I understand your injury was a serious one, and am glad you got back safely and got the appropriate care. The elephant i refer to is the old adage that says the blind men, all touching the elephant, describe it differently because they touched a different part (flappy ears, eely tail, tree trunk legs, etc). I don't pretend to think that we have the equipment in Penasco that is available in the States. In fact, when our current Governor was campaigning, I met with him about the importance of providing us with at least the bare minimum to deal with the kinds of trauma incidents we see every year.
Nor am I always happy with Dr. Rodriguez' policy of "you stay here until your bill is paid", but I know that he's running a business and that there are some people who wouldn't do the honorable thing and pay later for services rendered.
As for the best way to get back to the U.S. in an emergency, there is currently no better alternative than an ambulance to the border and a helicopter waiting there to take you the rest of the way. The Consulate is an important part of making those arrangements because things go more quickly if the Consulate is on the case. We try to take up some of the slack where we can, for example, if the people last night had needed to cash a check, we would've cashed it for them so they could pay the bill. This is assuming we had the funds and if I feel reasonably sure the check will be good (in this case that would not have been a problem).
Dr. Francisco Carrillo at the San Jose Clinic is an excellent physician and, last night at least, he was assisted by some very skilled doctors. Let me point out that when the word went out that children were injured in an explosion on Sandy Beach, the police department completely shut down the roads from the Sonoran to the clinics to all but the ambulances so they could get those kids there as quickly and safely as possible. While I agree that the U.S. is better equipped to handle these things (unfortunately), I reiterate that lots of people did a fine job last night.
This wasn't the only emergency my office was involved in this weekend, although it was the only one involving injuries, thank God.