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This past New Year‘s Eve was one of the worst nights of my life. That’s the night my father died waiting for an ambulance that never came. Around 1am, my father was having trouble breathing, so I called 911. The nearest fire station is just one mile from our house in DC, at most a 5 minute drive. Firefighters arrived in just ten minutes, but no ambulance. I watched my father struggle to stay alive as we waited for Emergency Medical Services. And waited. And waited. The ambulance that finally came 40 minutes later wasn’t even from DC — it had to come from another state entirely. By the time it arrived, my father was already dead. Despite this, the DC Fire Department is charging my family $780 for an ambulance it never sent. I started a petition on Change.org demanding they waive the fee — will you click here to sign? So why did my father die waiting for an ambulance when there’s a fire station just a mile from our house? It turns out that on New Year’s Eve, nearly one third of DC’s firefighters called in sick, meaning ambulances sat empty in fire stations. Long response times are a huge problem for ambulances, firefighters and police in cities all over America. The DC fire department needs to see that it can’t just let my father die and then take my family’s money. My father was only 72 years old, a retired Air Force Veteran. He did not have to die on New Year’s night. And my family certainly shouldn’t be charged money for the reason he did. Click here to sign my petition demanding that the DC Fire Department waive a $780 fee for an ambulance that never came to save my father. Thank you, Durand Ford, Jr. Washington, DC
PS: If you’ve ever had to wait too long for an ambulance or other emergency services, tell us your story in the “Reasons for signing” comment section on the petition. |
Tag Archives: Firefighter
Give Health Care to Firefighters Who Battle Wildfires …John Lauer, Denver, CO
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Give Health Care to Firefighters Who Battle Wildfires Started by: John Lauer, Denver, CO Right now, wildfires are raging in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. And more are sure to come. I’m a part of a hotshot crew of firefighters. We are on call to go anywhere, at any time to fight fires in our country. It’s intense work, but my crew is like my family and we are all committed to serving our communities. Because wildfire is more common from May to October, most of us are seasonally employed. More than 90% of us return year after year and we often work the equivalent of a full year in 6-7 months. Despite this — and despite putting our lives on the line every day — we still don’t have the opportunity to buy into a government health care plan even at the most basic level. This is because we are classified as temporary workers. I have been a wildland firefighter for 6 years and I still don’t have health insurance, but I’m one of the lucky ones. Just in my own hotshot crew, I’ve seen the damage and suffering this lack of coverage can produce. My godson, Rudy, was born prematurely. Rudy’s dad, a fellow firefighter, was stuck with $70,000 worth of hospital bills that he and his wife couldn’t pay back. All because the federal government won’t allow him to access health insurance. Another crew member’s child, who was born even more recently, required special attention in the hospital and his parents’ are now facing a $40,000 in medical bills. Wildland firefighters face enormous risks in order to serve and protect our communities. In the past 12 years, 179 wildland firefighters have been killed in the line of duty, and the conditions of the firefighting environment have been linked to cancer and permanent lung damage. We want federal legislation that gives us that option, but we know that Congress can be slow moving. That’s why we are asking President Obama to extend health coverage benefits to seasonal wildland firefighters. Baby Rudy doesn’t deserve to be born into debt — his father is a hero. Click here to sign my petition to make sure firefighters have health care. |
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a message from Ben Betz, People For the American Way
This is outrageous. A corporate-backed right-wing group fighting to dismantle workers’ rights in Ohio hijacked the words and image of a great-grandmother who had filmed an ad for our allies, distorting her message and making it look like she supported their position against workers.
Cincinnati resident Marlene Quinn had filmed a TV ad for our friends at the “No on Issue 2” campaign — the campaign to repeal Senate Bill 5, Ohio’s version of the Wisconsin bill that stripped public workers of their collective bargaining rights. In the ad, she told the story of her grandson and great-granddaughter’s rescue by firefighters, and rightly made the case that passage of Issue 2 on the ballot this November, affirming SB 5, would lead to less firefighters there to protect Ohioans.
In a shockingly underhanded move, a leading right-wing group in the fight, Building a Better Ohio, stole the footage of Marlene for its own ad, and presented it in a way that made it look like Marlene was for Issue 2!
Ten Ohio TV stations have already pulled the ad and we’re going to keep the pressure on the rest until do too. Help us by joining our petition to Ohio TV stations now.
In an email for our allies at the No on 2 campaign, Marlene said of the Right’s ad:
“It’s insulting to the brave firefighters who saved the life of my great-granddaughter. I’m outraged they are using my face and my words to push their harmful agenda. They certainly did not ask my permission. I feel violated.”
Watch a side-by-side video comparison of the two ads and sign our petition now.
We hope you’ll speak out against the Right’s latest dirty tactic, and then engage others to do the same.
Thank you for all your support and activism to fight the Right’s dirty tricks.
— Ben Betz, Online Strategy Manager
Be a Seed for Change 
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