liveonearth (liveonearth) wrote,
liveonearth
liveonearth

Canada's socialized medicine

http://www.aapsonline.org/nod/newsofday360.php
We like to give Canada as an example of a large nation with socialized healthcare that works, but it doesn't look so good from the perspective of this article.

One time I was kayaking waterfalls in Mexico with a bunch of Canadians and they decided to attempt a 70 meter drop (I didn't even consider it). Because of the shape of the drop I knew that it would be very difficult to land correctly--boats would tend to "pancake"--meaning to land too flat. This is how you compact your spine, compact your spine, compact your spine! (sing along) Anyway dude #1 ran it with skill and avoided smashing any vertebrae, though he did smash his face. Canadian dude #2 landed too flat and was in great pain with a broken back.

To make a long story short, he went to the Mexican hospital and got the doc to write up his injury without mentioning what he had done to sustain it, and specifically avoided mentioning the height of the waterfall. He got pain meds and a flight back to Canada to get fixed up.
Tags: canada, healthcare, medicine, socialism, spine, whitewater
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