Paramedicine: A Good Idea

Over Drinks…

On the fourth floor of a company apartment, there was a fight of some sort going on that involved a husband, a mother, and her daughter-in-law.  Apparently, the daughter-in-law was getting really stressed. 

  

You see, another wife of a company employee on the second floor was wondering if she should call the police. But things had quieted down a bit and she really did need to finish her laundry. So, she went out to her balcony to hang up some clothes.

That’s when something fell from above. Down past the second floor where that other wife of a company employee, who happened to be ex-nurse, was hanging her laundry. Ex-nurse heard the very heavy futon-like sound on the ground, just two stories 

 down. 

 

When she looked over, she could see someone’s fourth-floor daughter-in-law staring up, but not at her.

Immediately, she called the number:

  
On the other side, those who answered asked if that which was purportedly below was dead or alive.

“I don’t know…I’m on the second floor and..just now...”

“Well, we need to know. You can do down and check, can't you?”

“Um…okay, I…her eyes are still…and she…”

“Can you take her pulse?”

So the ex-nurse switches into auto-pilot…”Yes, there’s a pulse, but it’s weak and fading. Okay…could you get someone here, like quick?!”

“Okay...we’ll send someone.”

The police arrived first and started questioning the suspected ex-nurse in a way that was really starting to cause confusion to creep in. Not to mention concern for the woman who was lying there with her bones shattered.

When the ambulance finally arrived, the 'paramedics' asked her if she could help them lift the body off the ground. Ex-nurse pulled out her hospital rubber gloves that she’d grabbed on her way down and put them on to perform the task. When they’d gotten the victim into the meat-truck, she couldn’t help from feeling a little strange when the paramedic gave her what was almost a look of disbelief and irritation for asking them if they could dispose of her latex.

No one has ever told her "Thank you" or said anything to her, not even the husband or the mother-in-law, or even the company. Do people really realize how lucky they had been to have had an ex-nurse living on the second floor who was there at the right time? 

This kind of traumatized the ex-nurse. She wasn't going out and had kind of shut herself in. Didn't want to open the curtains or do laundry on the balcony.  So, she asked her husband to have them moved to a different location. Did anyone on the company side express any understanding about her situation? 

No. 

Apparently, it was as if she was putting everyone out. It was like the company was mystified that she'd want to move. "Tell us again why you want to move."

Yeah. What the fuck? 

For the story on ambulances in Japan, check out the Stippy post. Last I remembered, paramedics really can't do anything here anyway...only the ones in Akita. The rest are firefighters who drew short straws or something like that. It's late and I'm too tired to look up the articles that explain the mess the emergency response teams here are in...that's not what this post is really about anyway. 

Oh yeah...and don't get hurt. 

(This is the story Wifey brought home tonight from her piss up with the other hens. They eventually got around to talking about the kid who got run over a few times in China. Yeah...they can believe it. Japan's not quite like China, but close sometimes and maybe getting closer. )

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Regarding paramedics in Japan:

Simply put,"In case of emergency call an ambulance... though ambulance staff are not trained paramedics in Japan."

Or, in a more official sounding tone,"Despite the new laws and regulations, the current status of the Japanese paramedic remains far from that of paramedics in the U.S. and Europe, who enjoy respect and social recognition and who can proactively perform medical procedures at event sites."

So, once again, let's not getting hurt!