U.K. — This news is making the rounds of blogs and newsgroups. Two ambulance workers in the U.K. have been suspended from work and booked on charges of “neglecting to perform a duty” in a case that initially caused shock. One of the earliest news stories about the incident came out on December 31, from The Press Association:
Two ambulance workers were arrested on suspicion of neglecting a dying man after detectives were passed a tape recording of them in which they were allegedly heard discussing whether they should bother to revive him, it has been reported.
The two men, who are both employees of South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust, were sent to Barry Baker’s home in Brighton, East Sussex, on November 29, after he called 999 saying he thought he was having a heart attack.
It is understood the 59-year-old, who lived alone, collapsed while on the phone to ambulance controllers.
However, the line to the control centre was still open when the crew arrived at the scene and operators allegedly heard the ambulance men make derogatory comments about the state of Mr Baker’s house, The Daily Telegraph reported.
A police source told the newspaper the men were then overheard discussing Mr Baker and allegedly saying “words to the effect that he was not worth saving”.
The pair, aged 35 and 44, were arrested on December 5 on suspicion of neglecting to perform a duty in a public office contrary to common law.
No formal charges have been made against the two men.
Initially, the reaction of the journalists and the public seemed to be one of shock and horror. But then something happened. The company hired to clean up Mr. Baker’s house posted public pictures of the inside of his house on the web. (if you check out that link, you’ll find that SkyNews refers to Mr. Baker with scare quotes around the word “neglected” when referring to the circumstances of his death)
That site is only one of many news sites that posted the pictures and focused on the “squalid” condition of the home. In many of those sites, comments are dominated by people expressing disgust for Baker and not a little sympathy for the ambulance workers.
I’ll say right upfront that this angers and scares me. I have known people whose houses looked like this on the inside. At a few points in my life, my own living conditions have been close to the scenes pictured at that house. I wish I was exaggerating, but I’m not.
As far as the media goes, only Deborah Orr of The Independent seems disturbed by the latest turn in the press coverage of Mr. Baker, and thought it worth the effort to tell readers about the life that Barry Baker actually led:
Barry Baker did not lead a scrupulously conventional life. And his lack of convention was not, in anyone’s terms, rebellious, glamorous or bohemian. On the contrary, at 59, he still lived alone in the childhood home he had shared with his parents until they had died. Overweight, he’d had hip operations, and walked using sticks. His poor health, perhaps in combination with the years of dependency on his parents, contributed to the disordered messiness of his home.
Baker’s life may have had its limitations. But he did his best. He took a taxi to work every day, at a Job Centre in Brighton, and travelled by bus every Sunday to his favourite pub, where he had lunch with friends and played cards. All of his neighbours described him as a kind and gentle man.
As I’ve done before, I want to direct people to William Peace at Bad Cripple. Here’s a snippet:
However, my next thought was are these photographs relevant? What, if any, was the point of releasing these photos? Why did the company hired to clean Mr. Baker’s home after he died post the photos on their website?
The answer to the above questions is clear to me: the worth of Mr. Baker’s life is being called into question.
Read the rest of his excellent post here. –Stephen Drake
Hey, there’s a lesson here – tidy the house before calling emergency services.
Personally my only hope is blind paramedics, or possibly a power failure.
This is not an isolated incident. The only difference between Baker’s experience with emergency personnel and those of other people with disabilities is that his was recorded. Although we should be able to live as we choose or can, and expect to receive the same level of care other people get, we are held to a different standard. Society believes we should be humiliated, dead or not, if the state of our homes and bodies do not meet that standard.
This does not mean we should attempt to do the near-impossible, such as take out the trash ourselves when we cannot walk or dust to perfection when we are blind, but Rosie is right, even within the sarcasm: expect to be judged, and either take measures or accept the consequences to ourselves personally and to all those perceived as disabled.
As one emergency responder who tried to revive my mother for a very long time put it, “She seemed to be worth it. She kept a nice house.”