I'll throw a dog in this fight !!!
First, let me ask, why in the very first page of this melee, why did you, Vent, jump on EMT-Ps like a fat kid on a donut? "Seems somebody gots a hateful grudge against the EMT(P)s. (aka Gov. Pappy O'Daniel)"
That aside, yes, we need to make an effort to assist anyone and everyone we can, as best we can, and within the limits of our resources and protocols. I've tried my best to help hundreds of people, and perhaps had a bit of limited success with a few.
But !
As it has been stated, ad nausem, You cannot help someone who doesn't want to help themselves. At least not very far. I lost a very good friend to ETOH and drugs, despite being there for him every minute, taking him to rehab, holding his hand, feeding his family, but I couldn't stop the self destructive behavior and it eventually killed him. But I didn't give up.
We have regulars here that we transport almost every shift, our protocols don't allow us to refuse them. We've reported them to social services, who are very familiar with their cases, and they attempt to help them, but to no avail.
So are you saying that I'm just dumping patients on the ER and leaving them to deal with it? I've followed up on so many cases with law enforcement and social services that they groan when they hear my name sometimes.
One of the sad case regulars we had is/was a MA of Lit. who taught at the local college for years, fell into the trap of ETOH and drugs, and ended up on the street as a prostitute, living in an abandoned van. Sober, which wasn't often, she was very literate, funny, and sad about her situation, but would tell you that she couldn't change, and didn't want to change. Drunk, or high, she was a demon, hitting LEOs and EMS, nurses, anyone who got within striking range. She once commented to me that she owed the hospital over 500K, but "they can't get blood out of a turnip".
What I ask you Vent, did I fail to do in my attempts to help her?
You are trying to cast us all as uncaring, lazy, cold hearted bastards, and from reading your post/rants, it seems that no matter what anyone says, you take offense to, deem them as wrong.
My last question for you, do you realize that you are coming over just like Crotch Cricket with his race card bullcrap?
Peace Out
Michael Duke, EMT-P