May 29, 2008
Morning Roundup: Emergency & I
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user tophermathews
Good morning, Washington. If you're still mentally recovering from the nasty Memorial Day traffic, a word of advice: stay very far away from the Wilson Bridge this weekend. Southbound I-95 will be down to one lane as the bridge's new second span is put into commission and workers pave and mark the ramps and roads connected to it.
D.C. Ambulance Service Found Wanting: The Post had a look at the data surrounding the region's emergency medical response systems and came away with a clear conclusion: if you're going to have a heart attack, you should try not to do it in D.C. Apparently you're twice as likely to make it to the emergency room with a pulse if your infarction occurs in Arlington or Alexandria instead of the District. While admitting that comparisons between jurisdictions are difficult due to differences in both populations and available data, everyone quoted in the story agrees that the city's emergency medical system is doing a worse job than it should be.
Lanier Seeks To Dismiss Seven More Cops: WTOP reports that the group of MPD officers who were fired, reinstated due to procedural errors related to their dismissal, then placed on the chopping block again has grown — they now number 24. Last week Chief Lanier indicated that she is seeking to re-fire the officers, arguing that their various transgressions make them unable to perform police duties in a way that supercedes the legal protection they're afforded thanks to the errors made on Lanier's predecessors' watch. The 24 are currently assigned to desk jobs.
Briefly Noted: Battle lines drawn for Tysons redevelopment... Composite sketch of suspect released in murder/carjacking case... Pr. William asks residents to help identify vacant houses... Body found in Potomac... New study gives proposed Purple Line a boost...
This Day In DCist: One year ago H2O was in hot water and rock throwing returned to Columbia Heights.
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D.C. Ambulance Service Found Wanting
In other news, birds go tweet.
LAst time I dialed 911 in DC, no one answered. Not joking.
Re; the ambulance story. I had a friend who was in med school at GU and did a weeklong ambulance ride along in the District. They got called to a heart attack one night and hauled the guy down to the ambulance and once loaded, the EMT quit CPR. My friend was appalled and when he objected, was told, "Son, this man was dead when we picked him up and he'll be dead when we drop him off." 30 seconds before they reached the hospital, the driver knocked on the partition and the EMT in the back hauled himself up with a deep sigh and started his CPR/resuscitation efforts again, so he was fully engaged when they opened the doors in the ambulance bay.
Lesson: Drag yourself over the District line!
Body found in Potomac
Whew, what a relief...I thought I'd lost it forever! I'll swing by and pick it up after work. That'll teach me not to play fetch with my dog too close to the river...
Sorry to introduce a new topic but it might be helpful: the taxicab commission's $1 gas surcharge expired yesterday, but their web site reveals it has been extended 120 days until September 28. Lame but not surprising.
And another personal cabs and meters anecdote: I got into a cab with a meter yesterday and noted the $3 drop... and also watched the driver push the button to add 2 more dollars. It was 10:30am so no rush hour business, and I asked him what the $2 was for.
Driver: "Er. Gas. thing."
Me (sweetly but firmly) "I thought it was ONE dollar!"
Driver: "Uh. err. yeah. I was thinking um. Stupid meter! I don't know how to use this shit."
Yeah. Sure. I guess even now that we have meters, we still have to watch over these guys for things like this. Can't fool me, I read DCist!
Isn't it pathetic that the Fire and Emergency Medical Services doesn't have more CPR training b/c it didn't have the money budgeted for that item?
Mental note: In case of emergency, drive self to hospital.
FEMS' issues brings up another first responder-related concern: In case of a terrorist attack on DC or some sort of catastrophe, does anyone really think MPD, FEMS and local hospitals are capable of handling the disaster? We've been tossing millions of dollars at these agencies for homeland security-related training and preparation. But is there any actual large scale testing that occurs?
Mental note #2: In case of disaster, drive self to Virginia hospital.
I love that pic of the guy trapped on the Tysons median strip with cars hurtling towards him. Kinda reminds me of the J.G. Ballard book Concrete Island about the guy trapped on a median strip with perpetually moving traffic. He turns into a kind of Robinson Crusoe, except with a crashed Jaguar.
Unless they prioritize pedestrian and bike access and provide some walkway bridges and paths, Tysons will never be anthing but a car-centric community, except with more gridlock.
doesn't anyone else get "dc sucks" fatigue? after hearing how bad certain things are around here, you just kind of ignore it after a while?
If you didn't ignore most of it you'd probably go insane because it seems like there is more bad than good. The alternative is to pay attention to all of it and become very jaded and cynical, but why would any of us do that?
Please refrain from the Dplan title-references. It makes me think there will be Plan-related news, and I get uncontrollably excited.
that's kind of what 50-72% of the content on here is all about. parking sucks, taxi drivers suck, Metro sucks, ambulance service sucks, interns with their thongs hanging out suck, too much rain sucks, Nats fans suck, crime sucks, drivers suck, bike riders suck, pedestrians suck....wait what? free ice cream? where? that doesn't suck!
For the record, interns with their thongs hanging out do not suck. Or maybe they do. But I support seeing those thongs. But only on the cute interns. And not on any male interns. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Except that there is.
Actually, in this post, it's about 98% suck. The only positive cite is the one about the Purple Line getting support.
And if you ask anyone in Chevy Chase, they'll tell you that sucks, too.
Rock throwing, however, never sucks. Unless you're a witch. Then, we build a bridge out of her.
That too will suck.
doesn't anyone else get "dc sucks" fatigue? after hearing how bad certain things are around here, you just kind of ignore it after a while?
Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such DCist stories as 'Loud and Lousy: A profile of the D.C. Ambulance Service' and 'You Can't Throw a Rock in Columbia Heights without Hitting Someone Angry about Gentrification'.
And with the weather warming up, you'd figure the zoo would start shaving those pandas. Or at least put some thongs on them.
Ambulances: the more things change the more they stay the same...
About 20 years ago a friend of my brother's broke his arm while arm wrestling at a bar. When someone tried to call an ambulance everyone agreed it would be faster to get a cab, so they did. That's a pretty sad commentary on DC emergency services.
There's always the "new Harris Teeter!" posts to cheer you up, too. Artomatic always cheers me up, so I plan to go buy some "ahhht" this weekend.
So yes, everything sucks and we're all going to hell, but isn't the weather great today? Get happy, people, get happy.
Friends in Columbia Heights tell me that rock-throwing is now just the default neighborhood way to say hello to someone you haven't seen in a while. Yesterday I saw a guy in a blazer and loafers winging chunks of brick at a Subaru Outback and yelling "Yo, Thomas, how's the renovation coming?"
Re: DC sucks - yeah well, some things do, but I for one love living in DC. It's kind of like having a dysfunctional family - you love 'em despite the dysfunction. Maybe there's a weirdo uncle at Thanksgiving, but hey, he's OUR weirdo...
I love the way the fire engines and ambulances pick the most congested streets to use for an emergency run during rush hour, whether or not said street is packed solid with cars that have no place to go anyway (ex: 34th in Geotown seems to be a fave around 5:30pm, and perfect for the situation; parking on both sides, one lane, backed up).
So get up get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
OW! Flava Flav say OW!
So true Fluxgirl - it drives me nuts to see fire engines trying to navigate Dupont Circle during the morning rush. Hello?? There isn't anywhere for people to pull over!
98% DC suck? No way.
Wilson Traffic will suck-No DC suck there. Virginia and Maryland suck, surely, but not much DC suck.
DC emergency services suck-OK, probably some DC suck here. But really, the study is hardly that scientific. It doesn't even have that much data from DC and isn't controlled for the fact that DC residents are just less heart healthy, on average, than the other jurisdictions.
Lanier Fires cops-Where's the DC suck here? I'm glad she's doing this. It's about time. She should also look at all those cops sitting around at home on multi-year "sick" leaves for such significant injuries as hurt feelings (That article's got some choice-cut DC suck).
As for the Briefly Noted: Apparent a hispanic male carjacked someone in Silver Spring, dumped a body in Great Falls, abandoned a bunch of homes in Prince William County and bought a condo in Tysons, all so he can protest the Purple Line's path through the Columbia Country Club. No DC suck there...
I'm with voteprime. Nothing like a good bashing from DC's uglier, sluttier sister city to bring out the best in DCist. I'll start.
"The NY slices in DC suck. You can get way better at Original Famous Ray's (Not Affiliated with Famous Original Ray's)."
Discuss.
Re: DC sucks
Yeah maybe true, but would u rather live in Tysons...now that would suck big time.
My fantasy: Jenny 8. Lee has a heart attack in DC after getting a flip flop stuck in the Metro escalators. Hilarity ensues.
Reid, you suck.
Wilson Traffic will suck-No DC suck there.
Plenty of DC residents have to use the Wilson Bridge. I had to use it all the time when I had to buy smack in Oxen Hill or hookers with teeth in Old Town.
DC emergency services suck-OK, probably some DC suck here.
Probably? What about the poor NY Times slob who got misdiagnosed as being drunk when he'd been stabbed? Definitely sucked for him.
Lanier Fires cops-Where's the DC suck here?
The suck was these clowns sucking on the taxpayers teat when they should have been paraded through the street naked in a cage during the "drag races" and pelted by homos in feather boas.
The only thing that doesn't suck is the picture and that's because it's made out of a friggin rock and the model for the statue is dead. Lucky.
there there monkey. think of pandas in thongs with a lady bics in paw. just don't get too excited, have a heart attack, and need EMS services during your fantasy. the dc suck might be able to get you that way.
What about the poor NY Times slob who got misdiagnosed as being drunk when he'd been stabbed? Definitely sucked for him.
That'll teach the NY Times to start bashing DC's NY Slices. How's that for capitalizing on DC's suckiness to band together?
doesn't anyone else get "dc sucks" fatigue?
That's a hazard of hanging around DCist.
Ok, I'll admit I was putting some rosey spin on it. But I just disagree with the 98% figure. It's way closer to 95%.
Plus I just wanted to write the phrase "dc suck" a bunch of times.
And who knows, that body that washed up in Great Falls may turn out to be one of the dirty cops. That would be worth a couple tenths of a percent.
"Re: DC sucks - yeah well, some things do, but I for one love living in DC. It's kind of like having a dysfunctional family - you love 'em despite the dysfunction. Maybe there's a weirdo uncle at Thanksgiving, but hey, he's OUR weirdo..."
I feel the same way, but sometimes I worry that I'm just a glutton for punishment.
RE: D.C. Ambulance Service Found Wanting
That is if you actually want to spend $700 to ride in an ambulance... most insurance providers (if you have one) won't cover it anyway. Yay America!
"I feel the same way, but sometimes I worry that I'm just a glutton for punishment."
...or I just don't know any better. Kind of like when I switched from Riggs Bank to Bank of America. When I walked in for the first time and a greeter said hello to me I had to look around to see who she was talking to... I put up with Riggs' sucky customer service for so long I thought all banks were that way.
Actually, DC is like the dysfunctional family with the crazy aunt locked up in the attic that nobody talks about. Then your sister starts dating a Black guy and everybody stops talking to her and just mutters epithets under their breath, which really pisses you off. But then you find out how big his junk is and you can't really blame her, considering the jerks she was dating before, like that blond kid with the tiny head who drove the HUGE muscle car. Actually, the Black guy's a lot classier than any of your relatives and he actually tips 20% instead of leaving a stupid Bible tract as a "tip." Nice job, Dad, you cheap sonovabitch.
Eventually, you get sick of all the drama, and you get a place of your own, but you still kinda miss mom's mac and cheese. That Stouffer's s**t has got way too much salt.
Woh, Monkey, you okay? I'd give you a hug but I'm afraid you'd start humping my leg again.
Okay, the Emergency Response Team may be not ding the best job they can, but you cannot put all of that statistic on them. How about the fact that no one pulls over for an ambulance with it's sirens going. I cannot recall how many times I've seen an ambulance sitting in traffic on North Cap. That is unacceptable.
I put up with Riggs' sucky customer service for so long I thought all banks were that way.
Funny. I had the exact opposite experience with Riggs for the few years I dealt with them and I was sorry to see a local DC bank get consumed by PNC.
i can't complain about PNC....i switched to them once they bought riggs, and the 14th and P branch is the only bank i've ever walked into and been greeted by name because one of the people in the front actually remembered my name. that made me feel pretty damn special.
Do other jurisdictions send fire trucks to medical emergencies? DC does. Shame.
is the no atm fee deal at PNC really as wonderful as it sounds??
@flapjack: Not as wonderful as the "all ATM fees anywhere get refunded to you" deal at USAA. :)
mellbell - all fees anywhere?? Too bad there's no way for me to become a member :(
@flapjack: Yep. My dad served in the Navy, so that why I'm a member. (You could, of course, always marry into it.)
mellbell - my boyfriend is a member but through his parents. He's a civilian in the Navy but I'm not sure that counts.
I've only recently switched to PNC, but they refund ATM fees for non-PNC ATMs if you have the right account. It does require a non-trivial balance to ensure the refund. I've had it done for me a couple of times.
I haven't had enough experience to say anything else good/bad about them.
"Do other jurisdictions send fire trucks to medical emergencies? DC does."
I can't speak to other jurisdictions, but I remember in my hometown, a firetruck was frequently sent to medical emergencies. As I remember it, it was because they had special training regarding spinal injuries. Or something like that.
Then again, I grew up in a small new england town. We didn't have that many housefires.
...I was sorry to see a local DC bank get consumed by PNC.
I agree. One reason I stuck with Riggs for so long was the fact that it was a DC institution, but they finally screwed me over one too many times. The final straw was when I was meeting with one of the managers and he answered the phone and proceeded to talk to another customer for 15 minutes while I sat there. I finally voted with my feet (and money).
I have a second cousin who is in the Navy, is that close enough for USAA?
flapjack (et al.): the only place i've not had my ATM fees refunded by PNC was when i was in ecuador. guess they don't cover overseas transactions...
IMGoph: seriously? that's where I'm hoping to get refunded, the euro is going to kill me in ATM fees :(