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“We are set on a path that looks disastrous”: Alabama hospitals near collapse
- throwawaylinux 5y agoOh my god the unhinged blind frothing rage in those comments is scary, and many upvoted. I hardly go on that site I didn't realize it is a haven for hateful extremists.
- redsymbol 5y agoYep. I have loved Ars for years. But its community has taken a dark turn.
- Tarsul 5y agoI can't blame them. They are raging against irresponsible republican government (and gullible people).
- throwawaylinux 5y agoThese are the sort of people have profiles with "be kind" on them, and constantly congratulate themselves for being tolerant and inclusive (unlike the angry fearful intolerant divisive subhuman others).
- toomuchtodo 5y agoKindness and tolerance has its limits.
- throwawaylinux 5y agoSo it would seem.
- redsymbol 5y agoI am speaking more generally than this specific article or topic.
- cinntaile 5y agoI only looked at the 20 or so comments at the top and I did not find what you describe. The reply by DaveSimmons is a low point but it's not even close to unhinged blind frothing rage.
- lugged 5y ago> Send the national guard door to door with medics to force vaccinations on the antivax cretins in the hot zones. > Oh wait, the Republican governors are busy outlawing mask mandates. > Keep piling up the bodies on the altar of Trump then I guess. More blood for the blood god! Yeesh.
- swiley 5y agoOne thing people forget is that some of these hospitals are firing workers for not getting vaccinated which means fewer ICU beds.
- BoxOfRain 5y agoBlimey you're not wrong. I reckon you can probably judge the quality of a comment section by the number and strength of the adjectives in it: a reasonable comments section would call somebody foolish, an unreasonable one would say that they're a disgusting extremist making unfathomably selfish and reckless choices. A bit ironic one of them was talking about "blood for the blood god" when that whole comment section is basically an angry hymn to Khorne!
- ekianjo 5y agoArs is barely better than Reddit.
- abstractbarista 5y agoYea, it is a rather mean culture. Fascinating to watch, but scary as well.
- KaiserPro 5y agoUK here. We have a good coverage of vaccinations, most of the vulnerable are doubly vaccinated. However we are going to have a bad winter. We have just under three times the number of ICU beds as Alabama (3.9 per 100k[1] vs the UK's 7.5 per 100k[2]) but we have a a decent number of those bed already occupied by covid patients. The vaccine isn't a magic thing that'll stop hospitals filling up. Yes, it reduces the fatality by 1/4 and length of stay of the average patient. but it won't help if all your population gets ill at the same time. The UK will almost certainly have a "fourth" wave in winter. We will have to cancel emergency care. [1]https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2020/05/18/icu-bed-capacity-in-all-50-us-states-compared-infographic/?sh=679dfeac24dc https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2020/05/18/icu-be... [2]https://annalsofintensivecare.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/2110-5820-3-37/tables/2 https://annalsofintensivecare.springeropen.com/articles/10.1... note, these numbers are inaccurate as when there is a crisis like this the number of beds increases.
- ryan_j_naughton 5y agoGiven that rationing care is inevitable, it's time to start prioritizing vaccinated individuals, those unable to get vaccinated, and non-COVID patients when doing triage and allocating ICU beds. If individuals refuse to get vaccinated, they are increasing the chances that if I get into a car accident I don't get care. This is literally the definition of a negative externality, and it's very easy to internalize this externality: triage prioritization. My intent is not to punish these individuals or to make this a moral issue / blame them. It is simply to recognize the cost their choices have on others and to make them bear the cost of their actions we opposed to it being thrust on others.
- hasperdi 5y agoYou have a valid point but were down voted because people here expect to read a socially acceptable comment. I agree, as a society we need to grow up a bit and be more responsible towards each other.
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- mikecoles 5y agoThe poor decisions people make in every other portion of their lives in overlooked for social services. Why start here?
- sonotathrowaway 5y agoBecause the intent behind refusing to treat anti-vaxxers isn’t meant to be punitive, it’s meant to prevent the collapse of the healthcare system.
- lucasyvas 5y agoCompletely correct. An adult should assume the responsibility of their own actions. Nobody wants anyone to die here, but if something is preventable and you don't make the effort, then don't expect the rest of society to bend over backwards.
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- ribble 5y agoThe vaccinated will be dead within six months to three or four years, freeing up plenty of hospital beds.
- MintsJohn 5y agoOne part strikes me as odd, as it come across as a new problem, while for me it seems the core problem since the epidemic started: “Hospitals have already been transferring patients to different hospitals, diverting new patients, and sending patients out of state to Georgia. And many hospitals are delaying surgeries, like knee and hip replacements and even cancer-related surgeries.“ In my country (the Netherlands) that unfortunately has been the norm since covid struck. The backlog in surgeries (all said the be of the non urgent category, meanwhile there are less cancer diagnosis than ever before...) is enormous by now, estimates are it'll take till the end of 2022 catch up, of course, that's assuming the backlog won't increase while medical personnel gets exhausted and new covid patients need ICU care as well. Since covid started it feels this effect has been underestimated by the public and is too uncomfortable for the government to discus too much
- floxy 5y agoLooks like for the 65+ crowd in Alabama, 87.6% have at least one dose of the covid vaccine, and 74.4% are fully vaccinated. https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-trac...