Suicide squads
There are two scenarios that we frequently experience: Scenario No. 1: An emergency occurs on some island or remote place far from Athens or, even worse, in the city center during rush hour. The emergency could be a heart attack, a stroke, a car accident, a fire, a flood, a hole suddenly appearing in the middle of the road or anything else unexpected. Then, immediately, the radio stations and TV channels start exclaiming hysterically: «Where is the State? Why isn’t the National First Aid Center (EKAB) ambulance helicopter here yet? Where is the fire service? Why do we only have five helicopters and not 50?» In this way, they exert tremendous pressure on people working in extremely dangerous professions who need to be able to work methodically, with the utmost care and sobriety. This media brainwashing turns people into passive and nerveless bystanders to events and making them believe that accidents and deaths do not simply happen, but that the State is always to blame. Scenario No. 2 is the exact opposite. We witnessed it earlier this week following the crash of the third EKAB helicopter and the subsequent «loss of four peoples’ lives» which television presenters kept maliciously referring to. EKAB and the fire service have virtually become suicide squads in their attempts to fulfill our increasingly exacting demands. And when «human lives» are sacrificed upon such an altar, we realize the failings of our system.
