What should the doctors have done? Simply leave them to the elements? Stay with them and die themselves?
From someome who was THERE right in the MIDDLE of that mess, I can tell you that it was a completle and utter nightmare.
NO AIR CONDITIONING. LITTLE CLEAN WATER. LITTLE OR NO MEDICATIONS AVAILABLE. The conditions were horrible.
Now, when giving certain medications, there are contraindications, i.e., you cant give someone Morphine when their blood pressure is below a certain point. Some patients had problems with low or high blood pressure. Some patients had cancer, or something else that caused immense pain. They didnt have the proper medications to deal with many types of chronic illnesses.
I myself gave people Morphine injections right at or a little below the cutoff for the blood pressure low point. Online orders from a physician was all I needed to go against the contraindicaiton. When someome has end stage bone cancer, they are more concerned with alleviating the agonizing pain then they are with how long they live. “Please just make it stop”, was a common request. Could it have sent them into cardiac arrest? Sure. So I gave 5 of Morphine IV, and 5 of Morphine IM, to reduce the doseage, and spread out the distribution of the medicaiton over a short time.
These Drs accused of “euthanizing” their patients probably were just doing the same thing we all were. Trying to alleviate the horrible suffereng of unstable patients. There is a definite line between Euthanasia, and making educated guesses of medicaiton doses to best help alleviate suffering. However, some Monday morning Quarterback would have difficulty in distinguishing the two, because they werent there.
Whatever illness a person was suffereing with, 100% humidity and 100 degree tempratures didnt help a whole lot. It often made them much worse.
Sometimes we had a choice. Its 100 degrees, and this person hasnt had their blood pressure medicaiton in 4 days. We can 1) let them have a stroke, or 2) give Morphine, Valium, or some other seditive and help lower their blood pressure in an unconventional way, and ease their suffereing while we figure out a place to take them.
**Theres a difference between giving medication to directly euthanize someone, and trying to treat illness with unconventional and more risky means in an abominable envirornment. **
Plus im going to take this opportunity to give props to Kentucky-based special forces medics. Its been a year since i met those guys down there, and ill take those guys over any MD, any day of the week. Its a shame they dont train MDs like they train those guys.
