近日,美国马萨诸塞州一名女子腿被卡在地铁列车与站台之间的缝隙中,她的第一反应竟是哭着恳求周围路人不要叫救护车,因为叫救护车需要3000美元,她付不起。此事在社交媒体上引发了有关美国医疗保障体系的热议。
我们来看看外媒的报道:
The 45-year-old was walking off Boston's Orange Line train at Massachusetts Avenue around 5.30 pm on Friday when she lost her footing and plunged down the gap, giving her a deep cut that went right down to the bone.
上周五下午5点半左右,这名45岁的女子正离开马赛诸塞大道的波士顿捷运橘线列车,突然没站稳,腿被卡在列车与站台缝隙中。她的腿上裂了一个大口子,伤口一直深到骨头。
Her fellow passengers helped push the train to the side and free her, but even as she thanked them, shaking and weeping from the pain, she begged them not to call an ambulance because it cost too much.
其他乘客一起帮忙挪开了列车,将她救出,但她在向大家表示感谢的时候,还恳求大家不要叫救护车,因为费用太高,而当时她痛到浑身颤抖,泣不成声。
'Do you know how much an ambulance costs?' she said. 'It's $3,000,' she said. 'I can't afford that.'
她说:“你知道叫救护车要花多少钱吗?3000美元!我可掏不起。”
The woman's heartbreaking pleas have reignited the debate around healthcare in the US, with many branding it 'barbaric' that someone should be forced to choose between life and debt.
这名女子令人心碎的恳求激起了美国民众对医疗状况的热议。很多人说美国的医疗体系“野蛮原始”,竟逼迫人们在要命还是要钱之间作出选择。
'It is absolutely disgraceful that someone has to worry about the cost of an ambulance in a situation like that. My thoughts are with her,' said Twitter user Yalina.
推特用户雅琳娜说:“伤成那样的情况下还得担心救护车的费用,这绝对是医疗体系的耻辱。我很同情她。”
Another wrote: 'We need universal healthcare, an accident shouldn't force you to choose between crushing debt or permanent injury/death.'
还有人写道:“我们需要全面覆盖的医疗服务,不能因为一起意外就让人选择是负债还是给身体造成永久性损伤,甚至死亡。”
'It's barbaric, outdated, and just unrealistic,' another tweet read.
另一位用户说:“美国的医疗体系野蛮原始、过时,而且不切实际。”
Many Americans said they are angry with the current state of healthcare, which they say is confusing, unfair and overly expensive.
很多美国人表示他们对目前的医疗状况很愤怒,目前美国的医疗让人困惑,不公平,而且太贵。
Americans spend more money on healthcare than any other population, and healthcare spending rocketed $900 billion between 1996 and 2013.
美国人的医疗费用比其他国家都要高。从1996年到2013年,美国人的医疗花费暴增了9000亿美元(约合6万亿元人民币)。
By 2013, total healthcare spending hit $2.1 trillion, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers say that figure has now likely soared to more than $3.2 trillion, which equates to 18 percent of the country's economy.
根据《美国医学协会期刊》公布的研究数据,截至2013年,美国的医疗花费总额达到2.1万亿美元。研究人员说,这一数字目前可能已经飙升至超过3.2万亿美元,相当于美国经济总量的18%。
But while spending increased, America's life expectancy has remained sluggish - with an average of 79 years old, compared to the global average of 83 years old.
尽管支出上升,美国人的预期寿命却止步不前,平均为79岁,而世界平均预期寿命已经达到83岁。
The US is the only country in which wealth has been linked to life expectancy with a study finding that the richest one percent were found to live an average of 15 years longer than the poorest one percent.
美国是唯一一个财富与预期寿命有关的国家。一项研究发现,美国最富有的1%人群平均寿命比最贫穷的1%人多出15岁。
The tweet that started the debate came from Boston Globe reporter Maria Cramer who was on the platform when the woman got her leg trapped.
这名女性腿被卡住时,《波士顿邮报》记者玛利亚·克莱默刚好在站台上。她目击了这起事件并发表了推特,从而引发了这场争论。
她写道:“橘线上的可怕一幕。一名女士的腿被卡在列车与站台的缝隙之间,场面吓人还流了好多血,皮肉都破了。她特别痛苦,一直在哭。她都这么痛苦了,可是还在恳求人们不要叫救护车。她哭着说,‘救护车要3000美元,我付不起。’”
The tweet has been shared and liked tens of thousands of times.
这条推特已被分享和点赞数万次。
Meanwhile, the victim who has not been named, was eventually taken to the Boston Medical Center, where her thigh was found to have a 'serious laceration, exposing the bone' that would need surgery.
最终,这位不具名的伤者被送往波士顿医疗中心,她的大腿“严重撕裂,露出骨头”,需要手术治疗。
Boston EMS chief Jim Hooley said ambulance callouts generally costed up to $1,900 for people with pressing needs, like resuscitation.
波士顿紧急救护局局长吉姆·胡利表示,在波士顿,急需救护(比如需要心肺复苏)的人叫救护车一般花费最多1900美元。
resuscitation [rɪ,sʌsɪ'teɪʃən]:复苏
'We just worry about taking care of people,' Hooley said. 'We don't want to cause them more stress.'
他说,“我们只担心照顾伤者。我们不想给他们造成过多的压力。”
'We just want to reassure them that nothing bad is going to happen to them because of their inability to pay.'
“我们只希望让他们放心,不会因付不起钱而导致不好的事发生。”
在美国,救护车出勤的医疗费用差异很大,病情不明,很难说费用多少。
2012年的联邦调查发现,每次乘坐救护车的成本平均在224美元(约1485元人民币)至2204美元(约14610人民币)之间。
由于对没有医保的人来说,美国医疗费用过于昂贵,我国赴外留学生中,一直流传着“晕倒别喊救护车、病倒不要去医院”的话。
就连美国本国人,也常常不舍得叫救护车。
媒体报道了女子拒绝叫救护车的新闻后,美国网友心有戚戚,纷纷表示明白女子的选择。
@Quidditch_Queen:
大城市的人宁可坐Uber或者Lyft去急救中心,叫Uber顶多45美元,叫救护车至少要1500美元(如果急救人员觉得没必要鸣笛,绝大部分时候路上用的时间是一样的)。我宁愿把这钱给我老铁戴夫,他就住我家2.8英里远的地方,比救护车到得还快。
@Stupidstray:
我跟我室友约好了,除非我们在大飙血,要把最后一滴血流干了,否则就开车或者打个Uber送对方去医院,绝对不能叫救护车。救护车也许能救我的命,但叫救护车花的钱,会让我宁愿死了干净。
@throwmefarfaraway123:
太难过了,我们(美国人)的税都交哪儿去了?
我住在香港,之前在练习打橄榄球的时候,肋骨骨折了,疼得几乎动不得,需要救治。救护车把我送到了最近的公立医院,问诊、X光、2个月的药=180港币(23.07美元)。
@clarkrd:
美国人的税去哪儿了?买炸弹了呀!那些战斧导弹可不便宜,无人轰炸机也不便宜。
我们的道路和桥梁正在塌陷,我们的人民不敢生病,我们的学校跟屎一样。 但我们有最好的炸弹、最美丽的炸弹。
(来源:中国日报双语新闻编辑部)