On 16 Feb 2005 09:50:58 -0800, jim rozen wrote:
In article , Dave Hinz says...

That is one thing that bugs me in this whole EMT/Firefighter thing.
The people we're helping, 80% of the time, did something earthshatteringly
stupid to get into the situation they're in. Blunt, but true.

OK then you are the ideal person to ask this question to:

Do you agree with Ed, that the govenment should pass laws
or regulations that are designed to limit the stupid things
citizens can do?

It doesn't reduce stupidity, it isolates stupid people from the
results of their stupid actions. However, the 20% of the time
when it helps the non-stupid person from (usually) the actions
of the stupid people, to me, makes it worth doing.

How far should the goverment go in this approach, and in
you estimation, do the existing laws which mandate safety
gear like seatbelts, airbags, motorcycle or bicycle helmets,
actually prevent citizens from doing earthshatteringly
stupid things?

Nope, it just cushions the impact when they keep doing what
they were doing before. But, they protect me from the dumb ones
better, so I'm for it. After a dozen years of seeing people
"partially ejected" from rollovers, and since that can't happen
if you're buckled, and since "partially ejected" means the car is
bouncing off of your head at least once - well, let's just say
the spectacular injuries I've seen have all been un-belted
patients.

I obvously am not speaking as a representative of any of the
emergency services I work with, at this point.