There is a huge difference in training from the "pros" to the crucirojos. You guys are right on. I take my opinion from something I witnessed in Valladolid about 10 years ago:

A moped driver had flipped over his handlebars and hit a tree. We would have pitched in to help, but the Cruz Roja van happened to be right behind the guy when he endo-ed, so they jumped out and got right to the task of making things worse . They had a two-piece stretcher that clamped together in the middle, and without checking him over, they jostled the poor man and wiggled the stretcher until it "clicked" into place. All the while, the "victim" was wailing in agony . The "medics", seemingly sordos, went right on as if nothing was wrong.

I swore off scooter riding for five years after that episode. :p

[ 05-11-2001: Message edited by: CaliBasco ]

You're right Diana. By ringing 061 you get the paramedics in the UVI, intensive care vehicle. They DO know what they're doing. It goes like a bat out of hell, too!

I thought (for a second) to make a new thread on this topic, but since it's all health-care related and since my ladyfriend isn't within a few million miles of earshot.....

I sometimes think what paramedics do with the elderly/sick who live in those 6-story housing buildings (like my ladyfriend's mother!) which have no elevator and the staircase is narrow?? I can't imagine how they could strap an ailing person (or someone who has just had a heart attack) to a stretcher and practically stand them up to make the turns going down the stairs.

Saludos, MadridMan

MadridMan,

Gawd! I can just see it now! A gurney strapped to a furniture dolly, clunking down one step at a time for six stories.

Not exactly something that inspires a good feeling for anyone we care for.

Wolf

Ha! What a sight! Well, I'm decades away from being old, but as a young lady of only 24 years I was carried from my 6th floor apartment in Madrid to a waiting ambulance on a -- straight chair. That's how it's done. They plop you onto a straight chair and two burly (hah!) men carry you down to the ambulance. If you get seasick, it's definitely not the way to go.

This thread is starting to make me feel like a feeble, sickly person! I NEVER get sick! Except for a few strange and unexplained medical emergencies that happened to me - all during my first year in Spain - hmmmm... And having children - but that's a whole other topic!