BREAKING NEWS: Ambulance speeds to first family’s compound in Hawaii,

[Grown2Hate]

Source: AP

No link yet, just heard on the local news...

No link yet.

---

WTF...

[Don Caballero]

1. Oh my God

Praying everything is okay for the First Family.

[DainBramaged]

2. ON MSNBC front page

maybe a simple accident, cut finger, fall....

[Grown2Hate]

5. Yeah, apparently President O left a golf course to go take care of it, so it wasn't him hurt...

...still.

[DesertRat]

7. minor injury to family friend. n/t

[marshall]

27. Any ideas as to who is in the entourage?

Was it one of Maya's children?

[DesertRat]

3. CNN says minor injury to family friend at compound. n/t

[salib]

31. Why is it referred to as a "compound"?

[sendero]

48. Because there...

.. is more than one structure there?

[AP]

50. Republicans live on and visit estates, and Dems, compounds

...

[Graybeard]

4. CNN: Obama family OK.

Ambulance was for a friend staying with them.

[Grown2Hate]

6. Awesome (that it is minor). Thanks.

[Don Caballero]

8. Thank goodness it was only a family friend

and not a member of the First Family.

[bobbolink]

20. ???????????!!!!!!

[emilyg]

29. WHAT???

[elleng]

9. CBS

President Barack Obama has abruptly ended a round of golf and sped toward his family's vacation home for what is being described as a "personal matter." An ambulance was seen speeding toward their compound.

White House aides said the speedy departure and return to the president's home was not a matter of national security or because of a threat to Obama's safety.

Obama was playing golf when reporters who travel with him were quickly assembled for a return to the first family's neighborhood.

Journalists saw an ambulance speed past with its lights on, heading toward the end of Obama's street. The ambulance would have passed through a security checkpoint at the end of the street.

http://cbs13.com/national/obama.christmas.Hawaii.2.1394216.html

[elleng]

10. Any bets that someone trying to slice a bagel (OR pineapple???)

[cal04]

11. a child of a friend needed stitches, says he's ok

just updated by Ed Henry

President abruptly cancels golf game after family friend reportedly injured
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11739085

[Bette Noir]

17. Thank you for the link. I was worried.

[elleng]

28. Our President/Friend/Father!

A White House source described the child's injury as a "run-of-the-mill beach injury". The identity of the family friend and the child are not known at this time.

The official said that the president understands that a parent would want to be with an injured child as soon as possible and that is why the decision was made to break off the game and quickly return to the vacation home with the father of the child.

[cal04]

36. Obama Friend's Child Injured, relatively minor and that the child did not require stitches

President Barack Obama abruptly ended his golf outing and sped in his motorcade to his compound Monday after he learned a friend's child was injured while playing on the beach.

Members of the first family were fine, a White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of a reluctance to discuss personal matters involving the president.

The injury to a child belonging to Eric and Cheryl Whitaker, friends of the Obamas, was described as relatively minor and that the child did not require stitches...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/28/us/AP-US-Obama-Personal-Matter.html

[AngryAmish]

12. Elin visiting?

[lisa58]

16. lmao!

[BlueMTexpat]

13. As per the NYT on-line ...

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/son-of-obamas-friend-injured-in-hawaii/

[Ken Burch]

14. Fortunately, it was all ok.

A great relief to us all.

[CLANG]

15. Son of Dr. Eric Whitaker (far right photo)

[goclark]

34. Is he the family doctor?

[CLANG]

39. All I know is he is a "family friend".

[katkat]

38. by the way

Now that we're not worrying, Valerie looks great in that photo, doesn't she, much better than when made up to the nines.

This is bringing back memories of my childhood, when cousins were always being taken off to the ER or dentist with damaged appendages, chipped teeth.

[Myrina]

18. I'm sure this will get me flamed, but here goes:

... would be nice if he'd speed off the golf course to make sure the rest of America's injured children - not just his close friends - have decent health care, now wouldn't it?

Flame away.

[kestrel91316]

19. Where in America are injured children denied medical care, pray tell?

You need more than a bit of flaming.

[jus_the_facts]

21. Lack of Insurance May Have Figured In Nearly 17,000 Childhood Deaths, Study Shows

http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Lack-of-Insurance-May-Have-Figured-In-Nearly-17000-Childhood-Deaths.aspx

Using more than 23 million hospital records from 37 states between 1988 and 2005, the Johns Hopkins investigators compared the risk of death in children with insurance and in those without. Other factors being equal, researchers found that uninsured children in the study were 60 percent more likely to die in the hospital than those with insurance. When comparing death rates by underlying disease, the uninsured appeared to have increased risk of dying independent regardless of their medical condition, the study found. The findings only capture deaths during hospitalization and do not reflect deaths after discharge from the hospital, nor do they count children who died without ever being hospitalized, the researchers say, which means the real death toll of non-insurance could be even higher.

"If you are a child without insurance, if you're seriously ill and end up in the hospital, you are 60 percent more likely to die than the sick child in the next room who has insurance," says lead investigator Fizan Abdullah, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatric surgeon at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

SNIP

[kestrel91316]

23. The subject was INJURED children, not ILL children.

Keep trying.

[jus_the_facts]

26. You'll flame regardless....

...seems to be your M.O.

[No Elephants]

46. It must be awful to have to distinguish between sick kids and injured kids.

[kestrel91316]

24. The subject was INJURED children, not ILL children.

Keep trying.

[jus_the_facts]

25. Lack of insurance is lethal for injured children

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2005/october/lack-of-insurance-is-lethal-for-injured-children

These children are most likely in families of the working poor - those whose parents make too little to afford private insurance but too much for the children to be covered by Medicaid. For now, researchers can only guess at disturbing possibilities:

--There might be something different about the way these children are hurt. Maybe they're in older cars that don't protect them as well in accidents. Maybe their places to play aren't as safe. Maybe they're more likely to be abused.

--Parents of children with insurance may be more willing to rush their child to the emergency room after an injury just in case, while parents without might wait longer to see if the child is seriously hurt or not have a car to drive to the hospital.

--The children might be treated differently after they arrive at the hospital. Emergency rooms are required to treat patients regardless of whether they can pay, but studies have shown differences in outcomes for some medical conditions based on who has insurance.

[No Elephants]

45. That's like the story the Republicans were trying to sell during the McCain campaign.

Everyone in America already has health care coverage because Emergency Rooms are required by law to treat them, whether or not they are insured or have money. Yes, but the Emergency Room sends bills, most often several times as large as those a doctor in private practice would send. So, poor parents who are not on Medicaid try to treat their kids themselves.

What Congress seems prepared to do is add more people to Medicaid and subsidize the purchase of private insurance so that more people can afford health care. It's not the solution most of us wanted, but I hope to heaven it saves lives.

[Sukie]

30. I believe he did show he cared when he signed the SCHIP bill

into law.

http://www.progressivestates.org/node/22645

[defendandprotect]

35. Agree . . .

A great opportunity to do good throw away --

[katkat]

40. Myrina

I am no happier with Obama than anyone else is, but really you and yours are doing a good job of changing my mind. He has my vote for 2012, and he didn't before.

[CreekDog]

44. he's not working hard enough for you?

are you saying you put in more hours per week or day than Obama does?

[HughMoran]

49. No flames

:bye:

[crikkett]

51. Teh Troll wants Flamezz!

Bitter in their loneliness, these pathetic ugly creatures want attention too.

[Realityhack]

52. How many hours have you spent lobbying congress for that?

Did you write to every senator and congress person? Your own?

As it happens to turn out the POTUS has a lot on his plate, he does NOT write the laws, and can not push through everything he wants.

[mmonk]

22. When I see stuff like this, initially I cringe because of all the crazies

in America. Glad to hear it is something minor.

[goclark]

41. Me too ~

[OttavaKarhu]

32. Um, a kid cut its chin. At the golf club.

Obviously a rich kid--because when poor kids cut their chins they walk it off after having duct tape applied.

How the hell is this news? Looks more to me like media spin/diversion.

How's that Homeland Security thing going? You know, the one where people without passports and bombs in their crotches get to fly into US cities?

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[msanthrope]

42. Totally. n/t

[cutlassmama]

33. Glad to hear it was minor

[rooboy]

43. At least it's a safe bet nobody got shot in the face. n/t

[Realityhack]

53. ROTFLMFAO n/t

[LeftHander]

47. Obama backswing takes out kid....

Kid's father works for major insurance company...

Obama points club at father and says....

"See what you made me do!"