Cambrian letters to the editor, April 7, 2016
Geography can be important to health care
Your recent article about the Healthcare District survey nice-to-have services reminds me of a time not so long ago when two of those three health providers mentioned in the article manipulated ambulance services for our small community.
As a member of the County Fire Chiefs Association for five years, the fire chiefs were astonished of the money-driven EMSA decisions by Tenet, Dignity and San Luis Ambulance.
A health care decision was made to direct ambulance crews to the nearest hospital to the incident, not direct ambulance crews to the best hospital for the best possible patient care.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, not every hospital in our county is prepared for trauma, burns, broken bones, cardiac, etc. but they do want your money, and San Luis Ambulance will transfer you, for a fee, to the appropriate hospital in case you went to the wrong hospital in the first place.
My personal experience relates to a family member in Cambria having a heart attack. A Cambria Healthcare crew stabilized her, and off she went to the nearest hospital.
After conducting his tests, the on-duty cardiologist said she needed a stent. Preparation was made for the procedure, but then it had to be stopped. The doctor told the patient that all the stints at the hospital were past their expiration dates. He also said this wouldn’t have happened if the patient had gone to French Hospital.
As a patient, you can direct the ambulance crews to the hospital of your choice.
John Russo, Cambria
Support the marine sanctuary for our kids and grandkids
According to a recent National Geographic magazine study, there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in our oceans today. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the top of the ocean, and 4 billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the sea.
A field of flotsam, consisting of 90 percent plastic, floats across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii and on to Japan, and it stretches over a distance of 500 nautical miles. A CBS News report predicts that the world’s oceans could be empty of fish by 2048.
Already, a large number of edible fish and seafood species have declined by 90 percent. The sad truth is our oceans are dying.
Can we do anything? The answer is yes; it is not too late. We can save the ocean by reclaiming one coastal zone at a time. Here on the Central Coast, we can do our part by supporting the Chumash National Heritage Marine Sanctuary (chumashsanctuary.com). It is in the approval process at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office, but we need your support now.
Please voice your support by contacting:
▪ Rep. Lois Capps (805-546-8348).
▪ Sen. Dianne Feinstein (559-224-3841).
▪ Sen. Barbara Boxer (559-397-5109).
Do it on behalf of our children and grandchildren.
Frank DePasquale, Cambria
This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Cambrian letters to the editor, April 7, 2016."