Alofa and I live and work in Brooklyn, which overlooks Wellington City, including the hospital. We have lived here for the last 40 years. This year, more than any, we hear the constant wail of ambulances rushing critically ill people to the hospital. We are woken at night at least once a week as the rescue helicopter flies overhead. There are usually several flights per day. This is unlike anything we have ever experienced before.
New Zealand was once one of the healthiest countries in the world; we are now one of the least healthy in the developed world. Furthermore, we now have historic all-causes deaths per 100,000, possibly the worst in the developed world. These are shameful facts, and it appears nobody in the health sector, media, or politics wants to ask the hard questions. It's as if they don't care, possibly because it is their fault, and it is easier to continue with the lies and deception than to admit they got it badly wrong.
I wonder what is causing all these emergencies?
No matter what may be the cause, we must take care not to normalise what is an extremely abnormal situation, nor should we overlook that many of the people being rushed to hospital have hopes and ambitions that have been dashed in one foul blow. They have wives, husbands, children and close friends, all of whom are deeply affected; many have businesses to run, children to care for and more. The disruption and trauma of harm and fatality run deep and wide.
NZ's female fertility may have declined by about 20% and possibly more for males in just the last year (We'll know more about this soon). With record all-causes deaths, such declines in fertility mean we may be on the cusp of population decline. Civil society may collapse if the population decline is too precipitous. Let's hope anticipated declines are manageable. But, while we debate the research and macro-impact, we must not forget that previously healthy people are dying prematurely, and they are our family, friends and co-workers: they are real people - not inanimate statistics for political manipulation.
There is too much maiming and too much death. Just last week, my friend, Paul Charlette, experienced this terrible incident where a client died in front of him (published with permission):
Hi Gary
I am fine, thanks for asking.
One never knows what one will experience from one day to the next.
I had an appointment at 9 am with a potential client I had never met. I arrived at the property. The 65-year-old man was the sole resident, and we started chatting.
About two minutes into the conversation, he said mid-conversation, "I am not feeling well", and slumped in the lounge chair. He looked very pale & grey.
We continued talking, and about two minutes later, his eyes rolled backwards, his head slumped back in the lounge chair, and he went into an immediate deep snore.
Then erratic breathing like sleep aponia and snoring followed for the first one to two minutes, followed by a large open mouth deep breath, then one minute later a very slight exhale and then the breathing stopped. I dialled his partner to see if there was a history of fits but got an answer phone. I then dialled 111, they advised me to drag the body flat onto the floor and clasp my hands together and push hard in the middle of his chest to their count 1,2,3,4, repeating the count 1,2,3,4 on my speaker phone.
111 said to keep this rhythm going until the ambulance arrived, and they stayed on the phone, saying that all services were alerted and on their way.
I did not really have time to grasp the situation, that I was pumping a technically dead person's chest, and my actions would hopefully contribute to a good outcome.
Five minutes later, the fire and ambulance service arrived simultaneously. They took over the CPR, and I sat on the couch, and my emotions kicked in. I experienced many emotions over the next few minutes. I was welling up inside for those left behind even though I did not know the person. Then I felt a sense of how precious and fragile life is. I questioned whether my CPR was rigorous enough as the CPR performed by the monitored medical crew was much more intense. I had only practised on a dummy some 25 years ago on a Company paid first aid course.
I could not leave and watched as the medical crew tried for 30 minutes to revive the person, to no avail. I was then required to wait for the police, who required a signed affidavit and a relative or neighbour to ID the dead person lying on the lounge floor with a sheet over his body, with his face still exposed.
The Police arrived, and I gave them a statement in the kitchen in the open-plan room. I then left and felt like I was having an out-of-body experience all day. The Police asked if I was alright and required counselling or not. I said I was fine. I started to come right about 6 pm that night.
The Medical crew praised me for my efforts at the time, and his partner thanked me by text the next day, which was nice.
The overwhelming result of this experience is that I feel people should be nice to others and more empathetic as one never knows when those will be the last words you say to that person.
Kind regards.
Paul Charlett
If you have not yet subscribed to Guy Hatchard's "Hatchard Report", please do so here to keep up with the research and its implications for New Zealanders. And, please take a few minutes to read this latest of Guy's ongoing reporting:
Message to a Relieved But Grieving Nation
Just published research raises alarming red flags which require action
Leading scientists sound the alarm on Covid vaccine safety
Covid restrictions are largely coming to an end in New Zealand. Thank you for some sanity. Never before have novel medical concepts been so intertwined with naive political allegiances and never before have careerist medical professionals been able to exercise total control over politicians. Good riddance.
Does this draw the curtains on the pandemic and have we learnt the right lessons? Not yet.
Click on the link below to read the article: