First aid - No aid

Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.

- Aristotle -

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We live in a modern, well-developed and progressive society and the human species has advanced rapidly in almost every area and aspect of life to the point where we are (generally) much safer, healthier and more well-catered for than ever before. This is certainly the case in my country, Australia, in which we have everything we need and more, in abundance, and there's little to no turmoil to be found as in other places. But...

Very recently a man died after a ten hour wait for an ambulance to arrive (which never did) to provide first aid and to transport him to one of those modern, well-developed, progressively advancing hospitals my country has...which the tax payer funds. He died in pain, suffering and without a hint of the proper care he deserved.

Shame on you government.

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In the week just gone there was a medical emergency in my household and I called the '000' emergency number for an ambulance to attend. After explaining who and where I was, the situation and background on the individual I was told, the responders will be at least five hours away and to keep the person comfortable.

Fuck that! I put the person into one of my vehicles and drove straight to the hospital emergency department. This was at 02:00h (2am)...hardly a time in which one would expect the ambulance service to be run off their feet with calls.

Since then, five days ago, the person has remained in hospital and an operation is in the works, however due to complications it's not happened yet. In the intervening time care has been given, pain relief, a bed on a ward (after a wait in an emergency bay bed of fifteen hours), some meals and a lot of CT (and other) scans, blood tests and medication...it's been a stressful week considering this situation and the fact I went back to work for the year also - The start to 2024 I didn't need.

It made me think about the problems, and there's many.

An overloaded hospital system, lack of beds, doctors and medical staff plus many other issues...That means ambulances can't offload patients they collect into the hospitals which means they have to ramp - line up at emergency to wait for a bed to free up inside, which means they can't attend other emergency calls. The other day the main hospital in my city had twenty ambulances ramped for the entire day. But hang on...remember my first line?

We live in a a modern, well-developed and progressive society and the human species has advanced rapidly in almost every area and aspect of life to the point where we are (generally) much safer, healthier and more well-catered for than ever before.

I get that people who have not experienced this situation first-hand may not understand or may feel "everything is ok" but in truth everything is not ok, everything is fucked, and if it hasn't touched you yet...sit tight, it will.

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I'm working through this recent situation as best I can and there'll be a resolution one way or another of course, but I can't help but look with dismay at the future...We are in a world that's progressed so far and yet...it's all fucked in so many ways...so where does it go from here? Does AI save the day, that wanker Elon Musk perhaps? Only a fucken retard would think that I think...I guess though, the best we can hope for is that the deaths that occur through these issues and others happen to someone else...but in reality it's a matter of time before it hits home and it'll touch everyone eventually.

Have you had any similar experiences like this, or heard of someone who has? Feel free to comment below.