Pretty disappointed

[Biggin]

listen, i hate to be that guy, but i was kind of irked on friday night.
i know the local emt's and police try very hard, but this situation should not have happened the way it did.

my neighbor has terrible asthma attacks, very bad attacks that if went untreated, could be life-threatening. she called 911, because she lives alone and had no power for her breathing treatments. well, the 911 dispatcher told her there was no way for the ambulance to come and get her. the neighbor asks if there is any way a police vehicle or any other vehicle could come and take her to the hospital. she was told no vehicles were available to come and take her to the hospital, even though her asthma attack could have led to dire consequences.

luckily our neighbor checked on her and got her to the hospital, leaving east stone about 9:30.
she had called 911 around 8 pm.

to beat it all, the roads in big stone werent even that bad. it was more of a slush, and not very treacherous at all. most vehicles had no trouble getting thru big stone, i went thru with no problems in my mini van.

[Unchained]

It very well could have been demand>supply man. You have hundreds of calls,and a handful of vehicles/personnel. The police and EMTs are spread pretty thin when catastrophies occur in BFE areas such as these. Don't be so quick to judge friend.

[1inStripes]

Im surprised you drive a minivan. Your not even married yet.

[Biggin]

It very well could have been demand>supply man. You have hundreds of calls,and a handful of vehicles/personnel. The police and EMTs are spread pretty thin when catastrophies occur in BFE areas such as these. Don't be so quick to judge friend.

Wait, so you are saying its okay to let someone die? Is that proper procedure? To let someone pass away because they cant find one single car in two hours time to run into east stone, which if you know anything about big stone is less than five minutes from any place in big stone.

That's BS. People dying outweigh traffic messes, downed trees, anything.

What I'm saying is that in two hours time, theres no way there was not one vehicle, police emt fire department, was available for a ten minute round trip.
Thats all it is, a ten minute round trip.

I understand there was a lot going on, but is that an excuse to LET SOMEONE DIE?

[Unchained]

What part of understaffed during emergencies do you not understand? Those folks aren't just having to deal with your neighbor in distress,but they are getting hundreds of medical calls very similar to that,and there's not enough folks to get to everyone. Walk a mile in their shoes before you judge man. Next ime we get a disaster,offer to ride along with them. I promise you that you'll gain understanding,and get an eye-opener. BTW I am sorry about the situation with your neighbor (I really am).

[1inStripes]

I think Unchained may be saying that there were a ton of others in similar situations to your neighbor. My uncle works for Lincare and they had a ton of oxygen requests Friday and I am sure it was nuts this weekend. I feel for people who were in those types of situations. Handicapped and the elderly are put in bad situations by storms like these.

[Unchained]

I think Unchained may be saying that there were a ton of others in similar situations to your neighbor. My uncle works for Lincare and they had a ton of oxygen requests Friday and I am sure it was nuts this weekend. I feel for people who were in those types of situations. Handicapped and the elderly are put in bad situations by storms like these.

That's exactly what I am saying. The demand of the public is 110X greater than the supply of personnel to handle the situations. How'd you guys have liked to have been a dispatcher this weekend,be it ODP,911..whatever? Geez!

and it's not as easy as saying "Get more folks hired". This isn't NYC,LA..etc it is poor,economically-strapped SWVA where the budget is in bad shape/is much smaller.

[Biggin]

What part of understaffed during emergencies do you not understand? Those folks aren't just having to deal with your neighbor in distress,but they are getting hundreds of medical calls very similar to that,and there's not enough folks to get to everyone. Walk a mile in their shoes before you judge man. Next ime we get a disaster,offer to ride along with them. I promise you that you'll gain understanding,and get an eye-opener. BTW I am sorry about the situation with your neighbor (I really am).

No, you dont understand. It would be different if she had waited ten minutes.
TWO HOURS. one hundred and twenty minutes.
You mean to tell me, that in two hours time, not ONE police car, ambulance, fire truck, anything at all, had ten minutes to help someone from dying?

I understand there were tons of emergencies, and im not throwing anyone in particular under the bus, or call out a certain set of individuals, but something isnt right.
The valley fire department is less than three minutes from where we are. the bsg fd is less than five. the bsg police station is less than five minutes away.
Big Stone had nothing on the roads in town. It was a mild storm here. It was not bad in town.

It would be different if ten minutes passed by. Or even a half hour. But you mean to tell me, in TWO HOURS TIME, there wasnt one vehicle available to keep someone from DYING? Im not buying that.

I know they have a hard time during storms like this because there isnt a whole lot of people working for them, but what would have happened if someone wasnt there to take her to the hospital?
It would be different if she lived out in the backwoods and it would have taken thirty minutes round trip. It would have taken less than ten minutes to pick her up and take her to the hospital.

9-1-1 is for dire emergencies when people HAVE to have help. There is no way around it. Its not acceptable to let two hours go by, and no one even call her back and check on her. Its simply not acceptable to let someone die. Ive said it ten times, big stone was not hit hard at all. it was a very mild snowstorm in central big stone. the outskirts, the valley, etc.. got more, but where we are, and the town of big stone and the directly outlying areas had nothing more than a few slushy spots.


What would she do? In your mind, what should she do? Lay there and die? Is that the answer?

[Biggin]

That's exactly what I am saying. The demand of the public is 110X greater than the supply of personnel to handle the situations. How'd you guys have liked to have been a dispatcher this weekend,be it ODP,911..whatever? Geez!

and it's not as easy as saying "Get more folks hired". This isn't NYC,LA..etc it is poor,economically-strapped SWVA where the budget is in bad shape/is much smaller.

A dispatcher? Im supposed to feel sorry for the dispatcher when my neighbor was laying there DYING?

How would YOU like to been my neighbor, being told that there is no one that can come SAVE YOUR LIFE, to keep you from DYING?
What if it was your parent? Your close friend? Your elderly neighbor? You would not be so quick to say oh well, there were a lotta people needing help. Im sure there were. But a situation where someone could die in a very short amount of time should take priority over most things.

She had waited two hours, and by the time we found out, she was on the brink.
If we hadnt been home , she would have died in less than an hour.

[Biggin]

Im not mad at anyone; im not mad at ID, im not mad at the 911 dispatcher, im not mad at the emergency workers, they do their job to the best of their abilites i guess, im not there following them every day.

im not trying to offend anyone or make anyone mad, thats not my goal. I was just saying I was disappointed how teh situation played out. Im not blaming anyone; its not any one person's fault. I am upset the situation played out, but everything worked out and she is okay.

But thats not right, and theres no way anyone can convince me its okay to tell a dying person that theres no way for someone to come and rescue them.