HEALTH CARE
Response to “When the treatment makes patients sick.” News, June 12
There was an interesting article in the June 12 AJC. The authors used Medicare data to compare Georgia hospitals. Why doesn’t the state of Georgia require some measure of hospital performance? Any private business would be well aware of their own and their main competitors’ performance measures.
Conclusions based on national rankings are quite interesting, especially for prestige hospitals such as Emory and WellStar Kennestone. Data shows WellStar Kennestone has virtually eliminated bedsores (0.096) — way below all others. Why not apply their procedures across the board? As politicians go after educators, police and firefighters to keep our overseas wars funded, what is their plan for good health care workers? Can we really afford these wars?
David Bice, Kennesaw
PUBLIC SAFETY
Rescue should remind us about pool safety
“Pope saves 6-year-old from drowning in pool” (Sports, June 15) about a near-drowning at a swimming pool refers to a tragic situation — and provides an opportunity for water safety public awareness. It is vital for everyone using pools and spas to stay safe while having fun.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) public safety campaign, “Pool Safely,” is aimed at saving lives this summer. The campaign offers parents and children simple water safety steps to follow while playing in and around pools and spas.
There have been over 200 drownings and near-drownings reported by the media nationwide this year (including six incidents in Georgia). We estimate that nearly 300 children drown, and more than 4,000 annually end up in hospital emergency rooms because of submersion injuries. The CPSC believes that one incident is one too many.
To pool safely means staying close to children in a pool or spa; constantly watching children in and around the water; knowing lifesaving skills like how to swim and CPR; and installing safety equipment in, and around the pool. For more information, visit PoolSafely.gov
Inez M. Tenenbaum, chairwoman, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
EDUCATION
Educator on target about parent comments
If professor Kathleen Comerford (“Parents, listen more, talk less,” Opinion, June 12) had delivered her opinion column to Georgia educators in the Georgia Dome, she would have received cheers putting Super Bowl fans to shame.
She was not parent-bashing. I appreciated her directness and clarity on the topic of parents believing themselves to be giving their children “a hand” when, in reality, they are handicapping them.
While I agree that we often have confused self-esteem with indulgence, and performance with attendance (coupled with a sense of entitlement), there is a correlation between indulgence and the burger-slogan mindset: have it your way.
Helicopter parents are the mere tip of a societal iceberg. Whether we are in steerage or first class, all of us are passengers on the Titanic. In the matter of higher education, to ignore the signals of this particular contemporary phenomenon is to do so at our peril.
Frances Wood, Decatur
Managers rewarded for their greed, insensitivity
Whatever happened to leadership by example?
I’m referring primarily to the recent raises for the presidents of three Georgia universities, but examples of poor (or no ) management acumen being rewarded are prevalent today in all levels of government and private industry. Greed and insensitivity to the needs of others seems to be the skill set necessary for management and supervision today.
I learned supervision in the United States Marine Corps while serving in Vietnam. Respect and concern for one’s subordinates was paramount. I also learned that it doesn’t take courage to face an enemy weaker than oneself; it takes courage to face an enemy who is stronger. It doesn’t take courage to furlough and cut the salaries of others; it takes courage to take the first hit yourself. But, it appears that courage is also in short supply these days.
Ronald D. Johnson, Austell
GOVERNMENT
Slash defense spending to balance budget
The United States cannot continue to borrow money on a monthly basis to pay back interest on a mounting debt, while we keep on spending. The only real solution is for us to slash defense spending by two thirds; close bases around the world and discontinue our constant incursions into countries that have not attacked us. We are spread too thin, but continue with a foreign policy that is only making us enemies. We will most assuredly fall apart unless we face the stupidity of our policy of making war with everybody, and continuing to spend money we do not have on defense. China does not spend at this pace. Nobody does.
Rather than hurting the poor and elderly in our attempt to balance the budget, we must stop spending money on wars, plain and simple.
William E. Lynch, Adairsville
UNEMPLOYMENT
Send those collecting benefits into field work
I keep hearing about unemployment, a shortage of migrant workers and welfare and unemployment costs.
For any person on welfare or unemployment benefits who can work, stop their government payments and send them to the fields. The result: no more illegal immigrants in the fields, reduced welfare and unemployment costs, and practically no unemployment. Problems solved.
Jim Askren, Atlanta
