Tonight my sister had an asthma attack and her inhaler ran out. It was late and the nearest open pharmacy was 3km away. Our options were:
- Walk 42 minutes to the pharmacy.
- Wait 40 minutes, walk 10 minutes to the bus station, take the hourly night bus (pray the route isn’t skipped), and walk 15 minutes to the pharmacy.
- Drive 8 minutes.
Fortunately, I have a car, so that was an option. However, tomorrow I won’t sleep at home and my sister doesn’t have a license, and maybe that happens the next time she forgets to refill… We live in Athens the capital of Greece, not a rural area, not a small town, but the fucking capital.
Car dependency sucks.
Edit: While ambulances are an option, no matter how unreliable they may be, having to escalate, when it shouldn’t be necessary, is increasing the load of an already overloaded health care sector.
How fast would a bike/ebike take for the same route? I also agree that car dependency sucks.
About 15 minutes I guess, but not for someone with breathing problems.
Well, how long would it take someone with breathing problems you reckon? 20 mins?
Probably wouldn’t make it if they’re actively having an attack.
If they can walk, they can bike. If they can’t walk, how safe is it for them to drive a car? Calling a taxi or an ambulance is not out of the question.
ambulance is there for exactly this kind of situation
It would probably be around 30mins because there is no bike infrastructure and I would have to avoid the highway.
Though as others have said during an attack walking such a long distance or biking is not an option.
Also, ebikes like Lime are not an option here.