Oregon Live – Thursday, February 10, 2011:
Marin-Fuentes left his Southeast Portland home sometime between midnight and 12:30 a.m. Thursday and drove in his black Kia 1.4 miles to Portland Adventist Medical Center.
Suffering a heart attack, he crashed into a steel pillar and wall inside the first level of the hospital’s parking garage, below a sign that read “Emergency parking only” about 125 feet from the emergency room entrance.
No one noticed him for about 20 minutes, hospital officials said. But once a bystander did, the person flagged down Portland Officer Angela Luty, who was leaving the hospital’s emergency room on an unrelated traffic case.
Two minutes later, Luty and a second officer, Robert Quick, found Marin-Fuentes unresponsive and unconscious in his car in the parking garage, and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Two other officers who arrived ran into the ER to seek help from medical personnel, and were told to call 9-1-1 for an ambulance, Portland Sgt. Pete Simpson said.
“Hospital said they won’t come out,” Officer Andrew Hearst radioed to dispatch. “We need to contact AMR first.”
The officers were stunned.
“It’s certainly very frustrating for the officers who are not medical professionals in a hospital parking lot, to be told they have to call for an ambulance to help this man. The officers didn’t stand there and argue, they continued CPR,” Simpson said. “But they were in disbelief.”
a) The hospital staff is immoral, cowardly and not worthy of our respect. If they were given the opportunity to intervene, and they declined out of liability fears, they should lose their license.
b) Any judge that would rule against a doctor assisting a patient ANYWHERE is immoral, cowardly and not worthy of our respect, and should be impeached.
c) Any lawyer that is willing to take up a case against a medical professional that tries to assist an injured person is immoral, cowardly and not worthy of our respect, and should be disbarred.
We have lost the basic moral compass in our society when there is a single person that is willing to support the choice of letting people die rather than take a non-lethal risk.
Stand up for what is right, not for the easy way out.
Well, I was waiting for the docs to get ginned up again and tell us whether they were for God or Mammon, but I’ll bite:
So BlogZilla, you hate me and I hate vacuous comments with no substance. Could the two be related?
Awake: so you think anybody should be able to do anything to someone who needs help and no lawsuits can follow no matter what happens? If not, please tell us what your caveats would be and further why you think that isn’t the major effect of the actual current laws?
Does remind me of an old joke I can’t recall the details of but seems this guy tries to help someone, gets robbed, then gets hit by a truck, then hit by lightning, then attacked by crockodiles, then by wild dogs and as he lies near death in a ditch by the side of the road, a “good samaritan” comes up and our hero says “Thank god, you won’t believe what a day I’ve had” and the good samaritan drools and grins saying “Well, you ain’t gonna believe what happens next.”
So Awake–what to do with those who don’t even have “evil intent” but are just so incredibly ignorant they hurt other people in need? How about docs that are under suspension for alcohol/drug addiction? What about new age wierdo’s that think you should bleed everyone for anything and the good citizen dies from lack of blood?
How about forming your opinions with the full panoply of human stupidity the courts have to deal with?
No? You want to be as simple minded as our Vice Mayors?
Reality: not everyone being as well motivated/competent/able as yourself.
Bobbo -
Would you at least try to use an intelligent example if you are try to argue back. Your “old joke” is stupid and crude and totally unrelated to the topic of this discussion.
You have lost your touch. You used to provide insightful retorts and arguments, now it’s just silly similes that bear no resemblance to reality.
There must be only one explanation… you are not the real Bobbo, but some drooling impersonator.
For certified medical personnel to refuse treatment to anybody anywhere if an emergency arises is perverted. If a doctor is advised that there is an emergency situation with which he can help, he is certainly morally obligated to do so, and he should be legally compelled to do so.
I’m sure your tune would change drastically if you were in a big pileup on the freeway, ejected from the car, and lay there severely bleeding, only to have a doctor walk up from the stopped cars, take a look at you and say “Sorry, I’m not at my place of work, so I can’t help you.” And then watch him walk back to his car as you bleed away to death.
Dear awake, since obviously your not and we are all just a figment of your wild imagination. Could you please tell us what is the color of the sky in your make believe world. Tell us please is it also true that unicorns eat rainbows and shit butterflys in your reality?
Awake==thank you. Yes, being the resident troll is a burden. I argued the extreme to pull you away from your own extreme position. At least I’m “trying” rather than just repeat my obviously defective position as you have.
So, lets see. Can you believe it is possible for people to be entirely negligent in a way that they should be sued for the “care” they render==or is that simply impossible?
Speaking of the kindness of strangers and professionals: I’m watching “Dream House – Meet the Ruckles” and its just GREAT!! somebody at diy network finally got real. Like Mr Blandings Builds a Dream House==everything that can go wrong and criminal is happening to his lovely couple. Good thing they are rich bastards and can ride the wave of criminality, incompetence, and bureaucracy.
Best Dream Home I have ever seen.
From the linked article: “The officers were stunned. ”
Wow! I didn’t know hospitlas kept tazers. Can’t find the video on youtube, dang it.
Well, I wish I’d been able to access the article last night. How many of you, like me, did not RTFA before commenting? The hospital claims they sent assistance: “Portland Adventist Hospital officials say they followed protocol by calling 9-1-1 to the crash scene, and sent out the charge nurse, nursing supervisor and two security officials who have a mobile defibrillator to the parking garage. They also sent an ambulance paramedic who was at the hospital.”
As for the family: “His wife and brother-in-law had gone to the hospital later Thursday morning to try to take photos of any damage from the crash, and contact a lawyer.” So, they were obviously grief-stricken.
Animby–thanks for that but you are a bit confused. “Facts” don’t matter in a broad general discussion.
Its true.
I recently needed an ambulance. It cost $1,200 for something like 30 minutes of their time.
Can you really blame this guy for not calling one? Especially if he doesn’t have insurance?
#90 – Bobbo. Yes, I accept that. We should perhaps state that all discussions herein are based on false assumptions and hypothetical situations. Or at least bad advice from bus bench attorneys.
And, that in mind, I posit the dead man did not die of his heart condition but rather from the donut crumbs inhaled during the policewoman’s clumsy attempts to provide ventilation. This could easily have been avoided had she only waxed her mustachio more regularly. Golly gee – even if the crumbs hadn’t gotten him, he’d have coughed himself to death on the powdered sugar!
Worst thread EVAR!
With some of the worst opinions ever which proves why direct democracy would be a FAIL.
Furthermore, this is what I think about you:
( ) Sorry dudes, but I don’t think it would work.
(X) The ideas in this thread are stupid, and you are stupid for suggesting them.
( ) Nice try, assh0les! I’m going to find out where you all live and burn your houses down!
#76 I agree with you, Democrats and their trial lawyer taskmasters created this hell…and we either do as they say, or end up in poverty or worse.
Business have the same choice when manufacturing here…they are sued till they leave for China…
And the progressives then blame Capitalism…when its their unholy alliance with lawyers causing the problems.
#94 Alfred Persson
Is everyone else aware this Persson seems to be unbalanced and makes no sense whatsoever — or is it just me?
It does seem to be a fairly limited ‘bot, something like Cleverbot but a lot less intelligent.
#95 U R a Progressive, hence a liar…
You ignored posters in the Med field who explained the situation quite well…
They lose their life, liberty and happiness when they become targets for Progressively enable trial lawyers…
So do businesses in the USA.
THEN when these react to reality, in self defense, your progressives blame “Democracy (#94); Capitalism (those immoral bastard doctors who work for profit etc ad nauseam)…
WHEN its PROGRESSIVES and their trial lawyers who are the blame:
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/28/honesty-from-howard-dean-on-trial-lawyers-and-health-care/
YOU fkrs run business out of the country with your lawsuits, or cause doctors to practice defensive medicine, which in this case was to wait until he was admitted…and then you lie about critics of your progressive policies…that they are racists…astroturf…tea baggers…extremists…etc…
And you are too cowardly to post under your real name…
dickhead
Reagan #95 – Have no fear of Alfie. He’s been around for long time. Seems VERY long. Couple of different names but the same nonsense. He’s a bible thumping, empty head who would never have a thought at all if his radio failed to tune in Alex Jones and Rush Limbaugh. Most just ignore him except Bobbo who likes to poke him with a stick sometimes.
In case anyone is interested (and why would anyone be interested?), I don’t respond to ‘bots. Really, what would be the point?
#97 Animby
Thanks for the advice but I’m pretty sure it’s a ‘bot with a very limited vocabulary and very primitive response algorithms. Really, as far as I can see, it just repeats the same words over and over again.
I can’t see it passing the Turing test.
Still, I appreciate the thought.
Were the police afraid of lawsuits also…they could have carried him in themselves, right?