If This Don't Piss You Off...

Nothing Will...

One of my blog idols over at The Agitator pointed out this story about doctors being turned away from providing services at ground zero in new Orleans:

In the midst of administering chest compressions to a dying woman several days after Hurricane Katrina struck, Dr. Mark N. Perlmutter was ordered to stop by a federal official because he wasn't registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I begged him to let me continue," said Perlmutter, who left his home and practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Pennsylvania to come to Louisiana and volunteer to care for hurricane victims. "People were dying, and I was the only doctor on the tarmac (at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport) where scores of nonresponsive patients lay on stretchers. Two patients died in front of me.

"I showed him (the U.S. Coast Guard official in charge) my medical credentials. I had tried to get through to FEMA for 12 hours the day before and finally gave up. I asked him to let me stay until I was replaced by another doctor, but he refused. He said he was afraid of being sued. I informed him about the Good Samaritan laws and asked him if he was willing to let people die so the government wouldn't be sued, but he would not back down. I had to leave."

See, I'm not always cheering Raah Raah Raah about the Republicans and the efforts of our Federal government, but it is OUR Federal Government...MY Federal Government--elected, bought, and paid for (voluntarily or not) and I have earned the right to provide honest criticism.

We could do a whole lot better job in an emergency of accepting offers for medical assistance.

Now, as to the foreign media, including most of the crap published by the BBC, they know where they can go... you know?