I don't think it would in fact happen quite like that in the UK, largely because our system of public health care and social services is significantly different. I imagine there is a fair amount of variation in how the kind of crisis would have been responded to in different opaets of the USA.

There are plenty of situations where things go wrong here too, they just aren't quite the same situations. I doubt if anything like that would happen to a family of English speaking tourists - if it was a matter of a family of asylum seekers with no English I can imagine some comparable failings.

When failings are brought to light which screw up people's lives I think that is very valuable, in any country or any system.
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"where are my hipboots? It is getting deep in here" I'm afraid you lost me there. Not to worry.