Beyond the Shield Journal
Hit In The Line of Medical 101
May 2nd, 2006
Op/Ed National Columnist
By: Officer Thomas A. Porter D.P.O. MED. RET.

Those who are reading this and discover they are the victims from being Hit In The Line of Duty, your dealing with Hit In The Line of Duty 101. For those of you who are now survivors it is a refresher course of the reality we live in 24/7. How we go from victim to survivor takes more survival skills than any college degree we receive in Criminal Justice or any Law Enforcement Academy we ever graduated from.

The skills we have had to come to endure, go way beyond any moment in Serving and Protecting Joe or Jane Doe America. If at anytime we had been able to take courses in College and at Academy covering the thrust of what the future holds for over 1 million fellow Permanently Paralyzed and Disabled Law Enforcement Officers in America, I am sure it might be considered curriculum of mandatory studies. Sad to say it has never been offered, nor will the truth ever be realized until the day and very minute each one of us has been Hit In The Line of Duty. At this moment you will have only enrolled into the course 101. What transpires from that very moment you become the teacher, professor and student all rolled into one.

We have an out of control system that serves no one but those who are not the victim nor survivor. Those who are taking us into their maze control system would be the Superiors, County Commissioners, Mayor's, State Delegates and Governors in each state we all live in for they only serve. Then you have the Workman's Comp of each State. You have the Insurance companies. You have the Medical Care providers who under the system set up are not looking out for your best interest. They can hide behind those white coats with their name in script, sewed into the white coat to look official to blend into with the real Medical professionals. Oh they have degree's to the best of our knowledge at 1st glance in Medicine. What you do not realize is they have sold their Medical Degree's to the Corporate Insurance World. Years ago we would of said they sold their souls to the company stores.

Has the idea hit you yet, your just a number to be shuffled from one doctor to the next and some test done for the Doctors treating you to know what is really wrong with you? Of course they are not going to put on your medical records what is really wrong. That would mean admitting the truth of your actual injuries you are suffering from. That would mean that Workman's Comp would have to put up the bucks to help you maintain your life. It is a real rude awakening that hits you when you are in the victim stage of the process. For so many it has failed to hit you of what is happening before it becomes to late. All you know as the victim that your Department or Agency really cares about you. They are doing everything they can to heal your body and attempt to make you whole again. Let's see, can we take a spinal cord and make it all brand new and improved with the medical practice we have today? If the answer to this question is yes, please tell me and everyone you know what planet you live on. Maybe you have an Orthopedic Surgeon who wants to or has performed surgery on you. When I hear any fellow brother or sister in Law Enforcement has been under the knife of an Orthopedic Surgeon it turns my body cold. They do not know the 1st thing about the Spinal Cord to be attempting to perform or perform any kind of surgery on anyone's Spinal Cord. They are Bone doctors and if you have a broken arm, leg, foot, hand, hip then they are the doctor to go to. How many of us in Law Enforcement have been under the knife of an Orthopedic Surgeon on the Spinal Cord and for many several times after? The damage they do can never be replaced. They are not qualified to do Spinal Cord Surgery or even Exam's because they are Bone Doctors and not one's who practice in the field of Spinal Cord Nerves. The type of doctor for the Spinal Cord is called a Neurosurgeon. They are skilled medical doctors who treat the Spinal Cord 24/7. They know all about the nerves and what one wrong move in a surgery can do to the one being operated on. They also are, if they are honest and up front, will tell you if surgery will help, hurt or damage further what you already are dealing with from your injuries. They are the most skilled surgeons we have in the medical profession. You surely do not have a plumber come to your home to fix your electrical if you need an electrician do you? Maybe some of you have tried this and gotten your toilet when you push the handle down to turn your lights on in your bathroom from such a service call.

We have everyday in the media news and in books on how the best medical is in America. People fly to America to get the best medical care because where they live it is poor to no medical care offered. This is true for those coming to America from their respected countries. Then we need to break it down to what countries they are coming from for medical services in America. There are many in America who will go to other countries to have medical procedures done because they have the best in their respected medical fields. So when shopping for Medical Care be sure you shop around. Your local G.P. doctor has a basic knowledge of the body. They are not specialist in any one field. They can treat you in General. That is why they are called G.P.'s, General Practitioners. Of course one has to remember that Practicing Medicine is just that. Practicing on Medicine. It is not a defined science of perfection. That is why they continue to practice each day at it. They will never in all the years they are in the profession get it perfected. So they continue to 'practice' at their craft. As in any profession and craft some are more advanced than others. Some are more skilled than others. We have choices in who treats our bodies. We have the right to second and third opinions. It is the only body you get in this life time. Never accept second best when it comes to your life. No one else is going to have your body when your living, so realize the significance of what you have facing your medical care.

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