So, you want Universal Health Care

This is a grim account of an example of how universal health care works. Our niece (11 years old) and family live in London, England. She had her finger slammed in a very heavy door. The finger was literally hanging by a thread. They called their equivalent of 911 and were told that it would take too long to get to their house and that they should take their daughter to the hospital. They arrived at the local hospital and had to wait for 2 and 1/2 hours BEFORE they were even seen by a doctor. When they were finally seen, the doctor just wrapped the finger in a bandage and were told to return tomorrow!! Needless to say, this finger will not be reattatched and will probably have to be completely amputated. What a joke. I wish some of the US politicians who think Universal Care is the way to go, would experience this type of medicine first hand. Of course that would never happen because they would make sure that members of Congress always have the best medical care available. The U Care would be reserved for us peons. Sorry for the rant; but this really ticks me off. If this accident occurred in the USA, our niece would have been in surgery in a very short period of time and would have a very favorable prognosis.

   Awhile back,one of my coworkers was snowmobiling in Quebec(universal healthcare).They were digging a stuck snowmobile out of the ditch when a drunk snowmobiler came along,missed the corner and hit his girlfriend(who was standing 10 feet off the trail),breaking her leg in several places.At the hospital,they were told that she needed surgery.They also told her the quality of the surgery would be sub par and she would most likely have to have surgery again when she got back to the States.Can you imagine?

   They decided to leave her at the hospital and go check into a hotel.After gathering all the sleds and loading them into the trailer,they parked at the hotel and went to check in.When they came out of the office,some enterprising criminal was driving away with their brand new F350 crew cab with trailer in tow. Gone!

   After taking a taxi back to the hospital,they bumped into a guy they had never met,who was there on vacation from Mass.They were telling him about their misfortune and he expressed to them that she would be better off not to have the surgery at all in Canada and go back to the U.S. They obviously were in no situation to drive her 6 hours home.The guy then told my friend that he worked for Boston Med Flight and seeing as they were down on their luck he would help them out.He made a call and a couple of his coworkers flew a helicopter up to fly her back to Boston.I don't know who paid for that flight,but he never got a bill.
True story

There are alot of things we take for granted,and yes healthcare is expensive,but if something serious happens to you then you want the best treatment you can get,not someone telling you this is the best we can do with what we have to work with.

Sorry to hear about your niece's injury.That's a tough deal for a kid to go through.
     
   Mike