Lifeguard gets bill [for $2,583] after ocean rescue

koinlocal6.com ^ | July 31, 2012 | Kohr Harlan

[Cyber Liberty]

Too bad they didn’t wash ashore dead a few miles north. It would have been free.

[I Drive Too Fast]

What is funny to me was when I saw Vancouver, I first thought Canada, but the hospital bill would not make sense. Then I looked at the map for the location and this beach is west of Portland, Oregon so the 17 year old was from Vancouver, Washington just north of the Oregon border.

This article was on Yahoo earlier today and many were complaining about the lifeguard getting billed.

[muir_redwoods]

Had your initial reading been correct, I too would have agreed with your conclusions. I do agree that the article, as does so much of what passes for journalism today, is poorly written.

[I Drive Too Fast]

Pssst, the kid is from Vancouver, Washington. The beach where the near-drowning happened was in Oregon.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Thank you...

[newzjunkey]

I agree with your assessment. He was properly billed.

At 17 he's probably none the wiser of how these situations work. He should've declined treatment at the scene but it appears he was talked into going to a hospital to be examined.

The article doesn't say if he has insurance, through his parents or other outlet, that might cover the bill. It's a poorly written piece designed to get someone else to pay.

[Secret Agent Man]

Wouldn’t they bill his employer?!? He got the headache directly from saving a drowning kid while on duty. It’s a work-related medical issue.

[I Drive Too Fast]

John Clark is a lifeguard at the Firstenburg Community Center pool and the Marshall Community Center in Vancouver, Washington. He was not a lifeguard at the beach (I thought he was too), but he was just there and reacted using his trining..

[I Drive Too Fast]

He used his training too.

[I Drive Too Fast]

Who goes to the hospital in an ambulance for a headache? Pay up, dude.

After the bill arrived I think the parents ALSO had a major headache.

[Dick Vomer]

But if you do have a problem, they will see you in the ER right away if you come in an ambulance, while it may be 3-4 hours if you are driven in.

WRONG. that's what triage is for. big myth used by drug seekers that claim "chest pain" to get bumped to the head of the line, then yap about my chronic back pain and ran out of lortab. I've had toe pain come in via ambulance that gets sent right out to triage and then the waiting room.

First come first serve is prehistoric. Oh and if you do lie just to get to the front of the line and the nurse finds out..well you might spend the rest of the shift in "time out".

[Secret Agent Man]

Ahhhhh. No good deed goes unpunished.

[Jack Hammer]

Two thousand bucks for a fifteen-mile ride in an ambulance?

He’d have been better off to hire a limo and a couple of hookers.

No wonder everybody’s screaming about the high cost of healthcare.

[oldteen]

Was that on June 23rd at Table Mountain?

[panaxanax]

Thanks.

Lots of stitches, staples, bruises and such, but he’s back to work.

[panaxanax]

“Was that on June 23rd at Table Mountain?”

Not sure about the exact location, but that was about the date he fell.

[taildragger]

We should take up a collection for that amount and he should pay it in person after having it converted at a large bank Into Rubles, or Wan or some other Socialistic currency.....

[oldteen]

I happen to hear the call on the scanner. Never found any news items on it so always wondered if it was a local or someone from out of town.

I pray he has healed/is healing well. Must have been a very scary experience for him. Please give him my best.

[suthener]

I’ve never heard of that before. EMTs are taught that a competent adult can always refuse care and transport. Doing either without consent can leave a medic open to criminal charges.