"Every Year, The Rulebooks Get Thicker"
We have become a land of way too much government and way too many laws and rules. Philip K. Howard writes at The Daily Beast that regulations are strangling Good Samaritans, making it harder to do the right thing:
In January 2014, a lifelong District of Columbia parks employee, Medric Mills, collapsed while walking with his grown daughter. They were across the street from a fire station, close enough for his daughter to yell for help. Mills was lying on the sidewalk, dying, right in front of people trained to save him. But they refused to cross the street to help because, they told bystanders, the rules required them instead to call 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, over 10 minutes later, it was too late--Mills died soon after arriving at the hospital.This is how many public safety officers are trained nowadays. In 2011, firemen in Alameda County refused to rescue a suicidal man who had swum out to sea because they hadn't yet been re-certified for "land-based water rescues." Therefore, they explained to passers-by, it would be illegal for them to try to save the man's life. Later that day, when the fire chief was asked by a reporter what he would have done if it had been a drowning child, he said, "Well, if I was off duty I would know what I would do, but I think you're asking me my on-duty response and I would have to stay within our policies and procedures because that's what's required by our department to do."
Law is essential to freedom because it safeguards citizens against misconduct and abuse. By drawing boundaries against wrongful conduct, law provides a protective zone of freedom within those boundaries. Companies can't pollute; businesses can't cheat; people must honor contracts. On this open field of freedom, people can act spontaneously without undue defensiveness
Modern law goes a giant step backwards--it often bars people from doing what's right. Law's proper role is now seen as instructing people how to make daily choices. Instead of providing the framework for freedom, law has replaced it, creating a legal minefield rather than an open field for free choice.
We see it every day. Teachers are told never to put an arm around a crying child. Principals are required to suspend students who did nothing wrong, such as the seventh-grader who had "possession" of a pill for one second before immediately rejecting the supposed gift. Employers don't give job recommendations. Children are barred from playing tag. Doctors are prohibited from doing what a patient needs by rigid practice guidelines. Social workers can't rescue a child from a dangerous home because of mandatory waiting times. Workers escaping the Deepwater Horizon explosion couldn't cut loose the lifeboat and nearly died because of a rule that prohibited them from carrying a knife.
We need a Department of Repeal, and we need to start complaining about idiocies like these above and demanding our freedom and freedom of choice back.
via @overlawyered
Any resuscitation is good resuscitation is what I was taught recently. Break their ribs? They're not breathing! Just keep going.
On the other hand, I was also taught to kick the soles of the feet of someone lying in the street in case they were shamming.
I worked on the same project as (I didn't know him) a guy who fell into a small excavation, about 2 metres deep, got trapped by debris, and drowned in the small amount of water in the bottom. There were lots of people round who could have chucked him a rope or jumped in after him and dragged him out with the numerous pieces of construction machinery around. But no. Too dangerous. What if he got a back injury? Doesn't matter now, he's dead.
Ltw at January 20, 2015 4:49 AM
"Any resuscitation is good resuscitation"
Absolutely. You can heal from a broken rib. Being dead -- not so much.
Amy Alkon at January 20, 2015 5:17 AM
The Instapundit had a slightly different idea. Instead of a mere "Department of Repeal" he suggested a separate and equal branch of government to retire and prune away outdated legislation.
I'd go for that.
Joe at January 20, 2015 8:25 AM
For every law passed, five should be removed from the books.
Janet C at January 20, 2015 8:58 AM
The way this works in real states is that the crew gets on the radio and requests a dispatch for a walk in. It's pretty basic stuff.
ParatrooperJJ at January 20, 2015 9:00 AM
The next step in becoming a banana republic is endemic graft paid to government functionaries to get around silly regulations. Also underground markets to avoid excessive taxation and regulation.
Washington state is discovering that legalizing marijuana has not eliminated the black market because of excessive taxation on legal marijuana. I geuss decades of moonshining to avoid taxes on alcohol never occurred to them.
Are we still a constitutional republic? I really wonder at times.
Bill O Rights at January 20, 2015 12:22 PM
How about a Constitutional Amendment mandating that, for 100 years after its ratification, Congress cannot make any new laws but is restricted to repealing existing ones.
That's fair. They've been screwing it up for 300 years.
parabarbarian at January 20, 2015 12:37 PM
On reflection, it's becoming clear that the problem isn't just too many laws. There are also too may regulations and regulatory agencies.
We should start the improvement process by removing the EPA.
Joe at January 20, 2015 12:54 PM
*****The way this works in real states is that the crew gets on the radio and requests a dispatch for a walk in. It's pretty basic stuff.*****
This right here. I work in a fire district; no WAY would this happen there, ever, even if there was some ridiculous law on the books. My chief would tell them to fuck off; the guy clearly needed help.
Daghain at January 20, 2015 6:19 PM
Just to hearten everyone though, here's some great footage of a spontaneous rescue of a passenger when his leg slipped between the train and platform, and everyone pushed the train to open a gap so he could pull it out. None worrying about lawsuits there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIQxrArMI7M
Ltw at January 21, 2015 9:45 AM
We weren't allowed to help anyone outside the building having a medical emergency. They had to be inside our facility's doors because the insurance didn't cover liability otherwise. If someone came in to tell us something happened outside our doors we were told to advise them they had to figure out how to drag them into the doorway (kinda like the one dry foot rule).
BunnyGirl at January 22, 2015 12:21 PM
Leave a comment