Friday 31 July 2015

Liverpool Care Pathway - Life And Death Café

Well, well, well... It is this, then, we have come to and life is but a trifle!
Time for some tough Life (and Death) Café.



First, some real Life Café...

This is HLN.BE 

"It feels very special but I could have seen someone die. Then I really would have been broken." Robbe, speaking to HLN
An elderly couple was yesterday afternoon drowning escaped thanks to the heroic actions of two teenagers. Robbe Haems (17) and Bjorn Cuvelier (18) saw the couple with their car in the water struggling, remained cool and could not get them unharmed dry.
Life is precious; living matters. This is the stuff of Life Café.

And now, not yet something completely different, but still more Life Café...

When a man jumped from scaffolding on a four-story building in a suicide attempt, a hero police officer miraculously saved him by using his own body to cushion the fall.

This is the Metro -

This was tucked away on page 10. The header reads: Hero cop breaks suicidal man's fall.

This act of selfless, reflex heroism took place in the People's Republic of China, a place not renowned for human-rights-respecting police officers.

Officer Liang Xiao was trying to do his level best to convince the 32-year-old man dangling from the scaffolding not to jump but was ultimately unable to dissuade him. The man had his mind set and he jumped.

The man jumped. Liang acted instinctively.

Liang Xiao "lurched forward and acted as a human shield".

Liang used his own body to break the fall of the suicide jumper.

The only reason he’s alive is because of a police officer below who used his own body to break the man’s fall.

Both men survived and were taken to hospital.

This is CCTV+ on You Tube 



Police Officer Blocks Man's Suicidal Jump Fall in South China


And now some tough Life and Death Café...

This is today's Daily Mirror -


                            
Fiona Okonkwo had been walking her dog by the canal. A young man, Jack Susianta, ran past her and jumped in the water.

Jack had apparently fled home following a row. Police officers were in pursuit.

Jack was in difficulty.

The Officers stood by. The instinct didn’t kick in.

Fiona wanted to go in and help Jack but police officers wouldn't allow her.

Onlookers stood by...
Angry Fiona claimed police stood by and watched for half an hour as Jack struggled for life before he slipped below the surface and drowned.
"He went under. I saw the bubbles where he took his last breath."
The social architects have effected a culture change. The heroic doctor no longer responds instinctively to save a life, but assesses with clinical judgement what outcomes may ensue.The Lakhani Recommendations kick in.

There has been a seismic shift in attitudes. 'Stand by' has become standing by to watch, voyeurish, and permit the unthinkable to proceed.

The Officers stood by. The instinct didn’t kick in.

And so casual do we watch another die? So casual is become our estimate of life?
"It feels very special but I could have seen someone die. Then I really would have been broken." Robbe, speaking to HLN
Further reading -
Liverpool Care Pathway - On The Final Stretch

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