Is this an adequate and accurate evaluation of Tennessee?

[IHaveRespawned]

I have lived in Tennessee most of my life. The scenery is great and the state is geographically beautiful. Speaking of the people here, the quality of life, and society's mode of operandi... well... there are challenges depending on who you are.

If you are in good health; are able to reasonably navigate the Good ol' Boy system well; and have stability, connections, status, wealth, a strong personality, or a solid combination of these, you will likely live well here and perhaps thrive.

If you, however, have complex health issues that are atypical and unresponsive to common, first-line approaches; are ever experiencing a sudden medical emergency; have moderate-to-severe mental and emotional defects; are disabled; struggle socially; or have had any legal troubles besides maybe an underage drinking conviction... you may be in for a very rough ride here in Tennessee.

People here are often very opinionated, take offense to any criticism of the state, cliquey, stubborn, and harsh.

The EMS systems here are weak, the state ranks high in hospital closures, the mental health system is very broken, and there are minimal resources available to people who are both poor and defective. People are moving here to our state to take advantage of our lower cost of living, yet our infrastructure continues to crumble and is unable to adapt. We rank the highest for depression, especially around the Knoxville Area and northeast TN.

Yes

No

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Updates

2 mo

A teen with Autism was falsely arrested for DUI due to his abnormal gait while walking the line. Another man experiencing a medical emergency was falsely arrested and accused of DUI, and he died in corrections custody. A woman was arrested at a hospital for refusing to leave after claiming she was suffering a medical condition, and she died en route to jail. I was placed out in the ER lobby in my underwear, writhing in severe pain from a kidney stone, while I was mistreated by hospital staff.

[Dargil]

Called Good Old Boy System no Longer exists. Tennessee has an influx of carpetbaggers like me that have raised the bar.

"People here are often very opinionated, take offense to any criticism of the state, cliquey, stubborn, and harsh." Same as every place else.

We have two hospitals of national excellence here. And many effective EMS services.

Adjacent to Appalachia. There is a huge difference between urban suburban and rural.

Overall, Tennessee is an excellent place to relocate to. I am a homeowner here. I get calls and texts every day offering to buy my house.

The economy where I am is excellent. With low unemployment and reasonable social stability.

What concerns me most, is liberals moving here from California New York and Illinois who will fuck up our political system.

[IHaveRespawned]

You reside around the Chattanooga area from what I can recall. Hamilton County has a robust EMS Department from what I have heard. The fire departments outside the corporate city limits of Chattanooga, however, are struggling with manpower (at least from what firefighters are telling me).

In many areas of north Georgia, fire-based EMS is a common concept. 911 ALS ambulance services are often combined with the fire department and help offset/subsidizes the costs of fire operations.

Here in Tennessee, we tend to separate our emergency service functionalities into different agencies: from rescue, to EMS, to fire suppression. It varies widely depending on which county and which area of the county you reside in Tennessee.

Tennessee in the past few years have codified EMS as essential into the state laws and rightfully so. The attitudes do not quite reflect that, but that is a different topic on its own. Our fire services, however, are not officially codified into law as essential. Firefighters are often cross-trained as Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics, and they are a crucial component to our EMS systems too. If fire departments across the state are struggling, it impairs our EMS systems too.

[IHaveRespawned]

... now for part 2... Erlanger is a stroke specialty center. They are not a bad hospital system.

I can speak for the metro Knoxville Area, we have had more hospital closures lately than new ones. Mental illness is a huge concern for our area. Mental health resources are stretched thin, and other than the common ailments that reapond well to typical, first line treatment options, complex medical needs are a challenge to be addressed in the Knoxville area and ER wait times are often lengthy. I was placed out in the lobby in my underwear screaming and begging for relief as I was mistreated by ER staff at Parkwest. It was a traumatic experience for me.

[IHaveRespawned]

... part 3... but I do agree with you about the mass influx of people from northern states and the liberals. Our infrastructure is not keeping up with the mass migration of people moving here. Just like with America First, why not "Tennesseeans First"? Locals are reaping the consequences of rolling out the red carpet for out of state people.

[strateguy632]

1. not adequate at all. you can't generalize one city Knoxville for ALL tennessee!

2. to claim those problems you must contrast to other states! hospital closures there, more than other states? rate of psychologist mental health per population in tennessee, more than which states? painful experience is anecdotal not statistical.

[IHaveRespawned]

42 percent of Tennessee's 692 fire departments are classified financially as either "At-Risk" or "Distressed" based on FY2025 data from the Tennessee Fire Marshal's Office

98 percent of Tennessee's 95 counties contain at least some ambulance deserts, where ambulances are 25+ minutes away. This places Tennessee as 13th worst state for ambulance deserts in the study as we have become the 15th most populous state in the nation. This data stems from a 2023 study conducted by the Rural Health Research and Policy Centers. Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota ranked better than us, and they are far more desolate.

[LazerBean]

The thing is, you and people like you are going to struggle pretty much the same no matter where you live. You have way too many liberal characteristics to ever be happy in a conservative area, and your few conservative views will make you unhappy in a liberal area. You will never be happy anywhere that you live as long as your victim mentality is so strong.

[IHaveRespawned]

I am actually more moderate right than you think.

I am for American-first policies, I am in strong opposition to illegal aliens, and I am a Second Amendment supporter. That being said, I strongly believe in the Tenth Amendment too. Our federal government has gotten their dirty hands into things they shouldn't. There is supposed to be more power in the states than is what's actually exercised. Metaphorically, think of a workplace. You don't go directly to the CEO with all your issues. The same applies here: there are things that should be better handled at the state and local levels. We have become too dependent on the federal government for grants and bailouts.

I do, however, believe fire and emergency services are an integral part of public safety that is treated second-class in contrast to law enforcement.

[LazerBean]

So you listed the few conservative views that I mentioned. That does not refute what I said about you having too many liberal characteristics and a victim mentalities to be happy in a conservative area.

[IHaveRespawned]

Please elaborate on what you mean by "liberal characteristics"?

[LazerBean]

Constantly whining
Upset about having to deal with the consequences of your actions
Unhappy person (conservatives are statistically way happier compared to liberals)
Dependent on others for basic things adults provide for themselves
Hates taking personal responsibility for how your life turned out, blames someone or something else instead
Wants a lot but contributes virtually nothing
Non working yet always online or looking at politics
There's probably way more but that's just right off the top of my head

[IHaveRespawned]

There is no one to blame. The reality is that I have health issues, and that I have struggled to work in a conventional work environment. That is why we have programs like SSDI. The consequence of a lack of accommodation and the unwillingness to tolerate people with socioemotional deficiencies results in a reliance on social programs.
I rely heavily on my Medicare. I am ona fixed income, which sucks, but I am striving to get clients to work on web projects for so I can gain some extra income without exceeding my fixed amount

[LazerBean]

See, You proved my point exactly. You said there was no one to blame, but then went on to blame other's lack of coddling for the presence of society's parasites. Your reply reinforces number two, number four, number five, and number six on my list.

[IHaveRespawned]

No one should be forced to have to accept my oddities or sociioemotional deficiencies in the workplace. If my disabilities cause that much undue hardship as they want to claim, that is on them. It is a shame because my heart was into my career and I strived to meet and even exceed expectations, but if I present that much of a "problem" to them, then so be it. I am who I am. That being said, I am still a human being that needs to survive. At least I tried- 25 times that is. At some point I must protect my Medicare and my guaranteed $1800 a month. If that means I cannot exceed a certain threshold in order to maintain that, then those are the rules and I must refrain from full time work.

[LazerBean]

Well there you go, spoken like the average liberal 🤷‍♀️

[IHaveRespawned]

Not really, because I still make contributions to society in other ways. I was vocal to protect and strengthen our crumbling public safety infrastructure. I was also instrumental in getting a bill passed through both chambers of our state's legislature. It is now sitting on the governor's desk awaiting his signature.

[LazerBean]

Yes that's also what all liberal protesters think lol

[IHaveRespawned]

I didn't protest. I actually spoke directly to state legislators.

[LazerBean]

Yeah I know.

[msc545]

So, what you're saying essentially is that the medical care over there is terrible.

[IHaveRespawned]

It really depends on how you would define "terrible" when it pertains to healthcare.

Let's say it is an MI (heart attack) or a CVA (stroke) for example. Those are probably some more-typical medical emergencies you would think of, right? Of course, we have CTs, cath labs, all your usual general diagnostic and imaging technologies. The general things, I would say we are well-off.

Let's say you have treatment-resistant bipolar or schizophrenia or some certain complex, less-common issues that don't respond to your typical modes of treatment. It becomes much more challenging to find certain specialists or treatment options here. Mental health issues are very stigmatized here, as we also have a state shortage of mental health clinicians, psychiatrists, etc...

Our state ranks 13th worst state for ambulance deserts as we have become the 15th most populous state in the nation. While Colorado has made many innovations in their EMS systems over the years, including introducing CT technologies to ambulances, Tennessee's EMS systems are struggling and have fallen more and more into despair. EMS first responder programs are usually more common with fire departments and rescue agencies in the nation. Here in Tennessee, we cannot even maintain a baseline with our fire departments. In rural areas where first responder programs would be very beneficial, there is a resistance to getting these programs formed

[DonaldDarko]

That literacy rate though.