Reply to comment
It's Not My Job...
Submitted by Krogenar on Tue, 02/16/2010 - 11:46
Here's a disturbing video taken in a Seattle bus terminal. In the video two teenage girls fight while two 'security' guards stand nearby, completely unperturbed. There's something really, really wrong with these guards.
First off, this isn't much of a battle. One girl is just being completely pummeled by the other, while the guards seem intent on ignoring what's going on. The prevailing defense of this behavior has been that the guards were not trained or required to intervene.
These guards are not trained to intervene, only to 'observe and report.'
Ok, fine, they don't have to detain anybody, but they could break up a fight. How hard is that, really? We're not even talking about two grown men (or boys) in which getting between them could be dangerous for the Samaritan. No, these are teenage girls.
Also, people who walk through the bus terminal who see these 'guards' are under the apparently false impression that they maintain order. Well, that's clearly not true. Fire these guys today and install two concrete pylons with cameras in them. Put uniforms and little caps on the pylons.
It's as though these guards don't realize that being a human being is a part of everyone's job description. If you can stand by and watch another person get kicked in the face and not react at all, then there's something seriously wrong with you.
What I wouldn't give to hear the audio from this clip. The guard on the bottom is probably telling the girl doing the kicking that this is all being videotaped and she should stop. But that's her choice, and he's not going to stop her.
A few months something similar (but with far deadlier consequences) occured in New York City. Two EMTs in a bagel shop refused to help a dying pregnant woman who was in the shop with them. The two EMTs informed the people asking for help that they should call 911 -- they were both 'on break'. The woman died, along with her baby.
From the article, Mayor Bloomberg has it right:
The FDNY said Monday that the two EMTs have been suspended without pay, pending further investigation. When asked if there was a case of burn out in the department, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said their actions were unacceptable no matter what.
"Burn out? They were sitting there having coffee, how can they be burnt out?" said the mayor. "They're human beings. Somebody's dying down the street and they say help them, and they just sat there. There's no excuse whatsoever, as far as I can see. I don't know what kind of burn out you can have."
Take note -- the first instinct of the press and government is offer a failing system more funding, not more accountability. To his credit, Bloomberg cut through the administrative nonsense.
Jeff Samerson, a representative from the EMT and paramedics union said that the EMTs followed protocol.
"[Jackson] called 911. She didn't have an ambulance. She didn't have equipment. She does not work in the field as an active EMT in an ambulance," he said. "She is a dispatcher. She works as an emergency medical dispatcher. [Green] is also a dispatcher. These are people that are not in the field, that have not had patient contact in years. And they did the best they could."
Good thing these two EMTs have a union representative to point out that they followed the letter of the law. Do we need to make acting like a human being a legal requirement?
- Krogenar's blog
- 221 reads
- Quote