In fact, why didn't the hospital just call a patient transport service? Why was an ambulance dispatched for this when anyone with an EMT-basic certification and a handicapped-accessable van could have done it?
In fact, why didn't the hospital just call a patient transport service? Why was an ambulance dispatched for this when anyone with an EMT-basic certification and a handicapped-accessable van could have done it?
All excellent questions and entirely valid and insightful points. As someone who works in EMS here in the USA, one thing I can tell you is that there is a tendency among a great many members of the public, including those in the media, to refer to anyone they see working on an ambulance as a "paramedic", just as all semiautomatic rifles are 'machine guns' and all rifles that have a dark finish and / or look ugly are "assault rifles". Most people aren't aware of the existence of certification / licensure differences among EMS workers, nor do they particularly care. My first guess is that this ignorance MAY be part of the equation in this article, which is the reason why I chose the expression "Medics" in my own added title description....I didn't want to repeat something that I felt may be untrue. Given this uncertainty, I am furthermore hesitant to fully accept that the vehicle involved was a true 'ambulance' when it may have only been a van with flashing lights on top. In general, I am hesitant to give a tremendous degree of assumed credit for verbal and / or factual precision to journalists...I haven't been given much reason to, given their track record over the past several decades. :-)
That being said, if the basics of this story are indeed true then this lady was treated in an absolutely abominable and inhuman fashion, and all parties involved should be instantly fired from whatever positions they do in fact hold and should be banned from ever holding any form of caregiving position until the end of time. No person should treat someone under their care in such a breathtakingly brutal and potentially dangerous manner. If it's true that they were in fact paramedics, then this also explains in large measure why the UK healthcare system is being crushed by it's own largesse.