Feds to treat wounded Mexican cops

The Associated Press ^ | By Alicia A. Caldwell

[Globalist Goon]

Feds to treat wounded Mexican cops

By Alicia A. Caldwell The Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas — El Paso County officials want the federal government to take over transporting and caring for wounded Mexican police officers seeking treatment in a local public hospital.

County Judge Anthony Cobos pleaded for help Tuesday, four days after two police officers wounded in an ongoing turf war among powerful Mexican drug cartels were brought to the county hospital in El Paso.

The officers' arrival prompted the El Paso County Sheriff's Office to provide tight security to prevent Mexico's violence from spilling into the United States. It is the second time this year deputies have guarded the county hospital, the only Level 1 trauma center for 280 miles.

"This is the responsibility of the federal government," Cobos said after meeting with officials from Homeland Security, the U.S. Army and other agencies. "Don't put the burden on the local community. This is clearly the result of the federal government's policy on the war on drugs."

Cobos said the county doesn't have the money to fund massive security efforts every time a wounded police officer, or anyone else caught up in Mexico's ongoing violence, seeks medical care in the U.S. He also questioned the laws and policies that federal officials have used to allow these wounded officers into the United States.

Lorenzo de la Torre, the assistant police chief in Casas Grandes, and his boss, Juan Etiene, were wounded Thursday and brought to El Paso on Friday. Casas Grandes is about 140 miles south of El Paso.

Mexican officials said last week that de la Torre was gravely wounded while Etiene's hand was injured.

The officers' immigration status was not available Tuesday.

Cobos said he's been told that Etiene was released from the hospital. Details about de la Torre's condition and Etiene's whereabouts were not released Tuesday.

"I believe they may have needed a level of medical attention, but absolutely safety was on their mind," Cobos said.

Hospital officials have said that federal law bars them from refusing treatment in an emergency situation.

Chief Customs and Border Protection Officer Rick Lopez said this week that he could not discuss specific instances of someone arriving at the border in need of medical care. But not everyone seeking care is admitted to the U.S., he said.

"It's not a given that just because you arrive in an ambulance we just open the door," Lopez said. "There's a lot more that just opening the door and saying come on in."

In life or death situations, Lopez said, patients are generally allowed into the country for medical care.

"If the person is gravely injured ... then you have to take into consideration, if they are going to a hospital they aren't going anywhere and may be allowed in," Lopez said.

Lopez did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

El Paso County Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca said his office spent more than $47,000 to secure the hospital for three weeks starting in mid-January when Fernando Lozano Sandoval, a U.S. citizen and commander with the Chihuahua State Investigations Agency, was treated for multiple gunshot wounds after an attack in Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

Apodaca said he did not know how much the latest security detail would cost. His office plans to ask the Mexican federal government to help cover the costs, Apodaca said.

Veronica Escobar, an El Paso county commissioner who sat in on Tuesday's closed-door meeting, said earlier in the day that she worries the city is being used as a safe haven.

"One of the patients who was brought over (Friday) was not a trauma patient and could have been treated anywhere," Escobar said. "There is a pattern emerging where we are seen as a safe haven for injured Mexican officials. That's what the police chief was doing, he was seeking safe haven."

Cobos said one solution could be to transfer patients from Mexico to secure military hospitals or other government-run facilities outside El Paso.

"A community right on the border is not the best place" to treat targets of violent drug cartels, Cobos said.

[Grunthor]

“Feds to treat wounded Mexican cops”

Your tax dollars at work.

[Nitro]

I skimmed and I think...

yes, we help the Mexicans as long as they are helping us.

Next, the Cobos dude has let sh1t go on too long and he should go. Drugs are like oil, they generate so much money.......

no one can give them up.

It might sound stuoid, but.......? How much money would "Hefty Bags" lose if drugs were stopped tomorrow, "baggies", aluminum foil, airplanes, boats and crooked politicians?

[max americana]

I agree. If they help us, we help them.

Unfortunately, our citizens are being kidnapped and killed on THEIR side of the border, so they’d better step up...and I;m not talking about making more burritos.

[Perchant]

His office plans to ask the Mexican federal government to help cover the costs

To "help" cover the costs? What am I missing here?

They are pumping billions of dollars worth of oil but I'm supposed to pay for their injured cops' medical treatment? There isn't a trace of sense to made of that.

[Polybius]

“Feds to treat wounded Mexican cops” Your tax dollars at work.

Let's put the knee jerk reactions aside for a minute to examine the specific situation.

These are Mexican cops that have put their lives on the line to stop the flow of drugs over the border INTO THE U.S. where those drugs would be going up American noses and into American veins and where American addicts will be robbing American families, maybe your family, to get the money to score their drugs.

And you want to deny those men medical care?

Do you hate ALL Mexicans that much?

Even those Mexicans that are risking their lives and shedding their blood to stop the flow of drugs into OUR country?

[KevinJohnson]

“And you want to deny those men medical care”

Complaining about our tax dollars going to take care of Mexican cops has nothing to do with “hating” Mexicans.
No one wants to deny medical care to injured Mexican cops or anyone else..but does it have to be our money and our hospitals that takes care of them?
Does Mexico's federal government not collect taxes in their own country? And don't they have good hospitals out there?
Of course they do

[Nitro]

I agree. If they help us, we help them. Unfortunately, our citizens are being kidnapped and killed on THEIR side of the border, so they’d better step up...and I;m not talking about making more burritos.

Who is being taken and killed? I have heard of the two brave Border Guards that were wrongly jailed,

but I have not heard of Americans being taken and killed.

Fill me in and tell Bill O'Reilly too!!!

[max americana]

Don’t you watch Laurie Dhue cross her legs on Geraldo?

They have segments on this issue, even with pro-illegal Mexican’ Geraldo producing news stories about the kidnappings.

Also google “Americans being kidnapped in Mexico” , and you’ll get lots of info.

[HardStarboard]

>>>Even those Mexicans that are risking their lives and shedding their blood to stop the flow of drugs into OUR country? <<<

My impression, and correct me if I'm wrong here, is that it is virtually impossible to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys....either during or after the fire fight.

You've got two or three drug cartels, the Mexican military, the local police and possibily independent gangs funded by certain politicians vieing for suppremacy in the drug trade.

The few in this bunch that are honest, are most frequently local Police....but it's virtually impossible to single the good guys out...from the bad.

I'm all for good Mexicans...I want them to take over their country. But tell me how we, intelligently, support the good guys and protect America. That's my main concern.

As an aside, a friends daughter lives in San Diego near the border....she's a brave cookie (been to Afghanistan)...but she won't go near Mexico anymore (used to go weekly) and she worries about her neighborhood, 5 miles inland.

[Polybius]

“And you want to deny those men medical care?”

Complaining about our tax dollars going to take care of Mexican cops has nothing to do with “hating” Mexicans. No one wants to deny medical care to injured Mexican cops or anyone else..but does it have to be our money and our hospitals that takes care of them?

By that line of reasoning, why should Mexican cops put their lives on the line or give a rat's ass if drugs are flowing into the U.S. as long as the drugs are flowing out of Mexico?

It does not have to be our money and our hospitals but, as I noted in my post:

"These are Mexican cops that have put their lives on the line to stop the flow of drugs over the border INTO THE U.S. where those drugs would be going up American noses and into American veins and where American addicts will be robbing American families, maybe your family, to get the money to score their drugs."

If you get shot trying to protect my community and my family, I do not have to pay for your hospital bill but it would certainly be a decent thing for me to do so.

As far as our hospitals, the fact is that certain U.S. hospitals have the Level I Trauma Center capabilities that mean the difference between between a wounded cop in post op critical condition that will pull through and a cop that died in the line of duty while in surgery.

[Nitro]

Actually no, I don't I avoid Geraldo with a passion.

Although, I have seen Laurie go sky-diving with the Goldxen Knights......

I must sky-dive before I die.

I am sure my sister will help she gets my meager money.

[antceecee]

I agree with you. If these officers are in the line of fire in trying to keep drugs off of our streets, we should help them... BUT... we should also demand the Mexican government reimburse the US for the costs.

[singfreedom]

I think they are asking the wrong Federal government for help. It should be the Mexican government that takes care of these folks.

It should be the Mexican government that takes care of ALL their folks. That includes keeping them safe from drug cartels.

[Grunthor]

They don’t have hospitals in Mexico?

[KevinJohnson]

“These are Mexican cops that have put their lives on the line to stop the flow of drugs over the border INTO THE U.S”

Mexican cops put their lives on the line for the U.S.?
Give me a break!
These are Mexican cops doing the jobs they are being PAID to do.
That's like saying I should get special free medical care from the US Government just because my job places me in some danger, and it involves protecting Americans.
Another thing, drug dealers have been murdering thousands of people in Mexico, Columbia and every country where there is a serious problem from drug dealers, far, far from the American border. I even remember a Mexican Catholic Cardinal that was murdered in cold blood by Mexican drug dealers about 10 years back. So its not so much that the Mexican cops are placing their lives on the line for Americans, they are doing it to protect their own citizens from being murdered by these vermin.

[Polybius]

Mexican cops put their lives on the line for the U.S.? Give me a break! These are Mexican cops doing the jobs they are being PAID to do.

Do you really think that people risk their lives solely for that kind of money?

If those cops wanted to make money, serious money, they would be working to smuggle drugs right into your kid's school.

That's like saying I should get special free medical care from the US Government just because my job places me in some danger, and it involves protecting Americans.

Actually, even if you were injured while out on the ocean cathching crabs or just getting drunk, a U.S. Government SAR helicoper with a U.S. Coast Guard or a U.S. Navy crew would be saving your butt free of charge.

Humanitarian Service. Just one of the things that the U.S. Government does, free of charge, when it puts human lives above bean counting.

[OKIEDOC]

Yes, Juarez has several but one Centro Medico that Doc and I used during an emergency was adequate.

However, Centro Medico hospital makes the patients pay so those who can not pay come across the border to Thomason Hospital for free care.

[KevinJohnson]

“Do you really think that people risk their lives solely for that kind of mone?”

What the heck you talking about?
Hundreds of thousands of America soldiers have risked their lives in Iraq. Millions have risked their lives to fight in wars to make this country what it is today.
Today, tens of thousands of NYPD cops risk their lives every day. Same with the NYFD firemen, hundreds of whom dies on 9/11.
These guys know the risks involved when they take their jobs. Its still a job tho, and they do it and get paid for it like any other job. They don't demand and are not given special treatment just because they got injured in the perusal of their duties, let alone go to another country (Europe for example), or in this case to Mexico, and demand that Mexican hospitals treat them for free, even though they are not Mexican citizens, which is what these Mexican cops are doing in this country.
Its the business of the Mexican government to treat their own injured cops.
Mexicans cops(a lot of whom are on cahoots with drug dealers) are shot by drug dealers all the time, far from the US border. Its an indication of the abject corruption of Mexico. Let them go get treatment in their own hospitals, and stop being leeches on American health care.

[KevinJohnson]

“Actually, even if you were injured while out on the ocean cathching crabs or just getting drunk, a U.S. Government SAR helicoper with a U.S. Coast Guard or a U.S. Navy crew would be saving your butt free of charge”

When NYPD officers officers get injured in the line of duty, they get treated as part of the medical insurance provided by the NYPD. They don't get some free medical treatment provided by the federal government. More than that, they don't go crying to to Mexico, a foreign country, and demand that Mexicans provide health care free of care charge, just because they guy that shot them was Mexican(and there have been plenty of Americans cops that have been shot by Mexican illegals).

[buck jarret]

El Paso basically is Mexico.

[Polybius]

“Actually, even if you were injured while out on the ocean catching crabs or just getting drunk, a U.S. Government SAR helicopter with a U.S. Coast Guard or a U.S. Navy crew would be saving your butt free of charge”

When NYPD officers officers get injured in the line of duty, they get treated as part of the medical insurance provided by the NYPD. They don't get some free medical treatment provided by the federal government.

And, if that NYPD officer is on vacation in Puerto Rico SCUBA diving, he gets the bends and, for whatever reason, the decompression chamber at Roosevelt Roads is down, he would get flown to Guantanamo where a Navy medical officer would treat him as a public service.

I treated three such divers while stationed at Guantanamo.

Can't ever recall mailing out a bill.

More than that, they don't go crying to to Mexico, a foreign country, and demand that Mexicans provide health care free of care charge,

Who is "demanding" anything?

When a patient is critically injured, you medevac them to the nearest Level I Trauma Center after stabilization. Along a stretch of highway along the Canadian border, that might mean that the critically injured patient ends up in a Canadian hospital rather than a U.S. hospital because of the distances involved.

You save the life first and then you count the beans later.

[KevinJohnson]

“And, if that NYPD officer is on vacation in Puerto Rico SCUBA diving, he gets the bends ..”

These Mexican cops were not on vacation anywhere. They got injured in Mexico, and decided to come leech on American medical services, instead of using their own country’s medical services.
Don't keep making analogies that have nothing to do with this case.

[iopscusa]

Are you crazy, the U.S. Government does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FREE of charge, don’t buy into that idiot refrain that anything is FREE. It’s not even affordable in most cases!

[Grunthor]

“come across the border to Thomason Hospital for free care.”

No such thing as “free care,” someone is paying.

[Grunthor]

“El Paso basically is Mexico.”

Surrendered without a shot being fired.

[Tammy8]

My impression, and correct me if I'm wrong here, is that it is virtually impossible to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys....either during or after the fire fight.

You are absolutely correct. Corruption is such a way of life in Mexico that it is impossible to tell the good guys from the bad, I am not just saying this- I have had U.S. Federal LEOs tell me this since this drug war broke out. They can't tell- sometimes they have intel that helps them sort it out- but they will tell you they cannot be certain. When a Mexican LEO is shot- he may have been shot because he was doing his job going after drug cartel members- or he may be involved himself and rival or even his own drug cartel group may be after him for whatever reason.

[Polybius]

Are you crazy, the U.S. Government does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FREE of charge, don’t buy into that idiot refrain that anything is FREE. It’s not even affordable in most cases!

Ummm .... Let's not be so concrete in speech that you can build Hoover Dam out of your words.

In standard American English, "free of CHARGE" means ..... "without charge to the recipient of the service or product".

In the year 2001, the U.S. Coast Guard was involved in the rescue or attempted rescue of 39,486 individual, both American and foreign.

That service was provided "free of CHARGE" meaning ..... "without charge to the recipient of the service".

free of charge ... adjective (-, pos=free of charge) ... Not requiring any payment. ... Buy two and pay for just one " the other is . ... Translations: ... French: m(fr, gratuit, m}}, f(fr, gratuite), t+, fr, gratis)f ... Italian: m(it, gratuito, m, f(it, gratuita), {{t+, it, gratis)f ... adverb (-, pos=free of charge) ... Without any payment being required. ... They were giving the tickets away .

[Tammy8]

I am against this for several reasons. First of all they need to be treated in Mexican hospitals- if their hospitals are not good enough or secure enough then the Mexican people need to change that.

Our military medical facilities are all understaffed right now due to those deployed. To me every extra person treated at military facilities is taking away from the care of active duty military, their families, and retirees- which is who the system is set up for to begin with.

There is no way to tell the good guys from the bad guys- the Mexican LEO may very well be dirty himself and we sure don’t need to take on the care of the bad guys in any case. I don’t know if many of you are aware of it- but the drug smuggler (victim??) involved in Border Patrol agents Campeon and Ramos’ case was treated at William Beaumont Army Medical Center on Fort Bliss. I was and still am furious about that. My husband gets treatment there as a medical retiree and they get a lot of wounded from Iraq and of course provide normal medical care for military. I think NONE of their resources should be used for a citizen of another country. Period!!

[Tammy8]

They are pumping billions of dollars worth of oil but I'm supposed to pay for their injured cops' medical treatment? There isn't a trace of sense to made of that.

Exactly! Mexico is not some poverty stricken third world country- most of the people there are- but the country itself is very rich in natural resources and there is no reason they need money from us.

[Gay State Conservative]

“Feds to treat wounded Mexican cops” Your tax dollars at work.

I'm not sure I have a problem with this for one reason....there may be times when one of *our* cops needs urgent treatment and a Mexican hospital is the best place for him to go under the circumstances (yes,it could happen) and we wouldn't want that cop turned away by the hospital in question.

[Tammy8]

First you have to ignore the media reports that the violence in Mexico is due to the government cracking down on the drug cartels. The real story is much more complicated. Drug cartels have openly operated in Mexico for many, many years and money filtered up the chain of government from the drug trade all the way to the top. What I hear from Mexicans in the know is that the drug cartels decided they were so powerful they did not need to pay in order to do business. The Mexican government has lost control of the cartels and most of the violence is due to cartels fighting for turf- and the Mexican government trying to regain control- but don’t make the mistake of thinking they are doing it to help us. I won’t swallow that at all- I think if the Mexican government regains control it will not stop or even slow drug traffic- they will be back to business as usual.

[Grunthor]

(yes,it could happen)

Highly unlikely.

[OKIEDOC]

Gee Whiz....I didn't know that.

Speaking with some of these Mexican nationals and it doesn’t take long to figure out that most of the 3 million folks who live in Juarez knows the best medical care in the world is free to them if they can only get across the border.

As for someone paying, that would be United States tax payers consisting of but not limited to, you and me, my current children and grand children and many future generations to come.

[Grunthor]

You ever feel like this nation is a beautifully bred show dog...in dire need of a flea and tick bath?

[VOA]

...but I have not heard of Americans being taken and killed.

It's "Mission Impossible" to keep up with all the news during
these days of news from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, etc.
As for "taken" (kidnapped)...
I'd guess I've seen at least a couple of shows on "America's
Most Wanted" about American residents being kidnapped for ransom
during visits just across the border in Mexico.

IIRC, on one episode, one kidnapping group was holding multiple
(six or seven?) hostages in one house when the Mexican authorities
got a tip and freed the hostages.

Speaking just for myself...
I'd think twice about a visit to Mexico; at least in the border regions.

As for hostages being killed...I don't know if that was specifically
discussed on AMW. But then they didn't discuss hostages being
released if the ransom went unpaid either.

[Tammy8]

Do you hate ALL Mexicans that much?

You have bought into the media stories too much- if we don't want to take care of citizens of another country; in facilities that are for our military and are understaffed due to the fact that we are at war- when we have no way of knowing if the said patients are good guys or bad guys-at the expense of our taxpayers- that means we hate Mexicans? Not hardly.

[Polybius]

“And, if that NYPD officer is on vacation in Puerto Rico SCUBA diving, he gets the bends ..”

These Mexican cops were not on vacation anywhere. They got injured in Mexico, and decided to come leech on American medical services, instead of using their own country’s medical services. Don't keep making analogies that have nothing to do with this case.

I defer to your superior medical education, knowledge and vast amount of trauma experience. < / sarcasm>

Earth to Kevin Johnson! When a patient has suffered a life threatening trauma and is critically injured, he is evacuated to the NEAREST and BEST facility available within the TIME CONSTRAINTS of his physical condition.

You do not stop to ask if he has insurance or if he is on the job or on vacation or even if he is drunk and crashed his car because he is an idiot or if the crash happened on the U.S. side or the Canadian side of the border. You do what it takes to SAVE HIS LIFE and you count your f***ing beans later.

The medical facilities at U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo were not the Mayo Clinic but those divers were medically evacuated to us from Puerto Rico because, with the only decompression chamber in Puerto Rico down, we were the BEST and the NEAREST facility within the TIME CONSTRAINTS of their physical condition.

That is why those divers in Puerto Rico came to us instead of being flown to the decompression chambers in Miami that were too far away to do any good before the patients died or suffered irreversibly damage.

Maybe concepts such as the meaning of "Level 1 Trauma Center" and the meaning of The Golden Hour are beyond your ability to comprehend but they are the reasons why a critically injured motor vehicle accident victim that crashed two miles from your local, small, suburban hospital might be evacuated by helicopter from the highway of the scene of the crash directly to the Level I Trauma Center 30 miles away in the neighboring county or, if you live near the state line, maybe in a neighboring state.

[Tammy8]

Do a google searches on US citizens missing/kidnapped/killed Mexico. Next go to the State Department website and read the warnings concerning travel to Mexico.

[Perchant]

I’m sure you have a handy reason for why I should pay for the medical treatment given to a Mexican drug dealer who sneaks into the US and ends up in a hospital as well.

If some US criminal wants to sneak into Mexico to ply his trade and injures a US cop on the way, are you saying we should send the cop to Mexico to be treated at the expense of Mexico? That is some interesting reasoning you got there.

[Tammy8]

Your arguement of them needing a Level 1 Trauma Center won’t fly in discussing this article. The Mexican LEOs have been being treated at Thomason Hospital in El Paso which is a Level 1 Trauma hospital—BUT this article is about a judge requesting that they be treated at US Military Medical facilities; in El Paso that would be William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Ft Bliss- which in your scenerio of them needing the closest Level 1 Trauma hospital not relevant.

As it is right now and as it has been for many years- Mexican citizens in Mexico that need a Level 1 Trauma Hospital are brought to Thomason in El Paso, usually by life flight- whether they are wounded LEO, car wreck victims- difficult labor- you name it. This has been the case already and likely will remain the case. I personally object to providing treatment for any Mexican citizen at our Military medical facilities- especially now when they are understaffed to begin with.

[OKIEDOC]

Very well put and I agree.

On another pressing front:

I do not fathom the thought of four years of John McCain but just one month of Obama as president scares the hell out of me.

If Obama gets elected illegals will be the least of our many problems to come.

OK airheads and Plantation Voters, when the messiah passes please refrain from yelling “I Be Obamatized”

[Polybius]

Do you hate ALL Mexicans that much?

You have bought into the media stories too much- if we don't want to take care of citizens of another country; in facilities that are for our military and are understaffed due to the fact that we are at war- when we have no way of knowing if the said patients are good guys or bad guys-at the expense of our taxpayers- that means we hate Mexicans? Not hardly.

If they are cops that supposedly got shot trying to stop the flow of drugs INTO the U.S., don't you think that they deserve to be given the benefit of the doubt instead of being sentenced to death because of the lack of a Level 1 Trauma Center on their side of the border?

Do you comprehend what the concept of an "ally" is?

If I were in charge of the Police in Country X, if Country Y had a huge appetite for drugs, if my men were being shot trying to stop the flow of drugs into Country Y and if the position of County Y were that Country Y was perfectly willing to let my men die without Level 1 Trauma care because they ..... repeat all your arguments ..... do you know what I would do?

I would pull back my men and tell them to leave the drug smugglers alone. The drug appetite of Country Y is Country Y's problem, not our problem and, with the attitude of Country Y, they are simply not worth risking our lives for.

"May I see your license. What do you have in the back of your truck and where are you taking it?"

"I have 100 kilos of heroin and I am taking it to the border to smuggle it into Country Y."

"Okay. But, don't you dare leave a single gram of that crap on this side of the border."

"No, Sir!"

"You're free to go. Have a nice day."

[Tammy8]

Do you comprehend what the concept of an "ally" is?

Yes I do understand that concept- Mexico does not qualify as our ally.

[Polybius]

Your arguement of them needing a Level 1 Trauma Center won’t fly in discussing this article. The Mexican LEOs have been being treated at Thomason Hospital in El Paso which is a Level 1 Trauma hospital—BUT this article is about a judge requesting that they be treated at US Military Medical facilities; in El Paso that would be William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Ft Bliss- which in your scenerio of them needing the closest Level 1 Trauma hospital not relevant.

What that Judge is doing is counting beans himself.

He is less worried about treating the patients than he is worried about which pot the bean is coming from.

Once, while in Guantanamo, I needed to medevac a sailor to a medical center in Miami because he needed eye surgery within the next 48 hours for a metal sliver that had penetrated his eyeball while grinding.

When I asked the duty Medical Service Corps officer to arrange the transport, he said it would take 24 hours for a U.S. Air Force Nightingale to fly from some Air Force Base near the Canadian border to U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to transport one single sailor.

This is an Air Force Nightingale. It's a frigging DC-9!

When I asked him to explain why he was requesting that a DC-9 fly from near the Canadian border to Cuba to pick up one sailor in perfectly stable condition when we had small shuttle aircraft on base, he said, with a straight face, that he was doing it to save money.

If the sailor was flown out on the small shuttle aircraft on base, it would come out of his budget pot. If he made the Air Force spend a ton of money by using the Nightingale, it would come out of the Air Force budget pot.

After noticing that I had more stripes on my shoulder-boards than he did and after a loud lecture about wasting taxpayer's money the sailor flew out the same day on a base plane.

I personally object to providing treatment for any Mexican citizen at our Military medical facilities- especially now when they are understaffed to begin with.

Once you get past the issues of "budget pots", common sense should kick in.

If it is just a matter of money, then the Feds can simply reimburse the civilian Trauma Center and the Feds can then work out the bean counting with the Mexican Government.

As far as the Level 1 Trauma issue, you have to examine the situation at that particular Army Medical Center.

Just because we are at war does not mean that the surgeons at that Army Hospital are getting any acute trauma surgery experience to keep up their acute trauma surgery skills.

All those soldiers being shot are being given initial Level 1 Care in military facilities in Iraq. By the time they get back to CONUS, they are in absolutely stable condition.

For military hospitals, one problem with trauma surgery training is that military personnel don't go around shooting each other up every night of the week.

I would routinely see more acute gunshot wounds and stabbings in one night as a medical student on Trauma Surgery at our inner city university teaching hospital than I saw in an entire year in my entire internship at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. In fact, while at Bethesda, I can't recall EVER seeing an acute gunshot wound or stabbing. Ever. Not a single one. For our surgery residents, it was like trying to train for combat surgery in Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

In fact, when our Navy surgery residents needed "Knife and Gun Club" experience, the Navy actually had to send them away to do rotations for months at a time in CIVILIAN hospitals.

It may very well be that the surgeons at this Army Hospital are starving for acute trauma surgery experience to keep up their trauma skills. They aren't being over-utilized. The long term care nursing staff may be very over-utilized but the OR nursing staff may also be starving for acute trauma experience.

If that is the case, all other side issues tabled, it would be a win/win situation for those gunshot wounds to be treated at that Army hospital and then have the patients transfered to another facility as soon as they are stabilized and need long term post op care.

[Polybius]

Do you comprehend what the concept of an "ally" is?

Yes I do understand that concept- Mexico does not qualify as our ally.

If you feel that way, then those particular Mexican cops should save their blood and not waste it trying to keep the drugs out of our country.

[Tammy8]

I do feel that Mexico is not an ally- for one thing look at UN votes and see how often they vote against our interests. For another thing- I was working at a US Port of Entry on 9/11 and I can tell you NO Mexican I talked to showed any concern- other than they did not want to be delayed by our new policies. In the days and weeks after 9/11 I heard several Mexicans voice the idea that we somehow deserved to be attacked on 9/11- no show of concern, sympathy or care on the part of a single person I came in contact with other than their frustration at our higher level of security that was slowing them down in crossing.

Mexico is only our friend when they want something from us; what my mother would call a fair weather friend- not what I would call an ally.

The fact that Mexican LEOs are getting shot right now has nothing whatsoever to do with helping the US or protecting our interests- or even trying to keep drugs out of our country. Mexico could care less about us, or what we want- theor only interest in us is what they can get, what we can do for them. What is going on in Mexico is a problem that is brewing internally in Mexico, and has been building up for years. I posted three or four years ago here on FR that the Mexican government was losing control of the drug cartels and Mexico would be like Colombia was a few years back. Few believed me- but my predictions are coming true.

If you really believe Mexico is a friend and ally to the US and Mexican LEOs are being shot for the good of this country, in any way- then I have a bridge or two to sell you.

[Tammy8]

WBAMC is not asking for trauma patients to practice on- this lame judge is trying to figure out how to dump them on WBAMC. WBAMC is understaffed due to deployments and often has to close their ER early in the evenings and send patients to Thomason Hospital for treatment- active duty, families of active duty- that WBAMC is set up to take care of. Many of WBAMC patients are sent to civilian facilities for treatment because they are understaffed- they do NOT need more patients.

You are seriously out of touch with what is happening on the border and the situation at our military hospitals right now.

[Polybius]

WBAMC is not asking for trauma patients to practice on- this lame judge is trying to figure out how to dump them on WBAMC.

I said that the Judge was counting beans. Didn't I?

My posts talked about the availability of Trauma Level 1 Centers in the U.S. By your description below, that particular military hospital does not qualify as a Trauma Level 1 Center. If it once did, it no longer does. By your definition, it no longer even qualifies to be an "Doc in the Box" Walk In Clinic next to the local shopping mall.

WBAMC is understaffed due to deployments and often has to close their ER early in the evenings and send patients to Thomason Hospital for treatment- active duty, families of active duty- that WBAMC is set up to take care of. Many of WBAMC patients are sent to civilian facilities for treatment because they are understaffed- they do NOT need more patients.

Actually, military hospitals are set up to treat active duty and to train their medical personnel to support the combat mission. Dependents are strictly on an availability basis. That is why CHAMPUS and TriCare were established even in peacetime. As the saying went, "If the Navy or the Marine Corps had wanted you to have a wife and kids, it would have issued them to you".

You are seriously out of touch with what is happening on the border and the situation at our military hospitals right now.

Trauma surgical cases are trauma surgical cases. Whether the ER is filled to the rafters with the runny noses and the appendicitis cases of a young, well behaved dependent population does not change the fact that, if a surgeon does not do trauma surgery for months at a time, he will not keep up his trauma skill by taking out gallbladders in 33 year old dependent wives.

Whether or not the surgeons, the OR nurses and the OR medics at that particular military hospital or any other military hospital are keeping up their trauma skills is not a matter that either you nor I can determine. Only the surgeons at that particular hospital can make that determination.

From the way you describe the hospital, it is now a hospital in name only or it has been converted from a hospital capable of handling acute cases to a rehabilitation and convalescent hospital that is not capable of handling acute cases, no matter who the patients are.

[KevinJohnson]

“When a patient has suffered a life threatening trauma and is critically injured, he is evacuated to the NEAREST and BEST facility available within the TIME CONSTRAINTS of his physical condition”

oh puleeze.
We have plenty of foreigners come to New York to get cutting edge, superior medical treatment. Only difference is, they actually PAY for it.
I repeat, its not our business to priovide medical treatment for a bunch of Mexican cops. These Mexican cops regularly get shot up by Mexican drug dealers, because a lot of those cops are partners in crime of the drug dealers themslves. Mexicans have been murdering themselves for as long as I remember. Does it mean we should cripple our medical facilities in this country to treat these people? Especially since millions of American's don't even have health insurance, and don't get even the most basic medical care, even while paying taxes in this country?
Why the heck should our tax dollars give medical care to Mexicans cops whpo pay taxes in Mexico, when our own poorer folks can't it, even tho they pay taxes in thos country?
Take your LaRaza nonsense elsewhere.