5 ms·

I always imagined working in Antarctica to be like working on an oil rig. Alcohol is generally completely banned on such facilities.

by jl6 4y ago

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
There's a lot of safety concerns, but not exactly the same level of danger. I suspect the biggest danger, is passing out, and dying of exposure. That also happens here, in New York. Every winter sees a few corpseicles.
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  Drunk people freezing to death on the street is common everywhere, even in Europe. One of my friends last winter, walked back home super drunk and passed out on the street. Instead of being happy he didn't freeze to death, he was angry some people called the ambulance for him that took him to the hospital, and got a €600 bill for it.
  - Reason077 4y ago
    > "Drunk people freezing to death on the street is common everywhere, even in Europe." Probably not so much in Southern Europe.
    - InCityDreams 4y ago
      It can get very cold down here, too.
  - dmd 4y ago
    I thought health care was free in most of europe.
    - autotune 4y ago
      Less than the $3500 bill I received for taking an ambulance in SF several years back. And that was with health insurance.
    - jacobyoder 4y ago
      Maybe he's not a citizen or has whatever national insurance? I had a family member (US citizen) have to pay for hospitalization in belgium. On checking out the staff were apologetic. "This is going to be expensive...". It was somewhere around a few hundred USD for him being in for ... 3-4 days, IIRC. It was insanely nothing. "Maybe you can contact your employer for reimbursement" he was told a couple of times.
    - saiya-jin 4y ago
      It depends per country, generally its free or super cheap, but there are some exceptions to services covered and ambulance can be one of them (its around 500$ in Switzerland - this still could lead to paying 0$ for patient depending on situation, don't know about other countries). And dental care is probably not free anywhere anymore that I am aware of, but its still cheaper to take trans-atlantic plane to get some more complex work done in cheaper places here than doing it in bigger cities in US.
      - Reason077 4y ago
        The UK has free dental for those who qualify [1]. [1] https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/ https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-...
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      It's free* with many caveats. *Emergency services are free in Austria but only for valid medical emergencies. If you voluntarily drink yourself to death like my friend did, they don't cover that and will send you the bill. You're expected to have private accident insurance to cover such incidents and various sports and free time injuries that are also not fully covered by the mandatory government insurance.
    - narag 4y ago
      I thought health care was free in most of europe. Ambulances can be private. In Spain, if you contact the Social Security and it's them that send the ambulance, I understand it will be free. But if you call a private service, they will charge. In a case like that, I would have called police instead. It's the safest option.
    - durnygbur 4y ago
      > I thought health care was free in most of europe. In countries where it's "free" one pays high monthly insurances, in countries with dysfunctional public healthcare systems services cost a fraction of what you'd pay in US but the salaries are proportionally lower.
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    Where in Europe bills you to use an ambulance?
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      Austria. You get billed if you misuse the emergency services.
  - michpoch 4y ago
    I'd guess that the €600 was not for the ambulance itself, but for a place where they put them to get sober afterwards. I am not sure what's the common term for such place in English, Wikipedia is suggesting "Drunk tank": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_tank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_tank Police takes you there if you're too drunk to be on your own, it's paid (and pretty expensive).
    - mikestew 4y ago
      “Drunk tank” is what it was called in the U. S. jail when I visited one during my misspent youth. :-)
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      >I'd guess that the €600 was not for the ambulance itself, but for a place where they put them to get sober afterwards. No, it was for the ambulance ride. The socialized public insurance doesn't cover your drunk night out alcohol abuse.
  - bill38 4y ago
    Indeed, it can happen during ski holiday: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/dec/09/ski-holiday-drinking-risk-warning https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/dec/09/ski-holiday-d...

I always imagined working in Antarctica to be like working on an oil rig. Alcohol is generally completely banned on such facilities.

by jl6 4y ago

I always imagined working in Antarctica to be like working on an oil rig. Alcohol is generally completely banned on such facilities.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

There's a lot of safety concerns, but not exactly the same level of danger. I suspect the biggest danger, is passing out, and dying of exposure. That also happens here, in New York. Every winter sees a few corpseicles.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago
Drunk people freezing to death on the street is common everywhere, even in Europe. One of my friends last winter, walked back home super drunk and passed out on the street. Instead of being happy he didn't freeze to death, he was angry some people called the ambulance for him that took him to the hospital, and got a €600 bill for it.
- Reason077 4y ago
  > "Drunk people freezing to death on the street is common everywhere, even in Europe." Probably not so much in Southern Europe.
  - InCityDreams 4y ago
    It can get very cold down here, too.
- dmd 4y ago
  I thought health care was free in most of europe.
  - autotune 4y ago
    Less than the $3500 bill I received for taking an ambulance in SF several years back. And that was with health insurance.
  - jacobyoder 4y ago
    Maybe he's not a citizen or has whatever national insurance? I had a family member (US citizen) have to pay for hospitalization in belgium. On checking out the staff were apologetic. "This is going to be expensive...". It was somewhere around a few hundred USD for him being in for ... 3-4 days, IIRC. It was insanely nothing. "Maybe you can contact your employer for reimbursement" he was told a couple of times.
  - saiya-jin 4y ago
    It depends per country, generally its free or super cheap, but there are some exceptions to services covered and ambulance can be one of them (its around 500$ in Switzerland - this still could lead to paying 0$ for patient depending on situation, don't know about other countries). And dental care is probably not free anywhere anymore that I am aware of, but its still cheaper to take trans-atlantic plane to get some more complex work done in cheaper places here than doing it in bigger cities in US.
    - Reason077 4y ago
      The UK has free dental for those who qualify [1]. [1] https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/ https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-...
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    It's free* with many caveats. *Emergency services are free in Austria but only for valid medical emergencies. If you voluntarily drink yourself to death like my friend did, they don't cover that and will send you the bill. You're expected to have private accident insurance to cover such incidents and various sports and free time injuries that are also not fully covered by the mandatory government insurance.
  - narag 4y ago
    I thought health care was free in most of europe. Ambulances can be private. In Spain, if you contact the Social Security and it's them that send the ambulance, I understand it will be free. But if you call a private service, they will charge. In a case like that, I would have called police instead. It's the safest option.
  - durnygbur 4y ago
    > I thought health care was free in most of europe. In countries where it's "free" one pays high monthly insurances, in countries with dysfunctional public healthcare systems services cost a fraction of what you'd pay in US but the salaries are proportionally lower.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  Where in Europe bills you to use an ambulance?
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    Austria. You get billed if you misuse the emergency services.
- michpoch 4y ago
  I'd guess that the €600 was not for the ambulance itself, but for a place where they put them to get sober afterwards. I am not sure what's the common term for such place in English, Wikipedia is suggesting "Drunk tank": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_tank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_tank Police takes you there if you're too drunk to be on your own, it's paid (and pretty expensive).
  - mikestew 4y ago
    “Drunk tank” is what it was called in the U. S. jail when I visited one during my misspent youth. :-)
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    >I'd guess that the €600 was not for the ambulance itself, but for a place where they put them to get sober afterwards. No, it was for the ambulance ride. The socialized public insurance doesn't cover your drunk night out alcohol abuse.
- bill38 4y ago
  Indeed, it can happen during ski holiday: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/dec/09/ski-holiday-drinking-risk-warning https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/dec/09/ski-holiday-d...