You’d have to be a complete unfeeling clod not to be emotionally moved by stories of the generous outpouring of financial support for injured firefighters.
It restores your belief that humans are basically good when you see strangers give money to help a firefighter, to say nothing of the tremendous relief it is to the firefighter and his or her family.
This plays out often. It seems that each time a firefighter is seriously injured, dedicated Facebook pages, bank accounts and fundraising events are not far behind.
Since June there have been the stories of the Marshfield, Mo., firefighter who was trapped in a burning house; of the Jackson County, Fla. firefighter who sustained serious steam burns; and most recently of the volunteer in Whitley City, Ky., who sustained burns to more than 90 percent of his body.
Something about these and other stories has been nagging at me. The generosity aside, there’s something wrong about them.
During a Labor Day weekend party, I was talking with a family friend. He’s a Vietnam combat veteran who has been experiencing medical issues, and consequently, using the Veterans Affairs’ clinics more often.
He raved about the quality of care and the reasonable prices for that care. He couldn’t have been happier with the VA clinic.
As a U.S. citizen, voter and taxpayer, I want that level of care and satisfaction for our veterans, whether they are my friends or not.
And there’s the rub. Why aren’t firefighters who are wounded in their combat given the same level of care? Why do they need to hold poker runs to offset follow up care?
The current system of employer-based health insurance isn’t working. Companies whose profit comes from not providing healthcare do not have the patient’s interest at heart. That’s just the way life is.
I can’t say if what’s termed Obamacare is the answer or if the elusive single-payer plan is any better. Maybe a hybrid approach would work. Perhaps an extension of the VA to cover firefighters is a solution.
What I do know is that when I step back from my role as editor and volunteer firefighter and read the stories of injured firefighters’ financial plights through the eyes of citizen, voter and taxpayer, I know I’ve let those firefighters down.