Priority treatment for bandits

THE EDITOR: Permit me through the medium of your letters column to pose a question to the average law-abiding, tax-paying citizen of Trinidad and less so Tobago. Suppose a crime emergency developed in your home or in your immediate neighbourhood. You call the police. They do not come. The next day you find out on the news that they were out on a call about the murder of Guerra, or some don, or some known kidnapper or notorious criminal, how do you believe you would react? Let me relate for you my experience with two criminals whom, up to this day, I do not know and who never threatened my life. It was almost midnight when my wife was awakened by a severe pain. Of course we assumed it was a gas pain and immediately treated it with the usual hot ginger tea. But over the next hour or so the pain kept recurring. This must be more serious than we thought so we rushed to the Arima health facility around one am. Pending the arrival of the doctor from his quarters, all the relevant information was taken.

A short while later, we saw nurses scurrying around and were more than happy and relieved at the immediate response to our emergency even though it caused us some concern as to its seriousness. I thought it was a ruptured appendix and the preparations were for x-ray and emergency surgery. But after five, 10, 20 minutes no one came to us, so I sought an explanation. I was told there was an even more serious emergency even though there was no physical examination on my wife. Not even a pain killing tablet was offered. I assumed it was trauma arising from a vehicular accident. But then I heard the real story. Two men had been shot by the police when they attempted some hold-up. They had shot at the police who returned fire. One was dead even before reaching hospital. The other had sustained gunshot wounds to his belly and his leg. Without any examination whatsoever, the emergency of my law-abiding, tax-paying ($2,500/m) wife had been downgraded to a secondary status behind that of a bandit who had tried to kill police! I was forced to call and wake my son who had to attend school the next day preparing for his A levels to bring her credit card before rushing her to a private hospital in Tunapuna for emergency treatment!

The pain had reduced considerably and she had to return next morning for an x-ray as the diagnosis was a possible kidney stone. The entire bill was a little over $1,200. Reading this now dispassionately you may say, “Oh, it was nothing after all and the Arima doctor was right to give priority to save the life of the bandit.” Honestly now, what would have been your reaction in the circumstances with your law-abiding, tax-paying wife against a bandit who had tried to kill police? I only hope that in all these cases of gang-related murders, or more correctly “hits” that the police open a file, put in the first crime scene reports and photos, news reports of the crime and put them all in or on top some filing cabinet until the next one comes in and not waste valuable police time investigating such killings. If evidence comes in unsolicited or accidentally that could lead to an arrest, fine. But otherwise just put ‘Noted.’

STEPHEN CAMERON
Arima