Thursday, May 21, 2009

** EMS expenses for hours long presidential Ottawa visit close to $10,000

** Irish man gets 2 months in jail for spitting blood on medic

UNITED STATES NEWS

** He may have only stayed in the country six hours, but EMS expenses for US President Obama’s February visit cost nearly $10,000. That is the word from Sun Media (Althia Raj/May 20) which said the tab for keeping both ambulances and paramedics on standby totaled nearly $9,426. A physician was also placed on dedicated duties. A mere drop in the bucket compared to other expenses associated with the jaunt, EMS bills paled when compared to Ottawa police expenditures which ran about $3 million, while the RCMP forked out about $1 million. A further $424,000 was expended on items like umbrellas and flowers.

UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

** A Derry man will be cooling his heels in jail for the next two months, after being sentenced for spitting blood into the face of a paramedic. The Derry Journal (May 20) said James Martin Cal Moore, 24, pleaded guilty to assaulting the medic on August 21 of last year. According to the newspaper, Moore, who was drunk at the time, took exception to practitioners declining to allow his friend to accompany him to hospital. Suffering from a cut lip, he then spat at the provider before the unit left the scene. He later told police the medic was lucky spitting was all that had befallen him.