Senator Exum, please remove the foot from your mouth

I search the web every day for interesting articles to post. I find so many heroic and exceptional providers I can't list them all. I find systems losing volunteers, systems needing funding and systems with call volumes skyrocketing.

I also find politicians who don't give us the respect we deserve. Enter Maryland Senator Nathaniel Exum, D-Prince George's. While discussing whether the Maryland State Police helicopter program should be privatized he told The Capital:

"We have some concerns about the system, and the public needs to know," said Sen. Nathaniel Exum, D-Prince George's, who sponsored a bill four years ago to establish a medevac privatization pilot program.

"But we aren't even able to talk about it," Mr. Exum said of the intense lobbying pressure. "They (state police and the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services) call all the little people back home, the firefighters and the paramedics, and tell them we are trying to dismantle the system, and they come running."

Little people? Regardless of your opinion on the helicopter system please let Senator Exum know what you think of this comment. Maryland has a quality EMS system with proud, talented people. They deserve better.

As a service to those reading this blog, here is the contact information for Senator Exum:

James Senate Office Building, Room 303
11 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 841-3148, (301) 858-3148
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3148 (toll free)
email Senator Exum

Even if you aren't from Maryland, Sen. Exum should know EMS won't stand for being treated like this.