OT: Ch 5 Ice Road Truckers

Saw the whole series on UK History. One thing you realise is that we don't really do winter here and most drivers are piss poor in the slight dusting of snow that we do get. Quite embarrasing really.

My immediate thought when I heard the size of the bill, was how could he have been so stupid not to bother with medical insurance, but then I was young and idiotic too once and may well have done the same. You'd have thought the transport company would have insisted that all the drivers were properly covered.

It's about £6k, and TBH that's what I'd expect if you had to pay the costs of such treatment here - helicopter evac from a very remote location, probably a fair distance in an ambulance, and this being America, a

On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:24:34 +0000, I waved a wand and this message magically appears in front of Willy Eckerslyke:

I was under the impression that Canada has a national health service... is it not the case anymore?

I think he may well be a yank in Canada, so different rules to normal may well apply.

Not quite going on what I was looking at when I researched going over there.

He certainly sounds Canadian, or like those impressions Yanks do of them (where they say "Aye" a lot)

I was in Canada a few years ago and there was (IIRC) at least 6 foot of snow over 3 days. Amazingly the roads were kept clear* and there were no warnings about not driving unless you have to like we get here as soon as there is a hint of snow. I think about it everytime the weather forecasters mention snow and not driving - we just can't deal with it.

• but there was wall of snow at the side of the road with channels for pedestrians to cross through with the excess being dumped into the Gatineau river until it froze over and became one big ice rink - no pucks or hockey sticks allowed though)

Andy

Those living in countries where snow is common tend to have things like snow tyres for the winter. Which make a vast difference.

I used to have a set on the Capri. Which I'd "borrowed" from my housemates Mexico. But the only time since has been when travelling to somewhere really snowy, I've yet to meet anyone who whinges about our inability to cope who's prepared to spend the money themselves.

They (Canadians, at least) have also had the basics of survival in sub-zero temperature hammered home to them from a very early age until it becomes second nature to them.

Them ol boys want gassing

Ted Rubberford

The episode where one trucker had a coolant leak was interesting too. He said he would keep the truck running (presumably for a day or so) and keep the coolant topped up until the garage could do the work. I would have thought trucks in those conditions had engine block heaters fitted, but there was no doubt a good reason to keep it running even if they had them fitted. Got to hand it to those boys. Fascinating.

Graham

The engine block heater doesn't help when your blocks split.

I think it's only available to Canadians, otherwise you'd get the whole of America crossing the border.

No it doesn't, I was there in February. My wife injured herself skiing. At the hospital reception there were signs saying that all non-Canadians and _uninsured_ Canadians must pay for treatment.

If you are a foreign national you pay first and reclaim it from your insurers later, so even if you are insured, you pay. It's Ca$380 just to be seen, plus doctor's fees, medications, bandages/supports, crutches etc.

My wife had, fortunately, merely badly strained her calf. The bill was Ca$525 - about £260. We've now had that back from the insurers, less excess of course, but had we been on a tight budget that might have made a dent in our holiday money.

An interesting aside here was that when they had finished treating her they apologised for being so busy (there were about 12 patients in A&E and only one doctor on duty). My reply was "Busy? You should try an English hospital!" The sad truth is that the effect of having to pay for your hospital visit is to keep away the drunks and malingerers that clog up our A&E departments.