Be Wary of the Professionals
A friend of mine recently had to take his two year old daughter to the emergency room due to an allergic reaction she was having. He loads her up in the car and heads to the ER. They treat her and everything is seemingly fine. The doctor suggests that (just to be safe) my friend take her to another hospital for some additional tests that could identify what caused the problem and that could prevent this from happening again. Of course, my friend agrees.
Enter the EMTs. My buddy drove his daughter to the ER. The EMTs suggest that they take an ambulance to the other hospital to expedite the travel. My buddy, of course, agrees. My buddy takes the car seat out of his car to give to the EMTs. The EMTs (trained professionals) place the car seat in the ambulance. My buddy checks the installation out and it is no good. He unhooks it and installs it himself. He’s thinking that in the amount of time this took, he could have gotten his daughter to the other hospital in his car. He secures her in the seat and off they go.
My buddy is tailing the ambulance (which doesn’t have its lights and sirens on) and waving to his daughter because she sees him tailing and his waving at him mouthing Daddy. The ambulance driver obeys the speed limit and traffic laws. At this point, my buddy is thinking I could have done that. They arrive and everything is OK.
A month later he gets a bill in the mail. One item listed is $600 for unnecessary ambulance fees. He could have done it himself faster. And his insurance won’t reimburse him for the unneeded ambulance fees.
Be careful what professionals talk you into.
Update: The Mrs. informs that my buddy did call 911, who took her from her home to the hospital. And she fell off the couch and it wasn’t an allergic reaction. Getting senile in my old age.
July 25th, 2003 at 1:10 pm
Well, it might have been faster but cheaper depends on whether you personally pay the bills or the government taxpayer pays it. Sorta like the emergency room that some use as a doctors office
July 25th, 2003 at 2:51 pm
Well, what if she’d had another allergic reaction en route? The EMT’s would’ve been right there on hand to make sure she was taken care of, and of course could’ve sped up to ambulance speed on the way.
It may not have been monetary insurance, but it was patient insurance – especially since the girl wasn’t 100% in the clear physically. You never know…
July 25th, 2003 at 7:32 pm
Sounds like ACEMS…almost like legalized professional pickpockets..
July 27th, 2003 at 4:29 am
WELL I’M AN EMT FOR NYC FDNY/EMS. AND WHEN IT COMES TO KIDS AND THE ELDERY THERE ARE RULES. ONCE YOU DIAL 911 FOR A CHILD UNDER 5 Y/O AND AND ADULT 65 Y/O AND UP, RULES COMES ALONG WITH IT. AND FOR THE TYPE OF CALL THAT WAS PLACED INTO THE SYSTEM, IF THE CHILD WENT IN DISTRESS THE BEST PLACE TO BE IS ON AN AMBULANCE.
EMT’S ARE NOT GIVEN THE RESPECT THAT IS DUE TO US. WE SAVE MANY LIFE’S IN NYC. A LOT OF CALLS THAT ARE PLACED INTO THE SYSTEM ARE B.S. BUT WE HANDLE THE SAME. IF’S AN REAL EMERGENCY THE BILL SHOULD NOT MATTER. YES WE MAY BE THE ONLY AGENCY THE PUBLIC PAYS FOR THE SERVICE. BUT TAKE THAT UP WITH THE CITY.
SO AGAIN NYC FDNY/EMS EMT’S GET BLASTED WITH NO PROBLEM. BUT WE ARE NOT GIVEN MUCH THANKS WHEN WE SAVE A LIFE….. AND WE SAVE MANY DAILY….
THAT’S ONE STORY THAT NEVER MAKES NEWS……….
NYC FDNY/EMS…. EMT
July 27th, 2003 at 1:59 pm
I have several friends who are EMTs and don’t fault them a bit. In this case, there was no 9/11 call.
And to someone working hard to make ends meet, an additional bill of $600 does matter.