And What if He Was Drunk?
on 06/28/2007 at 03:41 PM
That’ll be the end of Amtrak. They’ve been hemorrhaging cash for a long time, and this will finish them. Unfortunately, the guy’s probably already dead. Diabetic shock at 10pm last night would have put him into diabetic coma before dawn. And it was well over 100F in Phoenix today. They’ll never find him alive without a miracle of Biblical proportions.
Amtrak will deserve what it gets. The conductor and engineer(s) should face criminal proceedings if the guy dies, and maybe even if he survives.
But at least they didn’t stick him in a crate and make him ride on top of the train.
ok orion............i don’t know who you are but that was funny!!!
Yup, the way the world works today, at the very least the conductors will be charged with attempted murder/negligent homicide. And since it appears to be company policy, those charges could float right up the corporate pyramid.
The 19th century is long over. The days of railroad bulls and roustabouts are gone. Amtrack has a responsibility to get that passenger to his destination, regardless of his condition. Since teachers, lifeguards, and NYC cabbies are somehow expected to be semi-EMT trained it is inexcusable that the train staff couldn’t recognize this guys condition. As in “If he was drunk he would have stunk like booze!”. Bring the effers up on charges AND sue them for billions. I don’t have a milligram of sympathy for them.
And sadly, yeah, I think the guy is long dead.
This part doesn’t seem right, does it?: “When officers arrived at the crossing, police said, Sims ran into the woods, leaving his luggage and medication behind.” WTH??
When a passenger aboard United 4123 becomes drunk and unruly they don’t pitch him off the plane at 35,000 feet: they divert to the nearest airport and let the police deal with him. The Wild West was a long, long time ago: the train crew should have locked him in a compartment, called the police at the next town on their route, and let them deal with him.
The guy ran into the woods because (a) he was in his right mind and didn’t want to be arrested (b) was out of his mind, thought they were sugar plum fairies, and didn’t want to be molested. Who knows? Unless they find him he’s probably dead. At worst he’s running around in a chemical-imbalance rage and looking for someone to kill, ala’ Beast of Yucca Flats.
One clue from a diabetic—a person in diabetic acidosis has breath that smells like aspirin (like when you open a bottle and sniff). A drunk’s breath smells like booze.
More common is an insulin-dependant diabetic passing out from low blood sugar. If they’re able to swallow without choking, give them a NON DIET Coke or somesuch.
General rule in understanding cases like these: the two commonest things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
OH YEA --- P.S. It’s always worth checking someone for a MEDICAL ALERT necklace or wristband.
Suidae - good idea but those darn things are so expensive now. And therein lies the problem in America - something as vital as that - can’t be given out to people - for free, so that idiots (who apparently only do watch American Idol, as this ‘mistaken for a drunk’ diabetic was an episode on CSI) would not have an excuse to do something so clueless as this. I agree, in this day and age, this was completely stupid and Amtrak deserves to lose it’s shirt. Here is to hoping that being fired is the least of the punishments for the mornons who made the decision to throw the man off the train.
What I’m curious about is how his cell phone got 180 miles from Williams, AZ, to Litchfield Park, AZ. Litchfield Park is where Luke AFB is located, and about 20 miles west of downtown Phoenix.
You could get there by taking the smaller state roads, 89, 93, and 60, or you would have to go back to Flagstaff and then south on Interstate 17. Litchfield Park seems an odd location to end up unless he is no longer in possion of his phone.
The event is a travesty, and I fear it will end in tragedy.
