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Quebec Has Helicopters for Pepe Le Pew But Not Emergency Patients
American Spectator ^ | April 10, 2009 | Matthew Vadum

Posted on 04/10/2009 11:14:02 AM PDT by vadum

(Admin: this is breaking news. I just discovered it and published it. Please do not move this. Thanks.)

Further to Philip Klein's post, authorities in the province of Quebec, Canada, seem to care more about the well-being of skunks and power lines than the well-being of patients with life-threatening health concerns.

In a sense Pepe Le Pew gets better healthcare from the goverment of Quebec, Canada, than Quebec residents receive. Pepe has professionals airdropping him medicine from helicopters while human Quebeckers don't even have access to a medical helicopter system.

Quebec's natural resources ministry uses a helicopter fleet to drop bait containing rabies vaccine in an effort to keep its skunks, raccoons, and foxes healthy.

Government-owned Hydro Quebec (or Hydro-Québec, as it's spelled in la belle province), Canada's largest electric utility, uses a helicopter fleet provided by a company called Héli-inter.

After the recent tragic death of actress Natasha Richardson, who suffered a traumatic brain injury (epidural hematoma) while skiing at Mont Tremblant resort, Quebec is reportedly only now thinking about acquiring medical evacuation helicopters.

Canada's sclerotic, dysfunctional universal healthcare system stinks.

God help us if it spreads to America.

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: bloggersandpersonal; healthcare; pepelepew; socialism

1 posted on 04/10/2009 11:14:03 AM PDT by vadum
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To: vadum

Since Iran is going to become a nuk-lee-yur power...That’s much more important than some old Canadian!/s


2 posted on 04/10/2009 11:17:29 AM PDT by Dallas59 ("You know the one with the big ears? He might be yours, but he ain't my president.")
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To: vadum
"Por Moi??"

Photobucket

3 posted on 04/10/2009 11:17:35 AM PDT by SkyDancer ('Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not..' ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: SkyDancer
He is a French skunk - its unthinkable to not give him the best care. Zut alors!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

4 posted on 04/10/2009 11:31:44 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop

Quebec - c’est la France Canadien .....


5 posted on 04/10/2009 11:36:14 AM PDT by SkyDancer ('Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not..' ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: vadum; fanfan

bump & a Natasha Richardson didn’t die for nothing ping


6 posted on 04/10/2009 1:17:03 PM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: neverdem; GMMAC; Clive; exg; kanawa; backhoe; -YYZ-; Former Proud Canadian; Squawk 8888; ...
Thanks for the ping, Neverdem.

The Government bureaucrats always have their priorities straight, eh?


7 posted on 04/10/2009 1:48:21 PM PDT by fanfan (God, Bless America, please.)
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To: vadum
Quebec's natural resources ministry uses a helicopter fleet to drop bait containing rabies vaccine in an effort to keep its skunks, raccoons, and foxes healthy.

The writer must be a city boy. Obviously oblivious to the risk of rabies in rural and suburban areas.

8 posted on 04/10/2009 2:13:45 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: PAR35

The writer must be a city boy?

The way he’s leaping around he’s a frog. Or flippin’ toad.


9 posted on 04/10/2009 3:33:30 PM PDT by Snowyman
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To: vadum

Good catch.

Quebec HAS a private air ambulance service, AirMedic.

http://www.airmedic.net/

The socialist health care tyrants forbid/discourage its use, however.


10 posted on 04/11/2009 1:09:11 AM PDT by FormerACLUmember (Chains you can believe in)
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To: vadum
Third World healthcare Quebec's miniscule private med-evac service:


11 posted on 04/11/2009 1:13:27 AM PDT by FormerACLUmember (Chains you can believe in)
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To: FormerACLUmember

How long does it take to install the rotors?


12 posted on 04/11/2009 3:51:36 AM PDT by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: PAR35
The writer must be a city boy. Obviously oblivious to the risk of rabies in rural and suburban areas.

No kidding. Rabies is a stunningly horrible disease, which has no cure and 99.999% mortality within DAYS if not treated before symptoms appear.

13 posted on 04/11/2009 6:10:42 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: Snowyman; mvpel; vadum

I notice from a quick glance at his history that he has a ‘hit and run’ posting style - doesn’t stick around for the discussion.

I’ve seen trolls that have been more capable than vadum in defending their silly ideas.


14 posted on 04/11/2009 7:40:45 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: raybbr
How long does it take to install the rotors?

No Rotors. Its Socialist Managed Care!


15 posted on 04/11/2009 7:51:27 AM PDT by FormerACLUmember (Chains you can believe in)
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To: vadum

This was an outstanding post. Ignore the well documented REAL trolls, who are socialized medicine advocates.


16 posted on 04/11/2009 7:55:23 AM PDT by FormerACLUmember (Chains you can believe in)
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To: PAR35
Yeah I know facts hurt....

From Montreal Gazette.com

"The whole air ambulance thing is a red herring ,

1- In no place is the Helicopters at every hospital, they are located at the trauma centers and fly out when needed. The best systems like Baltimore have cross trained and equipped the State police as Paramedics and use traffic helicopters as well as dedicated units for patient transport. So lets say the doctor decides to transfer the patient to Montreal ... the call goes in and the helicopter has to fly both ways, not one way....

. 2- In places with medvac capacity about the only patients who are picked up anywhere but at an intermediate hospital are massive poly trauma cases ( think gunshots, or bad car accident), In other cases, including this the patient goes to the local hospital where the decision is made to transfer or not.

3)- Helicopters and crews (unlike on TV) do not just run out and fly off into the wild blue yonder, or sit in the helicopter with the engine idleing and hot waiting for a call. There are things called checklists to be done, then the helicopter has to start up, time be given for the engine to warm up and stabilize and air control clearance be obtained .

4) Mont Tremblant hospital to Sacre Couer is only 116 Km (72 Miles) and the run is down a 4 lane express way. Say this is considered a real emergency, the ambulance can maintain easily 120Km/h easily (75 Miles per Hour)

5) A Daulphin 2 ( which is a model of Air Ambulance helicopter that was once proposed for Quebec and is a popular model that is safe to use in this type of service ( Twin engine and full IFR which are required for night flight and a shielded tail rotor for safety) can fly at a Maximum speed of 300 Km per hour Lets Compare Ambulance 1 hour and probably less as most drivers would have leaned even harder on the gas. (don't forget unlike the Helicopter the Ambulance is making a one way trip , since it was already in Mont Tremblant, and was probably in the Emergency Parking, as the local Doctor would have told them to wait with the patient on their stretcher while he called and got clearance to transfer, (Assuming that he was competent enough to realize what was going on) Helicopter 2 to 3 minutes for the crew to dress and run out to the chopper, Start up and ATC clearance 5 to 10 minutes, fly there 22 Minutes , overfly the Landing pad, verify all is clear, land and load the patient Minimum 5 Minutes (more likely 10 to 15) . Fly back 22 Minutes Land 3 Minutes (we assume a dedicated heliport and the pilot is familiar with it) So taking all the minimums we come up with 3 + 5 + 22 + 5 + 22 + 3 = 60 Minutes HUH the Ground Ambulance was just as fast as an helicopter !!!!!

Trying to lay a guilt trip on the medical staff or the ambulance crews is just as wrong in my opinion. I was an EMT-P who was certified as a paramedic in the US and worked in the Montreal EMS system for many years, and Have flown as an observer on Medvac flights down south as you may have guessed form the above."

Kay Davis March 21, 2009 - 11:09 AM

17 posted on 04/11/2009 10:17:56 AM PDT by Snowyman
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To: Snowyman
My brother in law worked as a nurse in the small town of Lemmon S.D. It was quicker to take a patient on a two and a half hour trip by ambulance to Bismarck N.D. then to wait on a life flight.
18 posted on 04/11/2009 10:59:46 AM PDT by BBell
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To: BBell

As unfortunate as this accident was there seems to be great reluctance to acknowledge the fact that she refused to wear a helmet and chose to not seek medical help , which was available and offered , for almost 2 and a half hour after falling . Exercising her right to make those choices does not negate her own responsibility for the consequences . The liberals amongst us would have us believe otherwise.


19 posted on 04/11/2009 11:23:56 AM PDT by Snowyman
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To: Snowyman

I happened to be out from town today when I got caught up in a traffic jam when the rural 5 lane highway (2 each direction, plus a center turn) was blocked off for a evac by copter. It had to be going to a burn center or the major regional trauma center, since there were a lot of hospitals with good emergency rooms closer to the site. Non rush hour, weekend morning, dry and clear. Per Google, it was 37 miles, 44 minutes at normal driving speed (with hard driving, it could probably be done in about 30 minutes under current conditions) Now, the copter was a good 10 minutes behind the ambulance. No way it’s going to get there any faster.


20 posted on 04/11/2009 2:55:08 PM PDT by PAR35
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