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I sit and watch in horror, with my stomach in a knot, as I see and hear the very emotional, heart-breaking story of Terri Schiavo. No matter what age you are, putting your wishes concerning medical treatment in writing and having those written documents immediately available and always up to date, may be the greatest gift you can give to your family.
As co-founder of the Florida Registry of Living Wills, a non-profit (501c3) information and education center for Advance Directives (living wills, health care surrogates, and Do Not Resuscitate Orders), I have spoken with tens of thousands of Florida residents on this always timely and vital topic. I have given more than 1,100 seminars.
People have shared so much with me over the past 15 years. I have listened and am very aware of what happens with a written document and what happens when those wishes are not in writing.
Florida Registry of Living Wills was organized in 1988 to educate and assist the public by providing forms and speakers for any group, club, church or organization. There is no charge for a speaker coming to give an easy-to-understand, 30-minute presentation. At each meeting, living wills, health care surrogate forms, and Do Not Resuscitate Orders are available at no charge. Living wills and health care surrogate forms may also be completed after the presentation at no charge.
To obtain a free living will form or schedule a speaker for your group, call 1-800-624-5498. Please feel free to call or e-mail me at FRLW@GBSO.net with any comments or questions.
As the representative for state House District 45, one of my duties is keeping my constituents informed on many issues, including the aging process and end-of-life matters.
We are living longer today than at any point in our history. With advances in technology come difficult decisions about end-of-life care and how it will affect our families and loved ones. By talking with family members and planning for our care, we can ease the burden of making some of life's most difficult decisions at some of the most difficult moments.
I encourage all my constituents to begin discussing end-of-life care with their families at the earliest most convenient time.
Several years ago the Florida Legislature enacted legislation pertaining to health care advance directives, which includes a recommended living will form. To obtain a copy of this living will form, a designation of health care surrogate form, and more information on a patient's right to decide their medical care, please access www.flabar.org or contact my district office at 727 943-4760.
I am the wife of a Clearwater firefighter/paramedic. He is also the vice president of fire union Local 1158. After nearly two years of hearing all the ins and outs of the contract negotiations, I still don't understand why the city, or rather the city manager, is being so unfair to the firefighters and their families.
As to Rick Wagoner's letter on Nov. 3, the mayor is an elected figurehead. The person who really runs things is City Manager Bill Horne. What is your problem, Mr. Horne?
I am sure that the city voters have no idea how much has been spent in extra staff hours, attorney fees and mediator fees. The attorney fees alone probably could have paid for the firefighter raises in 2002 - if they had gotten one.
My husband sat at the table every time you came back with your zeroes, 1 percent and 2 percent. How could you even think that would be acceptable? The national average is 3 percent or better. This is just what they have been asking for.
Let me ask you, Mr. Horne. Could Mrs. Horne run your 2003 household on your 2001 income? Oh, I forgot. You got an 8 percent raise in 2002. Oh, and just last month a 4 percent raise! That's 12 percent to my husband's zero. How fair is that? You need to call my property tax guy and tell him we get to pay 2001 rates and not the 2003 tax rate.
How dare you slap me and mine in the face like this! I know the firefighters/paramedics that are there now have and will continue to do the very best job they can with what they have to work with (and that's a whole other story). But as for the future firefighters/paramedics, remember you get only what you pay for.
As a former firefighter, I read with great interest the findings by the U.S. Fire Administration that Clearwater firefighters were freelancing (acting on their own, without direction) and that the correct fire tactics were not implemented to extinguish the fire at the Dolphin Cove condominium.
If I'm not mistaken, the chief of the department is responsible for the way his department handles a situation. I see finger-pointing from the chief, and a comment by City Manager Bill Horne that his staff had already identified the reported problems as training issues shows lack of control at the top.
Firefighters will try anything to rescue a person and save property. If in the heat of the battle things go wrong, it's up to the chief to take command and try to readdress the situation. I think the firefighters who worked that blaze are getting burned twice, once by the fire and again by the chief and city manager.
I would hope that the chief is a certified firefighter and has worked his way up. But I would suggest, for the next large working fire that occurs in Clearwater, that the city manager suit up and work alongside a firefighter putting water on the fire - inside, where it's hot and dark and unfamiliar. Perhaps his antifirefighter tune would change.
I am writing to offer a few suggestions in eliminating the many accidents that occur on U.S. 19.
I see an enormous number of crossovers being constructed to supposedly make it easier for drivers to make a U-turn or cross into some facility. The only good thing that this has accomplished is that there is now a single lane for each direction when making a U-turn.
The problems that these crossovers cause is that most drivers will stay in the left lane for 1 to 5 miles before they reach the crossover in order to make a turn. The left lane is supposed to be used for passing, so it does cause a lot of aggravation/rage by drivers trying to use the correct lane to pass. These drivers are hindered by drivers young and old who are afraid they will miss their turn, so they ride in the passing lane.
Another problem is that the drivers trying to turn still have to enter three or four lanes of cars traveling 50 to 70 mph.
There could be a few easy solutions to correct these problems. Many states issue tickets to drivers who are not going the speed limit and are driving in the passing lane. I don't know if Florida has this law on the books, but I know it is not practiced.
A second solution would be to stop building the crossovers and build jug handles. This would keep the drivers in the right or middle lane - slower lanes - and they would wait for a light to cross to the other side of the highway.
These are two simple solutions that I would think the highway department would have investigated and put into practice a long time ago.
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