Thursday, October 26, 2006

News Stories Made for The ChaliceBlog

I guess this is to please the "Death By First Available" crowd who believes that if you sit in the smoking section once, you're dooming yourself to cancer.

But I think it's stupid.

The politicians in Omaha, Nebraska are asking people to call 911 if they see somebody violating the city's smoking ban.

The Douglas County Emergency Services Director is worried this will compromise response times. (Item: The most common way to die in America is a heart attack. Ambulance response time is one of the most critical factors in whether a patient survives.)

But hey, at least they won't get cancer 20 years down the road.

Sigh.

CC

3 comments:

Self Confessed Walkover said...

Maybe your politicians should consider setting up a non emergency number to report stuff like that too? They've done it here in the UK. We now phone 101 for alsorts of stuff that isn't considered an emergency (http://www.101.gov.uk/). No idea if it's working but hopefully it's stopping these sort of calls! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3806299.stm

Anonymous said...

I'm a rabid anti-smoker and even I think that's stupid.

Anonymous said...

In NYC, the non-emergency number is 311. You call it to report graffiti artists, and probably people who violate the local smoking ban too. Having people call 911 for such matters will make Chuck D right again, though.