Oh Yeah, and...

Try as I might to leave yesterday's post alone, I was bothered all night last night about the fact that I decided not to comment on one of Michael Moore's main characters in SiCKO.  So, in the name of personal responsibility ~ one of my mantras, especially in the area of wellness and healthcare, I find I must say something about the guy who cut off two of his fingertips on a table saw....... and then became a primary player in Moore's diatribe because he had to choose which fingertip to keep and which one to loose.

There are so many things wrong with this guy's story, that I scarcely know where to start...

First, I am married to a wood worker.  At times he has done it for a living and at times (like lately) it's more of a hobby.  He's taught students as young as 5th graders to safely use power tools.  In the middle of a particularly complex carpentry project, I've seen him execute decidely "off label" feats with a table saw ~ free-hand cuts, and solo cuts that would be worthy of medals, if such accomplishments came with medals.  I trust his word when it comes to what is and isn't a smart move when working at a table saw.  After seeing this movie, he was beside himself about the guy who had the table saw incident.  He tells me that one thing he's never ever done while working at a table saw is reach over and across the blade to try to pull a cut through from the wrong side (which is what the guy in the movie did).  The guy broke a cardinal rule of table saw operation ~ an amputation waiting to happen, according to my beloved.

Anyone who has ever purchased a power tool will recall the pages and pages and pages of instructions and cautions and warnings.  Ignore them at your own risk....... Loose your concentration at your own risk.......Hurry at your own risk...

OK ~ so there's that.

Next, it's not really clear to me whether the guy from the movie uses power tools as part of his job, or is just a casual user.  Either way ~ isn't a guy who steps up to a table saw, knowing that he doesn't have insurance coverage, and then pulls a completely boneheaded stunt, causing the amputation of two fingertips fully responsible for the results of his actions?

Yes, it's a terrible thing.  I am a healer down to my bones ~ it hurts me when another human hurts, but I have very little patience for people who make bad choices and do stupid things, and then expect someone else to bail them out.  The emergency personnel who treated him did their jobs when they made sure that he didn't die from his self-inflicted injuries.  What is not their job is making it possible for him to afford to have his fingertips reattached, especially when he wasn't forward-thinking enough to make plans for such matters before he checked his brain at the woodshop door.

Just a couple of final questions:

If this did happen on the job, where is his workers' compensation insurance coverage?

If this was hobby wookworking, why is this guy spending money on power tools and woodworking projects when he can't afford health insurance?  Hmmm.

All I'm saying is... use your brain, recognize the risks that you encounter in everyday life, and don't expect anyone else to take up the slack for your ignorance or stupidity.

Obviously, I haven't offered anything here that will fix our healthcare system, but neither will knee-jerk reactions to an emotionally manipulative movie which, I suspect, is chock-full of inaccuracies and bias and falsehoods.

Comments

[Rico]

Wow! I just happened to be skimming the web and looking for some alt health care options when I ran across your blog. I am amazed that you are actually taking this stance here. I disagree with you wholeheartedly! First of all if we extend your line of thinking here than before ANY of us do anything in life we need to sit down and count the costs to us in terms of health care! Thats outrageous! Who among us does this? I know I don't but perhaps in an offbeat sort of way you are actually stating another point here in this whole debate for the side that the movie brings out. Health care costs are totally out of control. Accidents happen to the best of us even those of us who are experienced at whatever it might be that we are doing! To say that somehow this poor individual should just (paraphrasing) "suck it up" and not be dismayed and angry that in this great country of ours he cannot get the help he needs because he cannot AFFORD it is also outrageous! Your statement makes a clear case for all of us to stop and take a look at not what we are doing so much but at the politics and BIG money that has created the current and totally unacceptable health care crisis. I love this country but come on..we are being out done by Canada!! (-: Anyway... just my opinion here.... the theme of the movie is that we need, all of us, to start asking our leaders to stop this madness and provide solutions..not more issues!