To feel sorry for the Australian DJs?

[andapartridgeinaRowantree]

Obviously more sorry for the nurse's family. I wonder how long she was having suicidal thoughts for? I can't think this could have been the only cause,

But these pranks have been going on for such a long time and those DJs could not have predicted such a result and are going to have to live with it for the rest of their lives.

It's such a tragedy and I feel very sad for all concerned.

I agree with Mindosa. It was in bad taste but was not a spiteful or malicious act that they could see clearly could have lead to someone taking their own life. It was just stupid and thoughtless and they are paying a very high price for that. That is why I have sympathy for them, while also, of course, feeling deeply sorry for the nurses poor family.

Well that kind of is blaming them and I am amazed that anyone makes that connection. I mean suicide is very very complex

We will never know will we?

But I think it would be an insult to the nurse and her family if we all said they aren't accountable in some way.

Not just them, the whole team.

verylittle What I dont understand is why this prank is different to the millions of others that are done on radio stations worldwide but come to nothing or different to a show like Punk'd.

It's not. Particularly since the chances of not one but two people actually falling for those accents/script must have seemed infinitesimal. I think if there had been any thought or planning put into it, once they'd realised the nurse had been taken in, a more brazen pair would have asked to be put through to HRH herself.

She had morning sickness,I dont think anyone is saying that its in good taste but fgs she wasnt seriously ill

She had HG. HG can kill. She could have suffered a miscarriage

Do you really think that those DJ's can be blamed for a suicide

Not once have I said that. I don't think anyone on this thread has.

Be realistic, the actions did not lead to those consequences

Had Jacintha not killed herself, their actions could have lead to her being sacked, or quitting in sheer humiliation - would that have been OK?

Had the situation been worse for the DofC they could have called in the middle of her miscarrying her child - would that have been OK?

I don't care who was in the hospital at the time. At the time of their call the nurses could have been in the middle of a "Code Blue" for any one of the other patients. Hospitals are NOT aceptable targets for prank calls.

I disagree totally. You cant blame some people just to make others feel better.

Mindosa - Kate didn't have morning sickness. She had hyperemesis. Before the advent of drips, etc, it used to kill people. Charlotte Bronte is believed to have died from it. Even now, if people aren't treated (and particularly rehydrated) quickly enough it can cause some pretty nasty problems. Including organ failure. The radio station did not know Kate wasn't "seriously ill". She quite easily could have been, and if she wasn't, it's only because modern medicine can keep her hydrated. Try having a read of some of the threads where people have posted their experiences of HG if you still think "fgs she wasn't seriously ill".

I would also suggest that making someone the hook for a practical joke even if the 'only' have morning sickness is pretty vile. I wouldn't make someone I love the focus of a joke even if they only had flu. I am saying I 'blame' the DJs (although neither do I feel sympathy), but the joke itself was incredibly cruel and in very poor taste. Pranks based on people being sick are just mean.

Sorry. Cross post with Eve on the HG/morning sickness thing.

So you don't think it's right that possibly Jacintha's husband will blame the radio station/dj's for his wifes death or having some part in it? And if he does he's wrong?

What we might never know is, how the hospital handled this internally.

We DO know, they might lack routines.
But will they be able to admit this?
Did they blame the nurses?

The nurse in question was on night duty. There was no receptionist. Maybe they are not at all used to anybody phoning at night, and lack procedures for handling calls in the night. The nurse in question may not be very familiar with English accents, be it Ozzie accents, Brummie accents, etc, they could all sound the same to some people. I know I have a hard time distinguishing between some English accents and oceanic accents. If you are not used to talking to the queen, you may not know their voice well enough, especially not at night. She might have thought to herself "wow, ma'am has had a few tipples, better put her through to a more senior nurse who can handle this situation. Oh dear". But, this is pure speculation.

In my opinions, the djs are culpable, but the real blame might lay in the hospital, their procedures, or lack thereof. But will we ever know?

Flip side of that question is what if her husband and kids blame and are angry at her for her death (suicide not yet established) and think she alone was solely responsible? Would they be right/wrong?

Obviously her husband, who is hurting terribly, is very likely to blame the DJs, the radio station, the hospital, everybody and anybody. That is a normal reaction from someone who is a victim of a terrible tragedy.

People who are not personally involved in the situation are able to see things more rationally and, in this case, I think its rational to see the prank itself as a really stupid, irresponsible, childish and inconsiderate thing to do while at the same time realising that the tragic suicide was not an outcome anyone could reasonably have foreseen.

Everlong I think its understandable to want to pin blame on someone but ultimately yes they are wrong in that the DJ's cant be to blame.

Members of my family were clamouring to blame a particular person over my fathers death and although that person did cause my father anguish, they were not to blame and blaming them was just a way of family members deflecting the hurt of suicide and the feelings of guilt. Understandable but not really right iyswim

Imagine getting that call? The duchess is in the hospital being treated and the queen rings asking for her.

I keep thinking what would most people have done. And I think a lot of people would have been scared and put her through. In shock. Only in hindsight then think holy fuck.

Like Eve has said numerous times, they should never have rang a hospital. Total fuckwittery.

In my opinions, the djs are culpable, but the real blame might lay in the hospital, their procedures, or lack thereof

I agree Quint, and I am astounded that the hospital does not employ 24 hour cover on its reception desk - no matter who is admitted. I understand that NHS Hospitals are horribly underfunded and therefore understaffed, and could excuse it in that case, but a Privately Funded Hospital has no excuse. They make more than enough money to employ enough staff.

Nurses should be concentrating on patients, not answering telephones.

Funnily enough pumpkin I doubt the family of Jacintha will blame her.

Far more likely to blame someone else rather the wife/mother they love.

Strange that you could and would even think that.

A private hospital has profit at the core of their operation. I honestly would not think they would forego profit to employ more staff if they could avoid it. Or pay more qualified staff. You just expect it to be better because it is private, but it may not be the reality. (not meant as a slight on the particular nurses in question at all, but general)

I have seen the inside of enough private hospitals and clinics, to say that the hygiene and cleanliness does not surpass the NHS in any way, and not the staff levels. I was never more bruised on my arm than when a doctor at a private clinic in central London decided to do the blood tests himself as he had no nurse available that day.

It does happen sometimes Everlong. It's not rational, of course, but sometimes grieving relatives do blame the suicide victim for 'leaving' them. As I said, it's not rational but it wasn't a strange comment for pumpkin to make.

Strange that you could and would even think that.

Why? It's a hypothetical certainly, since none of us have been in their quite unique situation. But hardly unheard of for family members to bear anger or negative emotions towards the victim, especially if the perceived reason for the suicide is difficult to understand.

I agree Quint, and I am astounded that the hospital does not employ 24 hour cover on its reception desk - no matter who is admitted.

I suspect they will be revisiting that policy in the near future. stingy bastards

Yes I'm quite sure in some cases some people might be angry with the dead person.

In this case, where there is another tangent to the whole situation I would be very surprised if the family weren't angry and had lay some fault with the dj's/radio station.

You would have to be saintly in my eyes not to do so.

In this case, where there is another tangent to the whole situation I would be very surprised if the family weren't angry and had lay some fault with the dj's/radio station.

My mother's comment to me on the situation was, "if you killed yourself over something as stupid as that, I'd be so angry I'd want to bring you back to life so I could wring your neck."

Of course, she was speaking hypothetically and we can't know how she'd feel in an actual situation, but I could see where she was coming from. Doesn't mean, as you say, not laying fault at the door of the radio station/hospital/God as well.

Ah right.

That's where you get your pleasantness from.

Until someone very close to you kills themselves you have no idea whatsoever how you will act. None. So spare me please your anecdotes from mother.

I know what you mean Pumpkin. I remember when a member of my extended family committed suicide and there was an element of anger amongst some members at the anguish and heartbreak she had left behind her. Of course, the poor woman wasn't thinking normally, but it was just a reaction from people trying to cope with the fallout.