What has happened to us?

[SunshineandShudders]

There are four ambulances and a serious incident response unit at my local park, apparently as a result of a sledging accident.

You'd think, wouldn't you, that if anyone needed to say anything on the local FB page, it would be to wish the child(ren) well?

Oh no. Pages of people wondering why anyone would be stupid enough to let their child take a sledge out when the NHS is under pressure, begging people not to risk wasting precious resources. Etc etc. Several pages before anyone wished the child well.

What have we become? Are we really supposed to lock our children up for weeks on end? And has it really become OK to publically gloat and blame when a child is potentially seriously injured, even while the incident is still going on?

To be fair, that is an annoying and unnecessary waste of NHS time.

Really, so no one should be sledging this winter? Or riding a bike? Or doing any dangerous DIY or gardening? After all, most accidents happen in the home.

What about people who need extra NHS resources because they've always been too sedentary?

And even if you do think that, how is it OK to be berrating people before you even know how serious the injuries are?

I think local FB pages have a disproportionately high number of people whose main form of exercise has been curtain-twitching and typing “STAY AT HOME FFS HOW HARD CAN IT BE?” on said FB groups.

Yes obviously not ideal that anyone needs emergency care in this situation, but accidents happen and sledging isn’t exactly an irresponsibly dangerous activity.

We all know the pressure the NHS is under, we have a personal responsibility to make sure we are considerate about what we do during this time. Sledging is always going to end in tears for someone or other, it's just smart to not do anything that risky at the moment.

tears =/= ambulances though, most of the time.

I thought we were asked to Stay AtHome and not mix. There are always additional accidents in snow and ice, some of which could be avoided, especially now.

We're allowed outdoor exercise and as far as anyone knows the child was with family.

I don't consider this a waste of NHS resources. This is what the NHS should be for.

Kids living life, having accidents. A safety net. Tbh, the thought of kids sledging right now is a healthy bit of normality, in my view.

Its not a new thing.

Any accident or tragedy that happens you get the threads started on here.

"Why did this very newly bereaved parent make this choice, I would never....."

Makes people feel smug and gloaty. Saving the NHS is just the new excuse for those people to feel superior.

@AnyFucker

I don't consider this a waste of NHS resources. This is what the NHS should be for.

Kids living life, having accidents. A safety net. Tbh, the thought of kids sledging right now is a healthy bit of normality, in my view.

Yes, exactly how I feel. Thank god, there's something they can do that resembles "living".

Even if you are tutting over it, why would anyone be so cruel as to say so publically while the child is receiving emergency care?

I agree with the people on the FB page. It's hard to feel sympathy for someone who hasn't helped themselves. There are plenty of places to sledge where the risk of injury is minimal, chances are they weren't in such a place. The NHS doesn't need people taking stupid risks resulting in injury to add to their workload. People already in hospital don't need to be dying because the only available doc was treating an avoidable injury. People waiting for an ambulance don't need to be dying because the ambulance wasn't available due to treating an avoidable injury.

It's dramatic to say "locking kids up". It's LOCKDOWN for everyone, the clue is in the name. And they're not literally locked up, nobody is. People are allowed to go for a walk including children. Lots of adults would prefer to be doing something more exciting too. It's hard for everyone not just children.

I wouldn't say anything if I saw someone taking stupid risks and if they hurt themselves I'd give them first aid, but I wouldn't be sympathetic and I would feel pissed off. It's a FB page, nobody has to read it, including the people involved in the incident or their sympathisers.

I personally wouldn’t be allowing my child to sledge at the moment given the acute shortage of emergency care, however I wouldn’t say so on the Facebook post, as you say I would say nothing, or wish the children well. I hope they are ok.

It's hard to feel sympathy for someone who hasn't helped themselves

A family encouraging their child to enjoy outdoor exercise is helping them avoid many of the health conditions, long term, that have made some people so vulnerable during this crisis. If you feel people need to "help themselves" before they are worthy of NHS treatment, the NHS wouldn't be there to serve anyone who's ever smoked/drunk too much/not been a consistently healthy weight/not eaten their 5 a day or indeed, not taken regular exercise.

I'd better not be crossing any roads then. Better not get in my car. Just walking down the street is dangerous. If I get hurt it will waste valuable resources.

My DH is currently up a ladder, clearing a gutter. If he falls and needs an ambulance would he not deserve the care he needs ?

@AnyFucker

I'd better not be crossing any roads then. Better not get in my car. Just walking down the street is dangerous. If I get hurt it will waste valuable resources.

My DH is currently up a ladder, clearing a gutter. If he falls and needs an ambulance would he not deserve the care he needs ?

I sent my DS2 up a ladder to clear gutters last weekend. There was me thinking it was a valuable life lesson for him and a short period of fresh air and activity away from the screen for him plus it saved me doing it

I didn't realise that in a PANDEMIC nothing else matters and we all need to stick to the sofa.

We should all put our kids in stait jackets in case they fall down the stairs. Outdoor fun, fresh air, vitamin D and exercise not allowed.
Yanbu

My DH is currently up a ladder, clearing a gutter. If he falls and needs an ambulance would he not deserve the care he needs

He would absolutely deserve the best care but unfortunately with the way things are at the moment, he might not get it.

Yes but we are currently supposed to be in a lockdown with a legal instruction for us to stay home. of course it’s not the Childs fault and no one would wish any child/anyone any harm but at the moment they shouldn’t have been there in the first place

@Figgygal

Yes but we are currently supposed to be in a lockdown with a legal instruction for us to stay home. of course it’s not the Childs fault and no one would wish any child/anyone any harm but at the moment they shouldn’t have been there in the first place

That's not true. We are still encouraged to take daily exercise outdoors, as indeed we have seen by the PMs example only this week.

I do wonder sometimes if most people are secret narcissists who only care about themselves. So save the NHS = save a spare bed in case I need it.

Isnt sledging exercise? I can see it's fun in a otherwise dull unstimulating life for a child, but also maybe not a great idea right now either.

I didn't post about people deserving care or not. If they've hurt themselves then they deserve care obviously, hence my comment about how I'd give an injured person first aid no matter what they'd been doing.

But it would be so much better if they didn't put themselves in a position of needing care whilst we're in the middle of a bloody pandemic.

I posted about not feeling sympathy towards them, which is what the OP was originally asking about.

OP didn't post saying "do they deserve care". OP posted saying "people on FB aren't wishing them well".

That's not true. We are still encouraged to take daily exercise outdoors

Hmmm. I would say sledging is dangerously close to outdoor recreation, which is not permitted.

@Fridget

That's not true. We are still encouraged to take daily exercise outdoors

Hmmm. I would say sledging is dangerously close to outdoor recreation, which is not permitted.

Then it's a long time since you've been sledging. I went with a friend the last time we had and notable snow, two middle aged women, we had a blast. However, it was most definitely exercise. We're both very fit runners, all the dragging the sledge back up was exhausting. We had to take our coats off we got so hot

Oh ffs, it's a kid on a sledge getting some exercise, not bloody parachuting or similar. A little bit of joy in a stressful and difficult time.

I agree with you OP. In fact I was out with the DC earlier today sledging down our really steep driveway straight into a garage full of crap.
“What if they crash into the wall” was the last thought going through my head while I enjoyed every minute of their happy care free fun. It’s what they all need so badly right now and is good for the soul.
The balance of risk has been lost during this pandemic and I refuse to live my life never doing anything fun, just in case. The NHS is there for all and not every single thing that happens to require needing it is as a result of sodding covid.