If you ever read a news article about an accident fatality that occurred in Japan, you’ll read words like “the victim was taken to a hospital but died shortly after arriving.” It’s not that 100% of injured people wait until reaching the hospital to perspire — in Japan, medical attention begins at the hospital, rather than in the ambulance. Although Japan has a well-run healthcare system which adequately cares for the nation’s 127 million citizens to the point that Japanese are the longest-lived people in the world, hospitals aren’t always the most modern, a fact I was reminded of the other day when I went to doctor for an eye problem and heard a dot matrix printer churning away in the background somewhere. To Japan’s embarrassment, ambulances are essentially only for transportation of the sick and injured, and little if any medical care is given to patients as they ride to the hospital. Why this should be is a complex question — the pride of doctors not wanting anyone else to do their jobs, the massive conservatism of ambulance drivers, who are “special” civil servants enjoying lifelong employment, and general slowness to change, are all As the country ages, this is one area that certainly needs to be addressed urgently.
