Pittsburgh Snow Task Force Needs You

One of the greatest fears of anti-health care reform folks is that Doctor's will no longer be paid an exorbitant salary and we will lose great doctors who they presume are only in it for the money. (As an aside, this argument is bogus based on the fact that we have thousands of incredible teachers working throughout this country at sub-par pay.)

According to acting paramedic crew chief Josie Dimon, those pay cuts are already in effect.

"He ain't (expletive) comin' down, and I ain't waitin' all day for him," she [Ms. Dimon] told a colleague, crew chief Kim Long, at the dispatch center. "I mean, what the (expletive), this ain't no cab service."

Is she under the impression that ambulances are cheaper than taxis? For anyone who's ever ridden in an ambulance and paid for it out of pocket, if they had the choice, they would have much preferred to pay the taxi bill. Through Ms Dimon's and her colleagues lack of effort, Curtis Mitchell died on Sunday February 7. This is the worst example of the tragedy of the city's handling of the February snow storms. But it is not the only example. If you have more examples, please contribute to the snow task force site.

Ms Dimon is facing a 5-day unpaid suspension. Some of her colleagues are facing a 3-day unpaid suspension. City paramedics consider themselves scapegoats in this scenario. So tell your snow stories, and let's see some more deserved punishment spread out through other city departments. Pittsburgh deserves better.