“Is there a doctor on board?” by Steven Mussey MD
Next time you are flying United Airlines as a physician and they announce there is a medical emergency and they need a doctor, you do which of the following?
A: Hide! It’s just a trick so they can beat you up and drag you through the aisle!
B: Volunteer to help. “Get the cameras kids!
C: I’m never ever, ever, ever, ever flying United again!
Back in the day, when airlines still thought of themselves as providing a classy service ……….. (need I say more)
Now they are cogs in the “national security / industrial complex” and probably the most offensive component of it.
Even so, how can the deputy-heads (who have not yet rolled, btw) be so dim as to ignore the fact that the fellow was a doctor ?
C. Right?
If I get this wrong can I retake it? Can I see how I did compared to other physisicans?
Which AFBM MOC module covers this topic? If none, maybe United Airilines can sponsor a Pri-Med CME activity and, of course, there would be an end of activity survey asking if the material was presented in an objective manner that avoided industry bias.
Right there in the cross-hairs is the conflict between the world of people, and the world of non-human entities – corporations, governments, what have you.
The message is clear. This person is in the Corporation’s power. He does not have to commit some awful wrong to be treated like a criminal. His meat is in the seat they want. Move.
When there is conflict between humans and corporations, we have learned to give our sympathies to the Corporation! In this case, he was instructed but did not comply. He was likely in violation of all sorts of Federal rules and laws!
The cop that dragged him off used “unauthorized maneuvers.” United Airlines distanced itself from THAT human – see, the whole thing went wrong because of a human.
Corporations spin the wheel after every atrocious outcome, and do not rest until a hairless biped is blamed. We have so much contempt for those with a pulse! Why?
Deming, in the original TQI (before it was blitherized by bureaucrats) said that 85% of mistakes are STRUCTURAL, and only 15% of mistakes are attributable to an individual. The notorious “to err is human” from the NIH said the same.
What culture do we have now? An institutionalized culture that rushes, pushes, and disrespects the employee – and slaps him/her when they commit a perceived “wrong.” It is a culture of contempt. This is what is at the heart of Orwell’s 1984 – not that the individual is oppressed, but that the individual is CONTEMPTIBLE by his or her nature. Why? How did we come to prize this?