Look first then shoot
So, I wasn’t going to comment on this but it has been handled so badly by the Bush administration that I really feel that I have to.
Cheney shot a high ranking, rich republican friend over the weekend with a shotgun. The exact circumstances remain unclear. They were out hunting in South Texas. the called an ambulance. Why not a copter? As a trauma surgeon I’ll tell you that in Texas copters are called at the drop of a hat. The patient is taken to a local hospital and not a Level I or II trauma center which is equipped to handle these situations. Why? (wanted to keep this quiet maybe?)
Mr. Whittington, the victim, was too much for the little hospital so the patient was transported to Corpus Christi. A level III trauma center. I don’t know what tests were done in the hospital but what is interesting is what Cheney does. If you had shot someone by accident wouldn’t you be concerned? Wouldn’t you insist on going to the hospital with that patient? If not in the ambulance then following behind in your car? Cheney doesn’t none of these. He stays at the ranch then has dinner. The local police come to interview Cheney but the secret service sends them away. What’s up with that? Cheney too sick? too intoxicated? too full of remorse to speak with the police? Explain to me how this isn’t elitism at its worst!
During the interview 2 days later with Britt Hume, Cheney states that he had only one beer at lunch. Now, this may be true BUT if I had a dime for every trauma patient that told me the one beer story I would be retired now in Hawaii!!
Did Mr. Whittington get the best of medical care? I don’t know enough of the details to comment. I can only say that if you or I had been shot and a helicopter would have been called and we would have been taken to the nearest Level I or II trauma center. That’s all that I know.
