partner wouldn’t see him. Or, if my partner took the wrong road, and the patient took the main road, the result would be the same.

I hope it isn’t the patient, because we are out of service until my partner returns.

I would probably get a raise. Public Safety Director Michael Huss and EMS PRACTITIONER would probably hold a press conference praising me. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

I’m sure that’s the way it would happen. There would be no auto-da-fé with me as the main course. I take that on faith.

Too Old To Work, Too Young to Retire has a post that is also mostly a comment from an earlier post. Comment From Someone In Pittsburgh. Here is a bit of what the media have not been covering.

Our units all trucked through the snow to patients that were critical and life threatening, and even some that weren’t. Several vehicles were stuck for up to 9 hours. Plow requests were being denied because the orders were the trucks couldn’t deviate from their assigned routes.

and

We still remain third service and do all rescue within the City. The Public Safety Director is exploiting this incident to further his agenda.

Public Safety Director Michael Huss had the report from the medical director before his press conference. The medical director’s report did not blame the medics. Public Safety Director Michael Huss has been blaming the medics without any good reason.

Well, maybe there is a good reason. If he does not point the finger at someone else, then he might start to look like the one who was responsible for not arranging for extra snow plows and other means of transport for emergency conditions.

Public Safety is about preparing for emergencies.

It looks as if the plan of Public Safety Director Michael Huss is just blame the medics.

Blame the people who actually transported close to three time their normal number of patients, in spite of the snow-covered and ice-covered roads.

We know where the medics were during the storm.

Where was Public Safety Director Michael Huss?

EMS crews were running without any breaks.

EMS crews were dealing with snow on every call.

It is not lazy to go to the next call, when you are ordered to.

Only excuses are coming from Public Safety Director Michael Huss.

Where were the extra snowplows?

Where were the 4 wheel drive vehicles?

Expecting the medics to make up for the lack of preparation by the city is irresponsible.

We know where the medics were during the storm.

Where was Public Safety Director Michael Huss?

My other posts on the death of Curtis Mitchell –

City may discipline EMS workers – Public Safety Director Michael Huss – 02/18/10

Where Was Public Safety Director Michael Huss during the Death of Curtis Mitchell? – 02/20/10

Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10

The Need for Evidence Before Assessing Guilt – 02/24/10

Anonymous Comments on the Death of Curtis Mitchell – 03/02/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part I – 03/22/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part II – 03/22/10

Podcasting, Critical Judgment, and the Death of Curtis Mitchell Part III – 03/22/10

What kind of punishment do you get for NOT disobeying dispatch? – 03/23/10

The Scapegoats Will Be Punished – 03/23/10

Pittsburgh – Punishment, not Planning – 03/24/10

Josie Dimon was the Scapegoat of Public Safety Director Michael Huss in the Death of Curtis Mitchell – 02/16/11

Michael Huss – Pittsburgh EMS Only Needs Someone Good With a Shovel – 02/16/11

Links updated 02/16/11.

.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10 […]

  2. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow […]

  3. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10 […]

  4. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow Filed Under: Critical Judgment, EMS Garage, Heresy, Irrational Government Oversight, MedicCast, Mitigation Journal Tagged With: Critical Judgment, Irrational Government Oversight […]

  5. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow […]

  6. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10 […]

  7. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:02:09 +0000 By Rogue Medic 6 Comments […]

  8. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10 […]

  9. […] Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Others Continue to Blame the Medics for the Snow – 02/22/10 […]