20 Feb 2013 In Another Government-Run Health Care Horror Story, Man Dies Because EMS Workers Call in Sick — On New Year’s Eve

An extremely unfortunate story comes out of the District of Columbia, where a 71-year-old man, Durand Ford, Sr., died. Mr. Ford had trouble breathing very early on January 1, and his family called an ambulance, but it took 33 minutes for an ambulance to arrive — too long.

It seems very many firefighters, who staff the ambulances in DC, called in sick that night, so the District called the county next door. EMS personnel in that county felt like working, or, at least, enough of them had the ethics to do so despite the holiday, but they were 7 miles away — 5.5 more than a DC ambulance would have been.

Nearly a third of the District’s firefighters called in sick New Year’s Eve – 97 out of 340. The next day, not a traditional party night, only 20 were sick.

The firefighters’ union, ever helpful, said 97 firefighters sick out of 340 isn’t unusual.

As a result, the District has changed its policies for emergency personnel calling in sick. On the future, they won’t be allowed to call in sick to a computer, and the District will try to find a replacement for them immediately when they do call in sick to a human.

Seems to me charging anyone who was scheduled to be working on a relevant ambulance that night who can’t prove he or she was sick with some form of homicide charge might be a bit more effective. Naturally, I appreciate a working EMS employee as much as anyone, but saving people’s lives on a Tuesday doesn’t give a person the right to essentially kill them on a Monday.

Ask any doctor. Or the trial lawyers’ association, which would be all over this story if it were not yet another case of death by government-run health care.

Speaking of which, when the ever-incompetent DC government followed up on killing Mr. Ford by sending his family a $780 bill for the “service,” the DC Councilwoman who represents the Fords in Ward 7 told the local NBC News affiliate that she was surprised the family got a bill, because, “based on my experience in similar circumstances, DC Fire & EMS has not billed.”

Similar circumstances?

Just how many people are DC’s partying firefighters killing? And with service like this, why did over 90 percent of the population of the District of Columbia vote to re-elect the man who is bringing government-run health care to America?