Tragedies

Despicable

Anna Blankenheim Tragedies

It’s taken me a while to pull my thoughts together regarding the bombings at today’s Boston Marathon. I actually found myself saying “People suck!” several times today. I hate that. I hate that now you can’t even go for a run without fearing for your life.

Instead of focusing on my frustration and anger towards those who executed this despicable attack, I’m trying to focus on the good. If you’ve seen any of the video footage, you’ve seen all sorts of people running to help the injured. They were military, they were police officers, they were race volunteers, they were even ordinary citizens. I’m going to cling to that – that in a time of need there are still good people out there who will run toward danger to help a fellow human being.

I had two friends running today (along with several who went to cheer), both who finished before the bombs exploded (one of them by only about 9 minutes). I’m so glad they’re both safe and so sad that their great achievements were tarnished by something so terrible. For those of you who don’t know much about running, the Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon in the world and you have to qualify to participate. To give you an idea of what an accomplishment it is to compete, a woman my age would need to run a qualifying race in under 3:35. Yeah, that’s fast (remember, it’s 26.2 miles!).

My heart and prayers go out to all of those killed or impacted by the tragedy in Boston today.

United We Run!
United We Run!

 

A New Low

Anna Blankenheim Tragedies ,

Most of you know that I am an EMT. You won’t find me riding around in an ambulance or even working in the ER – instead I volunteer at events on behalf of our local fire department. I love to help people and have always been interested in medicine.

I am blown away at a news story out of Bakersfield today. And 87 year-old-woman living in an independent living facility (Glenwood Gardens) collapsed in the dining room on February 26th. A woman called 911 and asked for paramedics to be sent to help – and then proceeds to tell the dispatcher that she is a nurse, but will not do CPR. The dispatcher spends seven minutes and sixteen seconds doing everything in her power to try to convince the nurse to help the ailing woman (or to find someone who will). Apparently, the home has a policy that says “in the event of a health emergency at this independent living community, our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives.”

Here’s the thing. I understand that the general public is terrified of getting sued. And that they worry about not doing CPR right, about breaking bones, about disease, about blood and guts and vomit. What I am most appalled at is the fact that this woman is a NURSE. She had a duty to act. She should be stripped of her license to practice. My God, there are stories of kids doing CPR that end up saving lives. Would this have helped this woman? I would guess probably not – in fact, more times than not CPR isn’t successful. The point is that you give them a fighting chance. To stand by and literally watch a woman die in front of you is incomprehensible. Despicable. Deplorable. I can’t understand how anyone can just stand there and not even try.

I beg you, if you don’t already know CPR, please learn. Over the years they’ve actually made CPR easier and hands only (for those of you afraid of cooties). Check out the American Heart Association or American Red Cross for classes in your area. Does it always work? Absolutely not. If it’s your kid, mother, husband, or grandma, do you want to give them a chance? ABSOLUTELY!

Here is the partial 911 call that was released to the public – see if you’re as enraged as I am (I am picturing my 80-something year old Oma who is currently living in an assisted living home).

Dispatcher: This woman’s not breathing enough. She’s gonna die if we don’t get this started. Do you understand?

Caller: I understand. I am a nurse. But I cannot have our other citizens, who don’t know CPR, do it. We’re in a dining room.

Dispatcher: I will instruct them. Is there anyone there?

Caller: I cannot do that.

Dispatcher: OK, is there anyone there who is willing to help this patient?

Caller: I am, but…

Dispatcher: OK great, then I’ll walk you through it all. EMS takes the liability for this, Colleen. I’m  happy to … OK? This is EMS protocol. OK?

Caller: (To someone off  the phone) I don’t know where he is. She’s yelling at me to have one of our  other residents perform CPR. And I’m not gonna do that, and make that call.

Dispatcher: Are we just gonna let this lady die?

Caller: Well that’s why we’re calling 911.

Dispatcher: We can’t wait. She can’t wait right now. She is stopping breathing. She can’t wait for them to get there.

Caller: She’s taken three breaths.

Dispatcher: It’s not enough. We need to get CPR started.

Caller: (Chatter in  background) He’s saying we don’t. You can talk to my boss, and I don’t know what  to say.

Dispatcher: OK. (To  someone off phone.) They’re refusing CPR, they’re gonna let her die. By the  facility, yeah.

Caller: When will the fire department be here? When will the ambulance …

Dispatcher: OK, well then if you get anybody, any stranger that happens to walk by that’s willing to help. I understand if your boss is telling you can’t do it. But if there’s any human being… Is there anyone that’s willing to help this lady and not let her  die?

Caller: Um, not at this time.

Dispatcher: (To someone off phone) They won’t. They won’t touch her at all. I can’t get anyone to touch  her at all.

Caller: We have residents that are …

Dispatcher: Any guests? Any guests that are there that are willing to help?

Caller: No, I don’t have any.

Dispatcher: Is there a gardener, any staff? Anybody who doesn’t work for you anywhere? Can we flag someone down in the street and get them to help this lady… Can we flag a stranger down? I bet a stranger will help her. I’m pretty good at talking them into it. If you can flag a stranger down I will help. I will tell them how to help her.

Disgusted

Anna Blankenheim Tragedies ,

Well, sadly, I’m starting Christmas off with a tragic story. Sometimes I just don’t understand people.

Firefighters responded to the scene of a fire in upstate New York this morning. When they left their vehicles to approach the fire, one or more shooters opened fire, killing two of the firefighters and injuring two others. They continued to shoot at first responders for three hours. In addition to the two lives lost, three homes burned down.

This story absolutely disgusts me. Firefighters and first responders are trained to make sure the that scene is safe before entering – but I honestly don’t see how they could have done anything differently in this situation. The details are still very sketchy around this (Have they caught the person(s)? What was the motive?), but it sounds very much like they were ambushed. I hate that people do awful things like this to our unarmed first responders. I married into a family of firefighters – brave men who head towards danger when the rest of us are running away. I just don’t understand what the motive for this could have been.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those killed and injured today.

Click here for the link to the continuing coverage at CNN.

26 Acts of Kindness

Anna Blankenheim Random Acts of Kindness, Tragedies ,

Today I read a really great article about a response to the Sandy Hook shootings. Earlier this week, Ann Curry wrote an article for NBC News that challenged everyone to do 26 random acts of kindness (#26acts on Twitter):

“Imagine if everyone could commit to doing one act of kindness for every one of those children killed in Newtown.”

What a fantastic idea. I love the thought of something great coming out of something so tragic. So, I’m in. Before December 31st, I will complete 26 acts of kindness. I’ll document them on this blog so that those of you who wish to join me can have some starting ideas.

Here’s the link to the article – I challenge each of you to participate in the 26 Acts of Kindness. Feel free to comment below and share what you’re out there doing!

26 Acts of Kindness For Sandy Hook

Ann Curry’s original article

Unthinkable

Anna Blankenheim Tragedies

This post is so incredibly hard for me to write. On the day that my sister went into labor, a twenty year old man walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and opened fire. He killed twenty children, ages six and seven, along with six adults.

As always with these terrible events, amazing stories of heroism and selflessness emerge. Teacher Victoria Soto died shielding her students with her body. A custodian ran through the halls to make sure the classroom doors were locked from the inside.

What makes me sad coming out of this is that now so many people are focused on changing gun control. Guns did not kill those babies, a man with serious mental issues did. Instead of trying to take guns away, we should be focusing on identifying and helping those with mental problems. People in their right mind don’t just walk out and shoot people in a movie theater, a mall, or a classroom. In fact, that very same day a man in China attacked twenty-two school children with a knife as they arrived for school. If someone wants to do something bad, they’ll find a way, whether it’s with guns, knives, bombs, or their bare hands. Even if we do better screening people before they can buy guns, those who want to get one will do so through other ways such as theft, the black market, etc.

I think the real problem here is our mental health care system. Instead of working on identifying mental health issues and treating them the same way we treat asthma, allergies, cancer, we create a stigma around them. We make it shameful and scary. We call them weird or loners. Our society needs to take a gigantic step forward and start taking a deeper look at mental illness. Instead of focusing on the tools, we need to focus on the actual problem.

I hope that some day we can live in a world where our children are safe at school, where teachers don’t have to sacrifice their lives to keep their classrooms safe. As I held my newborn niece, I thought about those twenty little children whose parents wouldn’t get to hold them that night. I hope our country wakes up and makes some big changes.

A Date Which Will Live In Infamy

Anna Blankenheim Tragedies

Never forget. Words we now associate with September 11th. Yet some sixty years before that horrific day, America suffered another terrible tragedy that should also remain in our hearts and minds.

Today is the 71st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. On the morning of December 7, 1941 the Empire of Japan launched an unannounced two wave attack on the US Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In total, 2,402 American lives were lost and 1,282 were injured. This action directly led to the American entry into World War II.

When I was much younger, I had the opportunity to visit the USS Arizona Memorial. Even as a child, I recognized what a special place it was – the remains of many of its crewmen are still today trapped in the ship below the surface. To this day, air raid signals give me the chills. Some ten years later I got the same feeling when visiting Ground Zero in New York. There’s just something eerie about standing in a place where horrible things like that happened – almost like you can feel the fear, panic, and despair.

USS_Arizona_Memorial
USS Arizona Memorial

Pearl Harbor was the first time in modern history that the American people really felt truly vulnerable, something I think my generation wouldn’t fully understand until September 11, 2001. As overused as the “Never Forget” phrase can be, I think it’s so important for us to do just that – to become complacent and think that nothing bad will happen because we’re America is incredibly dangerous. More importantly, I think it’s so incredibly important to support, remember, and honor those who have fought (or are fighting for) our country.

So, I say, never forget.