On Assignment with Los Angeles Paramedics

For the past week I"ve been working on our latest documentary, which is about the access to healthcare crisis in America today.

The situation is troubling at best and continues to defy any humane logic. The incentives of our healthcare system run counter to common sense, what's best for each of our individual welfare and our society as a whole. We are wasting money and not providing the best care for the greatest number of our citizens. In Los Angeles, we are witnessing the abuse and misuse of the great talents and commitment of the city's firefighter paramedic force. Most of the calls we've been on are non-emergencies that only tax the system and often leave these men and women unable to respond to their main task, which is health emergency 911 calls. These paramedics are being utilized by the community of Watts, which is where I've been stationed, more as primary care doctors, or at worst, as a very expensive taxi service to get them to the head of the line at the emergency rooms of the local hospitals. This is not good nor is it a smart use of our resources. The cost of an LA firefighter ambulance transport is $500 when it's non-urgent and as high as $900 in more critical cases, not including medications. That's before even setting foot inside a hospital. Many of the people who are calling for ambulances either don't have insurance or are under insured. This means the taxpayers will end up covering the costs. I don't have a problem with paying taxes to help those in need, but the system is perverted the way it works now. It is fueled by the wrong incentives. People need to become more educated and the system needs to be revamped. Community clinics, doctor home visits and less expensive forms of primary care need to be implemented in most places, but especially in our low income areas.

Here are a few images from the past week's work. Comments and solutions are welcomed.

New Comment on the Iraqi Kurdistan Flipbook

This note came in from Denise O. Mangen, a photographer, student and educator at NYU...

"thanks for tipping me off to the flipbook frenzy. got me all fired up in many ways. most frustrating was not the criticism but the lack of constructivity in it! a major point missed is the co-creation of meaning. regardless of medium and mode of dissemination, author, subject and viewer/reader all work to do the telling of any story. what is unfortunate is the distanciation of this flow from our conscious consideration of said meaning. in much the same way that a photographer brings her own subjuectivities to bear upon the telling of a story, a viewer will to the story being told. words such as
authoritarian and even objectivity bring nothing productive to the table, but rather reinforce and perpetuate the mass machine of media and misunderstanding. what i love about the flipbook is not the look at everyday kurdish life...is not the mode of presentation (on msnbc or mediastorm)...is not that ed kashi is the storyteller... what moves me about this piece is that its mode of presentation allows for multiple entry points into understanding the photographic process (in general and yours, specifically) and simultaneously enables an understanding that this is what ed kashi saw and is telling us about
everyday kurdish life. the distinction may seem subtle, but is very important and is the difference, i believe, between the rantings of some of LS folks and the praises being sung. the distinction is rooted in the multiple layers of meaning in this piece: the story that you tell in your images, the story that is told in mediastorm's presentation of them, the story that is told in msnbc's packaging, and so on. they do next exist disparately, but are instead coeval and simultaneous. that's quite an achievement; on your part, for storm and crew, and for the viewer who is moved by, even if not cognizant of,
these layers.

kudos: for your storytelling and for shaking things up enough to get a least a few photogs to think more thoughtfully, critically, and creatively about what it is that they're doing."