Re: Comments on the West Wing episode

[Tim <tstead@ntirs.org>]

--- Gary Isenhower <garyi@bcm.tmc.edu> wrote:

> 

> Its very true that TV and movies distort the facts

> on more than just

> nuclear power, but your conclusion that we should no

> more protest the

> distortions in question than the AMA should protest

> distortions of

> cardiac monitor behavior are unfounded for the

> following reason:  One

> set of distortions can have no plausible effect on

> society, while the

> other set has profound effects on society.



I respectfully disagree with the above for one good

reason: personal experience.  Among other things, I am

a volunteer Paramedic and are still awaiting to be

arrested for murder and sued for wrongful death.



You see, a few years back I went out on a cardiac

arrest call.  Upon arrival, the patient (pt.)

presented in asystole - very clear asystole nowhere

near fine vfib.  I therefore did not shock him.  The

pt.'s family demanded we do something and I told them

that we had him intubated, had an IV established, were

pushing fluids, and are giving him medications.  One

family member, a rather large man who claimed to be

the pt.'s son, demanded that we shock his father

because he knew what he was talking about.  He

informed me that he has seen people get shocked who

were flatline "all the time on TV" and wanted to know

why we were not doing it now.



He got all hte other family members all hot to trot

and it seemd like they were ready to attack us becuase

we "ain't doing enough to save my dad."  We had to

call the police to come in and intervene and remove

the family members becuase they were interfering with

an emergency scene.  



They all accused us of being racist (My whole crew and

I are white while the pt. and his family are black). 

They accused me of "saving" the battery in case a

white person needed to be shocked on any future calls.

 They told me that I would be in jail and that they

would own everything I own.



It is now a few years later and I am still waiting for

that knock on the door to serve or arrest me.  Of

course, there isn't a snowball's chance in heck that

any criminal charges would ever be brought up against

me because I clearly did nothing wrong.  They can

still sue me, but they will not win - the case would

be dropped as quickly as the judge could read the

complaint.



Of course, that still does not mean that my crew and I

were not in immediate danger of physical harm from

outraged family members who did, in fact, threaten all

of us.  That is why I pushed the 10-33 button on my

radio and had the police there, guns drawn, less than

a minute later.



So, I have to dismiss your claim that a "simple"

mistake couldn't have serious consequences.  When you

are dealing with uneducated people that cannot see the

difference between fact and fiction then that is a

recipe for disaster.  Luckily, those are the same

people that probably couldn't punch a voting ballot

card correctly so we don't need to worry about any

political influence they think they have.



Regards,

Tim Steadham



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