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

- Rogue Medic

Nobel Peace Prize and President Obama

My first thought, on seeing the news that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, was that SNL (Saturday Night Live) had decided to turn the parody level up to 11. If CNN is going to take SNL seriously, then SNL will make it practically impossible for CNN. There will always be room for CNN to demonstrate greater incompetence, but not much.

I wrote about the commotion about a SNL parody of the ineffectiveness of the President thus far in his rookie year Does CNN have Any Credibility Left? The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize appears to have been based on the CNN investigative analysis of SNL.

I went to the news source. It seemed legitimate. I checked others. This story is true.

He is the titular head of a country that is involved in 2 declared wars. There is probably more potential for this number of wars to increase, rather than to decrease. Although President Obama did not start these wars, he does not appear to be ending them.

There was the suggestion that the award was rushed to throw support behind the potential for President Obama to produce change. After all, it isn’t as if they could have waited a year, or two, or three, to see if this politician actually accomplishes something more than a world tour. That might give some justification for this award. Should we change the name to the Rookie of the Year Peace Prize – Any novice leader, who has not started a war in the first couple of weeks of office can win.

If he is so inclined, he may nuke Iran. I’ll bet that would make the prize committee proud.

This makes you wonder who else was being considered? The North Korean Elvis impersonator, Kim Jong-il?

Martin Luther King did not just talk about having a dream. Apparently, these days just having the dream is good enough.

President Obama’s number one accomplishment. He became the borrower on the largest sub-prime loan in the history of like forever.

Should we rename this the Sally Field Prize? This is just Europe saying, . . . you’ve wanted more than anything to have our respect. The first time we didn’t feel it, but this time we feel it, and we can’t deny the fact that we like you, right now, we like you! this is like Europe telling President Obama that he has been favorited on Facebook.

A lot of marriages start, because the woman sees potential in the man. A lot of these marriages end in divorce, because the man does not use the potential the way the woman thinks it should be used. Maybe Europe should have asked for a pre-nup.

Maybe it is as some have suggested, the Not George Bush Prize. A prize awarded in the first year of every presidency that immediately follows the second term of a second George Bush. If you think that you have ever won something that had high standards, try winning this one.

President Obama has a lot of potential, but so does Sarah Palin. She might even be able to do something interesting for the talent part of the competition. Maybe it was the beer he shared to help make peace between Henry Louis Gates and James Crowley. That might be foreshadowing the way to peace with the Islamic terrorists. Hey guys. Let’s sit down like a bunch of adults and discuss this over some beer and hot dogs. Yeah. That’s the ticket. A Beer and Hot Dogs Summit.

Maybe the Nobel Peace Prize should have its name changed to the John Winger Prize.

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Does CNN have Any Credibility Left?

Apparently, Jon Stewart is now writing material for CNN. The network that I have criticized for their incompetent reporting of medical topics, has decided to branch out into comedy.

Wolf Blitzer, who either has a great poker face, or really believes what he is saying, claims that SNL (Saturday Night Live) has not been completely accurate in their portayal of President Obama. Wait! Let me check my calendar. Maybe I had a Rip van Winkle episode, here. No, I did not sleep until April Fool’s Day, nor is it mischief night. This is just CNN demonstrating that the future of journalism is definitely not on their network.

Next, CNN investigates professional wrestling to see if WWE is as scripted as reality TV.

Jon Stewart did a great job of reporting on the way CNBC covered financial news during the financial crash of a year ago. Jon Stewart had me laughing and had me impressed with his understanding of finance. CNN? Not so much.

This just in – CNN has unearthed an incredible story. Amos ‘n’ Andy were white. They were wearing makeup. Stop the presses!

I should send in a resume. Their hiring standards are incredibly low. I, Hildy Johnson, have experience covering executions. Nah, too obvious.

Just kidding. This is CNN. Nothing is obvious to them.

In the video, there is a guy assessing the accuracy of the facts presented in the comedy skit. He makes a big deal of claiming, that even though everything else is accurate, you can’t tell the difference between Afghanistan and Maybery. I guess, I just misunderstood why George Will was writing that it is Time to Get Out of Afghanistan. I thought that George Will was saying that things are really bad – that we do not have any more chance of winning than the Soviets did a couple of decades ago, or the British over a century ago. Silly me – I was reading. CNN does not appear to be competing for an audience that reads.

Maybe we should ship CNN over to Afghanistan. The jihadists will be laughing so hard at these journalists that they won’t be able to shoot straight.

I wrote about CNN’s medical coverage of a brain dead baby. This was a year and a half ago. They still have not changed the video. I wrote to the station and I wrote to Dr. Sanjay Gupta. You know Ask Dr. Gupta, their medical expert. He is somebody who should be able to look at this and say, That is completely wrong. Change it. After all, Dr. Gupta is a neurosurgeon. For those of you who get your medical information from CNN and might not understand the big word, a neurosurgeon is a brain surgeon.

I am still waiting. The video is still there with the same completely wrong information. Maybe Dr. Gupta is still looking for his medical dictionary.

I almost feel guilty for picking on such obvious idiots. Then I rememeber that they are getting paid for their incompetence. I guess Wolf Blitzer got into journalism, because the basket weaving class was too difficult. If Dr. Gupta is your surgeon, don’t bother writing, Other Side on the part of your head he is not supposed to operate on. That may be too complex. Maybe draw a skull and crossbones. Better yet just run away.

Maybe he did his residency with Mitchell and Webb.

CNN is Selling Snake Oil – All You Have to Do is Believe.

Atomic Nerds take some shots at CNN, as well. LOOK OUT, MR. PRESIDENT! MOCKERY! H/T The Smallest Minority – CNN Fact-Checks SNL.

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MSP Aviation vs Everybody Else

Everybody Else.

MSP Aviation.

One or more Pilots.

Only one Pilot.

Two or more Medics.

Only one Medic.

Excellent care en route.

The ride is free, the
Medic is doing all
he can, give him a
break and remember
the ride is free – sort of.

Usually the closest
helicopter is sent.

We have to send our
helicopters all over the
place to encourage
political support – do
you have any idea how
expensive this program
is and how many people
need to get their cut?

Medical Specialists on board.

I do Paramedic,
Homeland Security,
Law Enforcement,
Search And Rescue,
and anything else
they dream up,
such as flying
politicians around
to sell the program –
I forget,
what am I doing Today?

Fast, high quality care.

As long as we are fast,
who cares if there is any quality?

The same as the rest of your
medical care, it isn’t free.

The only way we can get away
with such mismanagement is by
telling people it is free.
It isn’t free – everybody pays
in their taxes.

For profit or non-profit.

One quarter billion dollars
just to replace the fleet of
outdated helicopters using
their foolishly optimistic
current estimates.

Does nothing to keep local
EMS from improving quality.

Forget your local EMS,
all the money comes to us.
The worse local EMS is,
the more often
they will fly patients.

Local EMS could be dramatically
improved with this money
– good for everybody.

Screw local EMS –
the money is ours!

MSP Aviation has fought every bit of progress. They have resisted improving patient care. This opposition to bills to improve EMS is just more of the same.

.

Continued Opposition to Good Helicopter EMS in Maryland

In the Maryland House of Delegates work group actions on SB 650 and SB 764, there seems to be the intent to keep MSP (Maryland State Police) Aviation in charge of HEMS (Helicopter EMS) in Maryland. This will bring MSP Aviation closer to the quality of private HEMS companies, but still with only one ALS (Advanced Life Support) provider. Apparently the deficiencies of MSP Aviation are so great that the legislature can only handle some of them at one time.

The recommendations, which were voted on yesterday afternoon and will be passed along to three House committees today, also call for state police to retrofit their helicopters with safety features, enhance flight standards to meet those of commercial medevac companies, add a second pilot to each flight and begin purchasing a new fleet of helicopters. In addition, the recommendations call for establishing a joint legislative oversight committee to continue the work group’s efforts.[1]

In spite of all of these improvements – improvements that would not be needed if MSP Aviation were up to the standards of private HEMS companies – MSP Aviation will still be far behind the private companies in what may be the most important quality indicator.

The work group recommended that the program seek accreditation from a national trade organization if money is available in the fiscal 2011 budget. That would require state police to add a second medical provider to medical flights, at a cost of about $2.26 million a year.[1]

Although they are supposed to deal with the most unstable patients in the state, MSP Aviation acts as if they are the Texas Rangers. One riot, one Ranger. Patient care does not work that way.

Maryland residents will have to wait to have MSP Aviation improved to the level of the rest of the country.

Maryland residents will have to wait to have MSP Aviation improved to the level of the rest of the world.

Until they do, MSP Aviation will continue to be an embarrassment to EMS.

“In the end, I think we validated that the system is good. It’s not broken,” said Del. John L. Bohanan Jr. (D-St. Mary’s), the group’s chairman.[1]


Brian Slack
Those opposed to the two bills show their support for the status quo at a rally at the state house.

It seems that what is important to the chairman of the Maryland House of Delegates work group is satisfying the protesters. He is even using their words. Is he a marionette? How much more broken would it have to be for him to stand up to the welfare queens?

MacGyver would be proud of what they have done with millions of dollars of duct tape. Of course, MacGyver only created temporary solutions. He only had a one hour episode, including commercials. The Maryland House of Delegates work group has the rest of their constituents’ lives.

The group has recommended further evaluating triage procedures to reduce the number of unnecessary flights. That effort is strongly supported by Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County), an emergency room doctor and work group member who has questioned spending millions of dollars on new helicopters and other equipment while other health initiatives go unfunded.

“For a long time, we have been flying too many patients,” Morhaim said. “There are very simple protocol changes that can reduce that number.”[1]

At least someone seems to get it.

Why does it take a fatal crash to get the legislature to force MSP Aviation to improve?

Why does MSP Aviation always fight improvements?

This isn’t about MSP Aviation.

This is about the patients.

Would somebody please tell that to MSP Aviation.

Footnotes:

^ 1 Legislative Panel Calls for Cuts in Copters, Bases
By Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 10, 2009; Page B04
Article

There are several other articles on this:

Legislative panel endorses state police control of medevac fleet
Changes sought include new helicopters, higher certification levels
By Gadi Dechter
March 10, 2009
The Baltimore Sun
Article

Panel endorses state police-run medevac
Astle pledges to keep pushing for changes
By Liam Farrell, Staff Writer
Published 03/10/09
HometownAnnapolis.com
Article

Panel: Add Extra Pilot, Medic To Medevac Missions
Reporting Mary Bubala
Mar 10, 2009 7:33 am US/Eastern
wjz.com
Article

Panel Suggests Tighter Certification For Medevacs
Posted: 6:37 pm EDT March 9, 2009
UpdatedD: 6:39 pm EDT March 9, 2009
WBAL Baltimore
Article

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Welfare Queens Protest the EMS Responsibility Act

March 4th was the opportunity for irresponsible people to oppose attempts to improve the quality of care in Maryland.

Why would they do that?

Politics. Nothing but Dirty Politics.


Brian Slack
Those opposed to the two bills show their support for the status quo at a rally at the state house.

The sign reads – Why Change What is Not Broken?[1]

How bad does it have to be for people to realize that they are being lied to.

Broken may not be the word.

It is a rotting festering corpse polluting everything it touches. It also kills.

The people protesting have something to gain from defeating these bills – SB 650 and SB 764. They are making money from keeping things the way they are. That is the problem. Things have stayed the same, or become worse, for decades. That is the legacy of Dr. R Adams Cowley. At least that is his legacy in the hands of those running EMS in Maryland.

In one interview, Dr. Matthew Lissauer,[2] a doctor at Shock Trauma, says that paying for the helicopter program out of driver’s license taxes should be seen as a good thing.

Really?

If it is a good thing, why don’t we expand the system to all ambulance transport in Maryland?

If it is a good idea at all, why limit this to helicopter transport?

The reason is that Dr. Lissauer benefits from the money for the helicopter program, since they frequently return to Shock Trauma with patients. This is money going from tax payer pockets into his pockets.

When the money is spread out over the state, the cost does not seem so bad, but what if we operated everything this way? The excesses would have bankrupted the state, and the tax payers, long ago. This is a failed system. The people of Maryland deserve better.

Others talk about the helicopter program as a World Class operation. It is only world class in the third world. Who else in America operates with only one medic on board? Where in the world do you have to go to find such an complete disregard for patients’ lives?

Dozens of state troopers and their supporters rallied outside the State House yesterday in opposition to pending legislation that would change – and perhaps privatize – Maryland’s emergency helicopter transport system, one of the first and most venerated in the country.[3]

By venerated, they appear to mean that when anyone tries to reform it, they are opposed by this kind of self-serving political machine. This represents the worst of American politics.

Change?

We don’t change, we just get out the vote to keep the MSP (Maryland State Police) Aviation the worst staffed EMS in the country. We are determined to stay there.

Decades of attempting to improve this antiquated system will probably fail, one more time. Maryland Swindlers Prevail Again.

A sad commentary on how gullible people are in EMS. Somebody states that bad care is the best in the world and we believe them. Is there any wonder why so many of the EMS myths persist? We are just a step or two out of the Dark Ages. People are actually protesting against good patient care, because bad care is free.

The people of Maryland deserve better.

There is another article on the rally.[4]

Footnotes:

^ 1 Maryland Crews Respond to Save Medevac, Fire Programs
Posted: 03-04-2009
Updated: 03-05-2009 09:20:47 AM
Susan Nicol Kyle
Firehouse.com News
Article

^ 2 Some Lawmakers Support Privatizing Medevac System
Reporting
Adam May
Annapolis, Md. (WJZ)
wjz.com
Article and Video

^ 3 Report signals that medevacs should remain under state control
House Speaker Michael E. Busch calls the draft ‘absolutely’ premature

By Gadi Dechter
March 5, 2009
BaltimoreSun.com
Article

^ 4 Opponents to medevac changes mobilize
By Liam Farrell, Staff Writer
Published 03/05/09
HometownAnnapolis.com
Article

.