Comments by "P M" (@pm2886) on "NBC News" channel.

I live in a country famous for bushfires (what Americans call 'wildfires'), and have to say that I've been shocked and horrified at how many people don't seem to understand the huge health risk they're taking by being outdoors in an atmosphere of visible smoke haze. You don't have to be coughing, to be subject to irreversible particulate damage to your lungs. The kind of damage which - if you're very lucky - only makes you prone to bronchitis.
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@AaronBlox-h2t Not sure what's going on there. Either the govt isn't issuing nearly enough warnings, or people aren't taking them seriously. You'd think that in a location which sees a lot of fires, people would know how to stay safe.
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That's because they didn't do anything wrong. While we all feel bad for this woman, she's an unfortunate victim of her own personal circumstances. And once discharged, she is no longer under the hospital's care. They have no control over her, and any interference with her would be illegal - obviously. No facility can just allow the homeless and mentally ill to stay as long as they want .. nor can any facility lock them up to prevent them 'going out into the cold'. And the LEAST able to help these people, is a hospital. Because any energy given to dealing with the homeless and the mentally ill, is energy taken away from saving lives. It's utterly inappropriate to expect a hospital, of all places, to somehow fix these situations. That's NOT their job. Not in any way. Even if they wanted to do it, there's no way they could. If you don't like seeing people like this woman, in this situation, make sure you don't abandon your family members when they need you most. Go to the hospital with them, and stay with them for as long as it takes. Make sure they get home safely. Do the right thing by each other, and this stuff will stop happening. It hardly ever happened a generation ago, because we took better care of each other. We also didn't expect 'society' to take care of us. We took care of ourselves, and our own.
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Why? No one can stay in the ER once they're discharged. That's the rules. If you're not sick enough to be hospitalised, you have to leave. Rich or poor, rain or shine, you have to go. No exceptions.
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"Fair" is for disneyland. Reality doesn't do "fair", and we have to work with reality. As you say, this should be a warning to any younger person who thinks the Govt will come to their rescue when they get old. It was always a stupid thing to believe, so at this point they should know better .. but unfortunately some don't. Hopefully this reminds those folk, and they realise they have to financially plan ahead for their old age. And they have to stick together in stable, secure, and supportive families.
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Why did you have to be dragged out? Did you refuse to leave? If so .. why would you do that? PS: everyone has to organise their own ride home. Hospitals don't provide that service.
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