In the UK, we all need to be thankful, and protective of our National Health Service. Anyone who has ever doubted that it is absolutely essential or anyone who has ever doubted that the cost of covering everyone [after all it is simply a blanket insurance policy run by the state so that no company is making a profit from us] needs to read on............
Thursday morning I fainted. After some persuasion from my good lady wife I came around and to be honest, I thought nothing of it. Just a funny turn, perhaps I was dehydrated.
Friday evening I walked the dogs with Dave, only about a mile or so, up the fields to the woods and back. Only I didn't make it back. I had that feeling again. Instantly flaking out as I walked and only 50 yards from home, I hit my face on the ground and smashed my nose up. This time I woke up in a pool of blood. A responder medic arrived within 5 minutes and checked my vital signs. By the time the main ambulance came, I was already on oxygen and medication.
I had a heartbeat of 15 to 25 per minute as they hooked me up in the ambulance. With no messing about I was quickly on my way to Accident and Emergency in Leeds. Within a minute of arrival, I was in the resuscitation suite where they sorted my pulse rate out. Within an hour I was on the cardiac ward and hooked up to 24 hour monitoring of my pulse, displayed at the nurses station in the middle of the ward.
Saturday afternoon my heart stopped. I have to apologise to my friends and family, as I chose visiting time to perform this little surprise trick. You should not believe what you are reading if they tell you to pump your own heart with your fist to keep yourself going, the lights go out very fast, do not imagine that you can press a buzzer to call a nurse! The other [slightly embarrassing] thing they do not tell you is that as you slip into deep unconsciousness, you will lose control of your bladder, this only becomes a problem if you return to the land of the living.
This I did...... Due to the efforts of those who had quickly gathered around me [rapidly thanks to the monitoring system] as I became a flat-liner.
Within minutes and attached to a defibrillator I was on my way to theatre.
Within an hour I had a pacemaker installed and tested and was back in the ward, I had been given my life back.
So Mr Cameron, whatever you chose to do to the National Health Service, you need to put yourself in my position and consider what might happen to you in this situation, once you have left the exalted position we have put you in.
I consider myself to be a useful member of society, but I am not well off. I look around at many of the well off and I notice there are a good few who cannot be considered to be useful members of society, some having put themselves there by refusing to contribute to the UK taxation system.
Our health service should not be just for the well off, and it should not be for those who consider themselves useful members of society, or those who have managed to put the cash aside for insurance, it needs to be for everyone, rich, poor, technologists and scroats. We all have a right to good treatment, don't spoil it.
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