SERVING YOUR COUNTRY AND COMMUNITY

Several years ago I was confronted by a (distant) relative who had very honorably served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.  Without taking any merit from him, in his position, he saw NO action. His complaint however was that his service was “REAL" when compared to the pride I took in several members of my family who were 1^st Responders, both volunteer and career. I haven't spoken with him since.

Just this week I read a Facebook spat where two men were disputing local leadership decisions. One man backed up his claims with actual township ordinances, the other man's only claim to his opinion was “and where did you serve?”

I have enormous respect for all of the men and women who have served in our country's Armed Forces… both my Dad and my Father-in-law were wounded WW2 vets, and I take pride in multiple members of my family who are currently serving in different branches of our military. I know of many who did not give time in the military, some by personal choice and some that could not for various reasons such as health.

In addition to the appreciation I feel towards our military, I CANNOT refute the value, heroism and sacrifices made by our 1^st Responders in protecting our homeland. How can you possibly discount the important contributions made by our firefighters, EMS, and police, both paid and volunteer, in incidents like 9/11, the Covid pandemic, and a slew of devastating natural disasters in recent years?

When my Dad built his after-military life, he joined NYC's Civilian Defense for Operation Alert during a time when Americans feared nuclear war.  Years later the Civilian Defense was taken over by the NYC Police Department and the organization was renamed the Auxiliary Police. My Dad continued volunteering and attained the rank of Auxiliary before his premature death in 1977. He was honored by the Jewish War Veterans of America in 1974 for both his military service and his continued commitment to his community. Even though he served in multiple wartime campaigns, he still felt he had the responsibility to help his community.

Our parents instilled a strong commitment to community in both my sister and me as well. My sister became a Candy-Striper at the local hospital. Even my disabled Mom joined a community watch group and later volunteered to type mailing labels for an animal shelter. I joined the Auxiliary Police and served in my Dad's unit. By the way,  that is where I met my husband; he has also dedicated much of his life to community service from the Auxiliary Police, to EMS, to disaster medical response wherever needed. And we raised our offspring to give of themselves. Today they and their spouses are career members of multiple 1^st response agencies; they have saved lives, property, and have protected our communities and nation.

So while I am damn proud of my family and friends who have served in the military, I also have great respect and gratitude for everyone who serves to protect, strengthen and better our communities and country from within.

  

Inequities

I recently read a story about a pregnant woman in a “third world country” who went into labor early. Because of several miscarriages, stillbirths and a Cesarean section, she was considered very high risk… so much so that the area midwife refused to take on the responsibility of birthing this child.

Her husband was frantic as he borrowed a car from a stranger and drove her to the nearest hospital — only to be turned away because they said they were not prepared for high-risk births. She was driven to the next hospital hours away and when they arrived late at night they were told the doctor who delivered babies was home sleeping and could not be disturbed. Even more desperate the husband soon was speeding along tenuous roads to a hospital even further away.

Meanwhile this woman’s labor had advanced and, knowing that there was no way they could make it in time, she screamed that the baby was coming. The father to be stopped the car and helped his wife as she delivered a beautiful and thankfully healthy little boy. He even knew how to tie and cut the cord before wrapping the newborn in his shirt and handing the bundle to the new mom.

This true tale happened in 2021, but not in America. For sure this could never happen here…

Then I thought of all the inequities throughout our own country during this past year and this COVID crisis. We have all heard of the overcrowded situations as critically ill patients were quarantined in hospitals, we’ve heard about the overworked healthcare workers, and of course we’ve heard about the lack of supplies and respirators. What so many of us didn’t want to hear or acknowledge was how hospitals located in and near to low-income areas had far less nurse-to-patient ratio, less respirators and less personal attention to each patient. Lower income neighborhoods also typically offered fewer testing sites than higher income neighborhoods which added to more advanced cases and more infectious contacts by the time a patient came to the hospital.

Meanwhile, while no one was immune to this often-deadly virus, there did seem to be more equipment and more staff where wealthier patients lived. In more financially stable communities the general health was also better with less untreated high-risk conditions to complicate the infection.  When the former president caught COVID, he was treated with a new drug, not yet formally approved by the FDA, and manufactured in scarce quantities. Donald Trump was given the VIP treatment because of his status as president; some of the wealthiest individuals also routinely receive VIP treatment during hospitalizations. While there are many selfless doctors and nurses, there are also many high-priced doctors and staff who gravitate to hospitals where pay and working conditions are better.

There are some who claim this disparity in treatment and available medicines and equipment has to do with social and financial status. There are those who believe this inequity is based on whether the patient is white or not. Still there is a third belief that insurance is partly to blame as companies decide what treatment or medicine is worth their investment — of course those who can afford it tend to have better insurance coverage, so again maybe it does come down to wealth.

America is not known as a “third world country”, but even in those less developed areas, there should be no inequity in life-saving treatment for any human being. And especially in our American cities, every person deserves VIP-level care and treatment.