Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes • Hacker News Board

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#111

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:50 AM UTC

thepasswordis wrote: post #88

mtnGoat wrote: post #67

Playing devils advocate here but maybe we have too many fire fighters? I have four good friends that work in metropolitan fire houses all making well into the six figures. They constantly joke about how they get paid to do nothing and haven’t been on a fire in years, mainly they respond to calls at old folks homes. Oh and the only work a four or five days a month.

Firefighters are a profession that is almost purely a good for society. I wouldn't support a reduction in firefighters until every single other member of the government was gone. In the post apocalypse I hope it is firefighters who are running the provisional government.

[deleted]

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#112

Post by whatshisface » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:50 AM UTC

elliekelly wrote: post #90

cepp wrote: post #57

Back when I worked at $HEALTHCARE_INUSRANCE_CO we were trying to solve this (more general problem) from the other side. We regularly saw routine calls for what could only be described as "loneliness". Our research lead us to find that a high percentage of elderly folks (50+) identified as lonely regardless of their living situation. [1] Looking deeper into claims data, we found a high percentage of these calls were i…

I used to volunteer with an organization that pairs people with lonely “elders”... kind of like a Big Brother/Big Sister program. The woman I was paired with was in her early 60s and went to the doctor constantly but there really wasn’t anything wrong with her. It took me a long time to realize she would go to all these appointments to give her something to do, some people to talk to, and sometimes as an excuse to ge…

One's early 60s aren't even that old.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#113

Post by User23 » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:50 AM UTC

tomrod wrote: post #70

gowld wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parent was referring to physician-mandated homicide.

No, and I'm not sure how you arrived at that. I was referencing policies like those in WA, OR, and Europe where people can choose to end their life.

Choosing to end one’s own life doesn’t require government policy. Human life is plenty fragile. Anyone that actually wants to die has plenty of reliable options and they will be beyond the reach of secular law afterwards.

From that it follows that euthanasia laws are actually about allowing next of kin or whoever has medical power of attorney to lawfully order the principal’s killing. In the best case this is executing the principal’s express wishes, but in most cases it’s not.

Edit: I’m curious, does anyone actually believe they need the government’s permission to commit suicide? It’s so preposterous a proposition that I’m literally baffled.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#114

Post by disabled » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:50 AM UTC

john_yaya wrote: post #15

Senior homes and assisted living centers are a national disgrace. They are entirely about profit maximization (what business isn’t?), and as such hire people at the exact minimum and have well over 100% yearly turnover. The staff commonly steal from residents, and the management do not care. They’d rather retain a larcenous pig who barely executes her duties than have to go back and scrape the barrel for a replacemen…

> Whoever spread that “death panels” meme should be forced to write America a check for five hundred billion dollars.

Alaska governor and 2008 Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palin started the “death panels” farse.

See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_panel

It’s quite disgusting as she is a mother with a disabled child.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#115

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:50 AM UTC

john_yaya wrote: post #15

Senior homes and assisted living centers are a national disgrace. They are entirely about profit maximization (what business isn’t?), and as such hire people at the exact minimum and have well over 100% yearly turnover. The staff commonly steal from residents, and the management do not care. They’d rather retain a larcenous pig who barely executes her duties than have to go back and scrape the barrel for a replacemen…

[deleted]

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#116

Post by gruez » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:50 AM UTC

throwawayboise wrote: post #102

pmorici wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Elderly people should live with their families." Spoken with the confidence of someone who has never had to care for an elderly relative who was in both mental and physical decline. In any case it is a deeply personal decision without a definitive right or wrong answer. After seeing my Aunt try to care for my grandmother for years only for it to negatively effect their relationship because of her dementia I wouldn't…

There are probably well-run exceptions but in my experience senior communities are mostly about extracting all the wealth and insurance payments they can get from their residents before they die. You think it's hard taking care of your aging parents? They took care of you when you were a helpless, shitting, crying, little ball of flesh.

>You think it's hard taking care of your aging parents? They took care of you when you were a helpless, shitting, crying, little ball of flesh.

try lifting a baby vs an adult. also, seniors in retirement communities tend to have some sort of chronic condition that make them non-trivial to care for without medical expertise.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#117

Post by dmckeon » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:51 AM UTC

mtnGoat wrote: post #67

Playing devils advocate here but maybe we have too many fire fighters? I have four good friends that work in metropolitan fire houses all making well into the six figures. They constantly joke about how they get paid to do nothing and haven’t been on a fire in years, mainly they respond to calls at old folks homes. Oh and the only work a four or five days a month.

Emergency services in the US have gone from 80:20 fire:medical to 80:20 medical:fire over the last 70 years or so. We retain the framework of firefighting, but devote those valuable and important resources to using custom built fire trucks much of the time as taxis staffed by paramedics.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#118

Post by whatshisface » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:52 AM UTC

throwawayboise wrote: post #102

pmorici wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Elderly people should live with their families." Spoken with the confidence of someone who has never had to care for an elderly relative who was in both mental and physical decline. In any case it is a deeply personal decision without a definitive right or wrong answer. After seeing my Aunt try to care for my grandmother for years only for it to negatively effect their relationship because of her dementia I wouldn't…

There are probably well-run exceptions but in my experience senior communities are mostly about extracting all the wealth and insurance payments they can get from their residents before they die. You think it's hard taking care of your aging parents? They took care of you when you were a helpless, shitting, crying, little ball of flesh.

You're sweeping a lot of people in your use of the term "aging parents," ranging from physically strong yet mentally deranged dementia patients, to little old ladies who simply don't have anyone to talk to. What is obviously true for the second is obviously false for the first.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#119

Post by gruez » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:53 AM UTC

disabled wrote: post #114

john_yaya wrote: post #15

Senior homes and assisted living centers are a national disgrace. They are entirely about profit maximization (what business isn’t?), and as such hire people at the exact minimum and have well over 100% yearly turnover. The staff commonly steal from residents, and the management do not care. They’d rather retain a larcenous pig who barely executes her duties than have to go back and scrape the barrel for a replacemen…

> Whoever spread that “death panels” meme should be forced to write America a check for five hundred billion dollars. Alaska governor and 2008 Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palin started the “death panels” farse. See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_panel It’s quite disgusting as she is a mother with a disabled child.

>It’s quite disgusting as she is a mother with a disabled child.

how is that disgusting? that seems entirely consistent with her beliefs, as disabled child means high costs which potentially could mean getting denied care on the basis of cost. it's not any different than say, "congresswoman with cancer pushes for cancer treatment funding bill".

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#120

Post by mtnGoat » Mon, Oct 04, 2021, 3:54 AM UTC

germinalphrase wrote: post #75

mtnGoat wrote: post #67

Playing devils advocate here but maybe we have too many fire fighters? I have four good friends that work in metropolitan fire houses all making well into the six figures. They constantly joke about how they get paid to do nothing and haven’t been on a fire in years, mainly they respond to calls at old folks homes. Oh and the only work a four or five days a month.

I was with you until that last line. I know two fire fighters; they work a standard 160 a month (though the schedule itself is kind of bonkers).

These guys have to work 40 hours per pay period, which is two 24 hours shifts every two weeks. This is just slightly more than 4 days a month. They will sometimes work four days in a row, the last two days of a period and then the first two of the next and can go 20+days between shifts.

160 hours isn’t much when you are getting paid to sleep, eat and hangout. It’s just 6 days.