Submitted By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
In yet another sign of the Apocalypse, an 82-year-old grandmother was denied medical attention for 30 minutes and told to call an ambulance after she fell and broke her hip. That’s bad enough, but what is particularly infuriating is that she was told this by staff at Greater Niagara General Hospital where she’d fallen.
Doreen Wallace was leaving the Canadian hospital with her son after visiting her dying husband. She fell in the lobby area and fractured her hip, cutting her arm in the process on a metal grate. Seeing the fall, a hospital security guard called for help and rushed to her side. Two nurses from the ER responded to the prone octogenarian, but refused help until the victim’s son called an ambulance and paramedics arrived to assess the situation.
“It was horrible. It really was. Everybody who walked through the door stopped and stared at me,” said Mrs. Wallace, who already had a broken arm from a previous fall. Her son Mike, who had frantically tried to get help from the on-site medical staff, added, ” We’re probably, maybe, like a 50-yard walk, literally, down to the emergency department.”
The only compassionate person on staff apparently was the security guard who wrapped Wallace’s head in a blanket and tried to wipe the blood away with a paper towel. An orthopedic surgeon s finally intervened, and, with the assistance of an aide, moved the poor woman to a wheel chair.
Adding to the farce, when paramedics did arrive, they were dispatched from far away St. Catharines Hospital because none from Niagara General were available. The supervisor of the Niagara Health System said the incident stemmed from a communication problem among staff. Apparently, they were operating under an old rule that required the staff to call an ambulance if persons were injured on the premises. A review is underway, and the Canadian Health Minister promises reform.
Call me unconvinced. Last April, 39-year-old, Jennifer James died from a “catastrophic heart event” (English translation: Heart Attack) after Niagara General Emergency Department staff refused her aid after her boyfriend rushed the unconscious and dyspneic woman to the hospital parking lot and begged for help. He was told to call 9-1-1.
Canada’s highest courts have set limits on medical malpractice awards and the country’s liability laws make establishing professional negligence difficult. Health care providers’ insurance companies defend lawsuits very vigorously and a large portion (up to 83%) of their premiums are sometimes reimbursed by the government. Punitive damages are rare. Ms. Wallace may have an uphill fight but it’s a climb worth taking.
Source: Toronto Star ; Law Library of Congress
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Meatpuppet
The term “meatpuppet” (or “meat puppet”) is used as a pejorative description of various online behaviors. The term was current before the Internet, including references in Ursula Le Guin’s science fiction story “The Diary of the Rose” (1976),[24] the alternative rock band Meat Puppets, and the cyberpunk novelist William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984).[25] Editors of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia use the term to deprecate contributions of new community members if suspected of having been recruited by an existing member to support his position.[26] Such a recruited member is considered analogous to a sockpuppet even though he is actually a separate individual (i.e. “meat”) rather than a fictitious creation. Wired columnist Lore Sjöberg put “meat puppet” first on a satirical list of “common terms used at Wikipedia,” defining the term as “a person who disagrees with you.”[27]
Nevertheless, other online sources use the term “meatpuppet” to describe sockpuppet behaviors. For example, according to one online encyclopedia, a meat puppet “publishes comments on blogs, wikis and other public venues about some phenomenon or product in order to generate public interest and buzz”—that is, he is engaged in behavior more widely known as “astroturfing.”[28] A 2006 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education defined a meat puppet as “a peculiar inhabitant of the digital world—a fictional character that passes for a real person online.”[29][30]
Strawman sockpuppet
A strawman sockpuppet is a false flag pseudonym created to make a particular point of view look foolish or unwholesome in order to generate negative sentiment against it. Strawman sockpuppets typically behave in an unintelligent, uninformed, or bigoted manner and advance “straw man” arguments that their puppeteers can easily refute. The intended effect is to discredit more rational arguments made in behalf of the same position. [23]
A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception. The term—a reference to the manipulation of a simple hand puppet made from a sock—originally referred to a false identity assumed by a member of an internet community who spoke to, or about, himself while pretending to be another person.[1] The term now includes other uses of misleading online identities, such as those created to praise, defend or support a third party or organization.[2] A significant difference between the use of a pseudonym[3] and the creation of a sockpuppet is that the sockpuppet poses as a independent third-party unaffiliated with the puppeteer.
I suppose that under this definition….Hugh…You are here already….or how was that ….
sockpuppets should be posting soon
Blouise:
“eniobob … my apologies for not coming to your defense”
Its the thought that counts.:=)
Besides people like anon keep you on your toes.
Then LK, You either acknowledge that I did not start it nor make any references….and if you don’t….there ya go….
Lotta,
There you go … thank you … I knew it was something I should get and damn, I know that movie well, but missed it.
I appreciate smart insults and that one was very smart and very insulting … a lot worse than a mere “screw you”.
eniobob … my apologies for not coming to your defense and if I had gotten the reference I most certainly would have. Yep, you really did hit an anon nerve.
SwM … great catch!
AY,
I’m very familiar with passive-aggressive personalities.
I bite back and then move on. I don’t make oblique references for weeks. I’m not a scab-picker.
Blouise, It’s from the Die Hard movie- dwayne is a self-important jerk that is also a police official and through aggressive ignorance, if left to his own devices, will get the hero, John McClane killed and let the bad guys make their scheme a success:
Dwayne T. Robinson: I’ve got a hundred people down here, and they’re covered with glass.
John McClane: Glass? Who gives a shit about glass? Who the fuck is this?
Dwayne T. Robinson: This is Deputy Chief of Police, Dwayne T. Robinson, and I am in charge of this situation.
John McClane: Oh, you’re in charge? Well, I got some bad news for you *Dwayne*, from up here it doesn’t look like you’re in charge of jack shit.
Dwayne T. Robinson: You listen to me, you little asshole, I’m…
John McClane: Asshole? I’m not the one who just got butt-fucked on national TV, *Dwayne*. Now, you listen to me, jerk-off, if you’re not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem. Quit being a part of the fucking problem and put the other guy back on!
LK,
I reread….what I posted….I reread what the others had posted…..As you can see LK…I will defend myself…I am sorry it appears that it’s ok to single me out….Put the smack on both or none all is the way I see it….
BTW, Bush owns a part of the backing package for the Texas Rangers…..For all that are interested…I heard he will be tossing the first ball out on Sunday….Go Cardinals……not bad for a National League Farm Team….
LK,
I did not start it, I made no references if you are familiar with passive aggressive personalities….you need to reread what references were made….and If you have a problem with me defending myself…then Duane said it already….
By the way…..I will wait to see how you respond the next time someone attacks you personally….on the blog….maybe you could feel….yes…feel it from my position….then maybe you would understand….but please do not single me out…when I did not start it or make a fucking reference….I am doing only what was explained to me by the original offender…just correcting a wrong….Got a problem?
All,
I was trying to figure out what “Stop being part of the problem, Duane.” meant … then anon explained his motivation, “Screw you” and I got it … at least I think I did.
The left hand OR doesn’t know what the right hand OR is doing … sounds political … or perhaps free market …
anon:
“And there is absolutely nothing in the article that suggests this behavior was due to the 82 year old being a woman.”
This was a human being,Probably someones Mother,Grandmother,Aunt,Sister a friend.I guess you can’t understand that.
eniobob, I am headed out to enjoy this beautiful day and meet some friends for lunch. Hope you have a great day too. Have to watch Ron Washington and his Texas Rangers tonight.
AY, don’t start- it’s old and boring. Just pack it in.
AY:
My day has been made.
“You are ok in my book…”
eniobob,
You are ok in my book….You have not made it personal….Then again….You are probably a better person….male or female….
And for what you said to me and about me….you should be somewhat understanding as to why (not sure you can comprehend, which is totally different) I eventually unleashed on you ON the blog…..I cannot even stomach it to say your name….But you know who you….and be damned pleased that I have learned something more valuable than you’ll ever know….
Swm:
:=)