Posted on 03/09/2011 4:25:57 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
An Allentown woman called the city 911 center late Tuesday demanding that an ambulance take her to the hospital for a stubbed big toe. She got the ride.
The woman, 52, first phoned at 11:10 p.m. from the 600 block of W. Liberty Street, according to emergency radio reports. No ambulance was sent. But 10 minutes later the woman called, again seeking a ride to the hospital for her toe.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
The only thing that makes this a story is that it happened in Allentown.
In every major city in this country ambulances and an accompanying piece of fire apparatus are sent out regulerly for calls like this.
I answered hundreds of them . 5 men on an Engine Comany and an Ambulance crew tied up for a stubbed toe, a bloody nose, a dog bite that didn’t break the skin,overdose’s of aspirin,an appointment at the hospital clinic. Met at the door by a patient who has packed a lunch bag to take with them. I can tell stories that will curl your hair.Fully half the Ambulance calls in most major cities are BS, and made by repeaters who have been using the system so long you get to know their names , and their complaints before you arrive.Many of them are known in every hospital in the city.
I’m curious, did she demand an ambulance or da amber lamps?
WELL DONE!
Mary!!!! I love it!
The key word here was “demanded” That inflated sense of entitlement only comes from being on the dole.
So, she got a Toe Truck?
ER’s can’t refuse to treat because the person can’t pay. We pay through higher prices for all.
Could be true, but I wish they had more info in the story. Some people here are saying that she is on welfare, lives in HUD housing, takes food stamps, etc. I did not see that anywhere in the article.
ER’s can’t refuse to treat because the person can’t pay. We pay through higher prices for all.
I wish we would turn people away who refuse to purchase insurance. That would be a happy day for me. I can understand the poor not being able to afford insurance and we would have to have a system where they pay 10 percent of their paycheck towards medical insurance, but those folks who go on vacation all the time, eat at restaurants who refuse insurance I would love the ERs to tell them to go fix it yourselves. I find that revolting that people can refuse insurance and then get seen at the ER.....I am against the Obamacare because it forces people to get insurance. I am against that. I want people to chose, but since it will be their choice than I think they should be able to be turned away at the ER and any medical facility. I wish I ran America.....we would have not one cent of debt.
A few years ago, I had an atrial fibrilation issue. I was at the cardiologist’s and he said he was going to admit me to the hospital. My wife and I got up from our seats and were headed for the car. “Not so fast,” the doc said. He called 911; a few minutes later, an ambulance AND a fire truck pulled up. I told the doc I could have jogged over to the hospital, but he said no way. So the ambulance drove me the few miles to the hospital. About a month later I got a bill for $650 for the ride. My BC/BS paid $500 and I got stuck paying the Palm Beach County Fire/Rescue Service for $150 (pre medicared days). It was totally unnecessary.
Would someone please page Lyndon Johnson and tell him that the “Waw on Poverty” was lost several years ago; and now we need shed of the huge government apparatus that supports it?
Of course, what is to become of the hordes of zombies who have been conditioned largely by Democrat voters and corrupt politician to depend on it for generations? Is this where Obama plans to glean his “large civilian force as strong and well funded as the military”?
medicaid no doubt.
Everytime we attach “war” to a program, it fails.
Let’s just put it this way.....if one can afford insurance, then they would never live in that section of town.
I’ve seen nicer sh*&holes.
Well I’ve stubbed my toe in Allentown
And it hurt so much I hit the ground.
Out in bethlehem they’d take it in stride
Wrap it in gauze, say it was fine.
Well that calm approach just ain’t for me
I’ll call up 911 and scream endlessly
Till I get myself an ambulance ride,
away from these kids and this double-wide.
Well I’ve stubbed my toe in Allentown.
Just out of curiosity, when did they start sending out an engine company along with the ambulance? and why? I realize this now seems to be standard practice nationwide but I remember when it used to be just the ambulance.
Thank a lawyer. Imagine if you suffered a cardiac event moments after leaving the doctor's office? It wasn't the karma your doc was concerned about, it was the malpractice suit and the threat to his practice and perhaps his career. Thank a lawyer.
And in reality you were at risk for something extremely bad happening and in that event, the fact that you were in an ambulance instead of the family car or on hoof on the sidewalk would have been the difference between life and death. The doc did the right thing.
It started about 30 years ago in Washington DC, It has been the same in many other cities.
The idea was to cut down on response time.
Since Ambulances were over burdened and sometimes unavailable for short periods of time it was decided that sending out an Engone Company with First Responders on it would place people with some medical knowledge on the scene in a few short minutes.At that time Fire Apparatus was supplied with oxygen equipment and everyone had to get EMT cards.
At that time DC had about 15 Ambulances and they were busy just about constantly. Mostly with runs that were a waste of service’s. It was originally limited to Shortness of Breath and Heart attacks, as time went on it became abused more and more.
Today DC has about 35 Ambulances some Paramedic units, and some Paramedic Engine Companies and they are still over whelmed with requests for Ambulances. It has just gotten worse over the years.
Putting Fire Apparatus that costs $400,000 dollars on the street 10 or 15 times a day for BS Ambulance calls wears out the equipment at a fantastically quick rate.
Quick response time is the major reason for Fire Apparatus responses to Medical calls. Of course with women now riding the Ambulances and Fire Apparatus the need for manpower lifting and loading patients into the Ambulance is a secondary reason. Many times patients are too heavy for two Ambulance personnel to get loaded. If CPR is in progress at the time the extra personnel is essential.
Or even a halluxcopter.
lol. Another city in the slums...
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