In an outrageous decision that serves to highlight the dangerous ideology of the capitalist healthcare system, NYC emergency medical technician Qwasie Reid has been suspended without pay and subsequently fired for making an “unauthorized” stop to try to save the life of a choking little girl.
As an EMT for New York City’s 911 emergency response system I am outraged by the infuriating treatment EMT Qwasie Reid has received from his employer “Assist Ambulance”.
A frantic plea for help – A duty to act?
Qwasi Reid, who had worked for Assist Ambulance as an EMT for four years, was transporting a nursing home patient to a doctor’s appointment last Wednesday when he said a frantic teacher flagged his ambulance down at a
red light, pleading with the EMT crew for help with a student who was choking. Reid said his partner told the man they already had a patient on their ambulance and there was nothing they could do to help.
Reid, however, knew the choking girl took priority over the stable patient they were transporting, and against his partner’s urging, jumped out of the ambulance’s back door and administered first aid to the girl, who he said had already turned blue.
Reid told local TV station WABC that he cleared out the girl’s mouth, put an oxygen mask on her, used a defibrillator and started CPR, following all NY State protocols and training.
“She was blue in the face and lips. No response. Unconscious unresponsive,” explained Reid.
“I don’t regret it,” he added. “I’d do it again. If I know there’s a child choking, I’m going to do my best to help her.” Reid told WABC.
Exploitation of private EMT system
NYC’s ambulance system is split into two main groups of EMTs all with the same level of New York State certification and training in emergency response care. Most NYC EMTs work for private sector hospitals and healthcare companies, some that exclusively provide non-emergency ambulance transportation services like Reid’s employer Assist Ambulance.
The second, smaller group of NYC EMTs work as municipal employees for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and work exclusively as 911 response workers. NYC municipal (public) ambulances are often put in the same situation as was Reid, i.e being flagged by a pedestrian while they are en route to the hospital with a stable patient in their ambulance. They are never told to ignore someone crying for help in these situations because the FDNY has the liberty to care much less about recouping costs since they are a publicly funded entity primarily responsible to the community and not to private shareholders.
Companies like Assist typically pay EMTs like Reid between $9-12 an hour and many do not receive benefits like health insurance, a pension and, most importantly in this case, union representation.
“This is my situation,” Reid told the press. “It sucks. Most people get rewarded and I’m being penalized.”
If Reid had a union, which socialists understand should be a basic social right, he would not currently be out of a job and looking for a way to pay his bills. At a minimum Reid would be on paid leave while the incident was investigated. In this case it is clear to everyone but Assist that Reid did nothing wrong.
Alienation and for-profit healthcare
Assist Ambulance punished Reid because it is against company policy to make a stop without being called. Reid explains that he was really punished because Assist is only concerned about insurance money. Like most for-profit “healthcare” businesses, Assist Ambulance, is “fiscally responsible” to its shareholders, meaning it needs to be most interested in the money they receive from their customers (patients) and not in actually providing treatment and care for the sick and injured.
“As an EMT, I don’t care about your money,” Reid told dnainfo.com while he was still just on suspension. “There was a child choking. I’m worried about them firing me, but I did a good deed. I just feel like I’m being penalized for something and I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Marxism teaches us that capitalism inherently separates workers from their “work” and the products of their labor. Even though Qwasie is technically a healthcare professional, who is skilled in life saving treatment, his “work” is legally the property of Reid’s employer. Under this system of healthcare, Assist Ambulance sells Reid’s “work” to insurance companies and sick patients for a profit.
Marx called this reality of life under capitalism “alienation” and is one of the main critiques of capitalism for socialists. Marx outlined that it is the capitalist class which own the firms that employ workers; it is they, not the workers, who decide what is made, how it is made, and in what working conditions it is made. As a result, work is often directed from the top down, repetitive and even dangerous, all in an effort to maximize profits.
Assist Ambulance and every private based healthcare business tries to dictate the ethics of a profession that is supposed to be based on human need in a manner that ensures the most amount of “business.” Assist Ambulance claims that Reid should have acted like his partner and followed company policy, which was to ignore the teacher’s frantic cry for help.
In the eyes of private for-profit healthcare companies it is “bad for business” or in unprofitable if employees were just going around saving lives instead of making money for the Assist Ambulance shareholders.
We need a public healthcare system
Reid did not endanger the patient he was caring for by acting to try to help the student. Reid made a decision based on his principles and professional values. If any worker stops “doing their job” to help save the life of another person, they should be applauded, not punished even if it goes against “company policy.”
As a low wage worker, Reid seems to understand this just fine.
“I made a vow to save a life. If I had to jump out of the ambulance again, I’d do anything. I pray to God she feels better,” Reid told FoxNews.com.
As socialists we strive for healthcare services to be publicly provided, like they are in Cuba, with healthcare workers empowered to make decisions based on their professional judgment and ethics.
Unfortunately, Reid’s efforts appear to have been in vain. The girl who Reid heroically risked his job for, Noelia Echavarria, has been taken off life support by her family.
Assist Ambulance has not returned the calls of any local news agency nor put out a statement clarifying their position.
