Call 911, Hospital Says (Isn't socialized medicine great?)

They are obviously getting a kickback from the ambulance company.

This happens here in the U.S. on occasion. In the American cases, thank the trial lawyers: a hospital employee providing medical care (including transportation to the facility even if it's 10 yards away) outside of the facility is opening themselves and the institution to lawsuits. So they are told not to do it.

The ambulance service is government-run.

The ambulance service is government-run.

Meaning they don't bill your insurance company?

"If you've been shot, press 1 now"

If you've been stabbed, press 2 now"

If you've been raped, press 3 now"

"If you are being strangled, press4 now, and then hit the strangler with the phone"

FMCDH

THis story is from Canada - Universally Bad Health Care. Ambulances are run by the government, just like the hospitals. My gut feeling is that it would be a violation of the union contract to go outside to help this fellow in. After all, it would be taking work away from ambulance drivers and the unions would not stand for such outrageous action on the part of hospital workers.

Not my Job Man

Canada, eh? That explains it.

"10 metres"

Is this far? 10 meters is about 30 feet, but is a metre like a cubit? Also, this guy thinks that 30 degrees is hotter than hell. Was he delirious, too? No wonder no one wanted to touch him.

I think that means 30 degrees Celcius, not Fahrenheit. It was 36 degree C here yesterday, which translates to about 95 degrees F, so I am assuming (not being a math genius) that it was in the high 80s while this man was sitting in the car. Pretty warm, especially if one is in pain.

Nothing new here...
I used to live 1.5 hours north of Nanaimo in Campbell River, my brother broke his foot and had to wait 6 hours to get a cast for it, my sister in law had to wait 3 hours for an anesthetist to come across from Quadra Island to give her an epidural while she was delivering my nephew. Campbell River has a CT machine but I had to drive my mother to Nanaimo to have a CT scan done because there was no one around to run the machine in Campbell River. The Doctors in Comox which is 25 miles south of Campbell River mis-diagnosed my grandfathers bone cancer and then he died in agaony months later...

Yes comrades these are the true benefits of a social medicare system (Mao & Stalin give it 2 thumbs up)..

oh yeah and by the way, put your BC medicare card into an ATM at the local bank and withdraw a big fat handful of cash..yes this did happen. Some guy was able to steal money with his government health care card in BC..

Just another reason why I am glad to be living and working in the USA...they can keep that crap up there in Canada.

30 degrees Celcius (86 Fahrenheit, 303 Kelvin,546 rankine) on Vancouver Island is high. The average winter temperature on the Island is around 4 degrees Celcius (39 Fahrenheit, 277 kelvin, 498 rankine). Snow is not too common as it usually rains from Autumn to Spring, it mainly snows on the central peaks of the Island (Mt Washington etc). The north end of the Island is quite wet, the first settlers there left for the south because of the terrible weather, Holberg was a military installation up there and it was part of the "Dew Line". Victoria at the south end of the Island is quite a bit warmer and has a somewhat mediteranean climate with Arbutus trees & various Pine and hardwood trees.

Pardon me, but what does this have to do with Canada's health care system? I read the article twice and no reference is made anywhere.

The medical industry today is horrible. I had an aunt die of an aortic aneuryism at the age of 50 because she sat in the hospital for 7 hours diagnosed with indigestion and given Pepto Bismol. PS - She didn't have insurance. She only got any attention when she was put in an ambulance to go to one of the better hospitals because her friggin' arteries burst. But the ambulance service made sure to charge her *$6,000* Six-thousand!

I have no insurance right now, and am deathly afraid of the health issue I'm having right now turn out to be serious enough for hospitalization. To put it this way, one doctor has told me antibiotics, then blood tests, and then, we'll see. Another told me the first thing I needed was a biopsy right away. Scary isn't it that our lives are in these people's hands?

By no means do I want national healthcare, but we need to find a third way. What was the medical industry like in the 40s and 50s, before HMOs and all that?

They are obviously getting a kickback from the ambulance company.

Something similar, but not really similar happened to me and my wife.

My wife called me at work and told me to come home and take her to the emergency room. When I got home I had no idea what was wrong with her. She could not talk, walk, or do anything. She could move a little, point at things, and the like.

Got her to the emergency room and they took her in and started doing what they do. A few minutes later they called me back to the room she was in. Asked me what was wrong with her. I told them I had no idea. They asked me questions like has she taken any drugs, is she on any prescriptions, etc... They then told me they could not help her and that she needed to go to the hospital. They asked if I would like to drive her or have her taken in an ambulance. I asked how far away was the hospital. "200 yards" was the answer.

I drove her.

What was the medical industry like in the 40s and 50s, before HMOs and all that?

Very good and relatively inexpensive. Most hospitals were run by churches and charities so cost was kept to a minimum and volunteers were plentiful. That all changed in 1965 with the passing of the Medicare bill under LBJ's Great Society. Then the vultures lept in to rape the government. Medicare was to pay what private insurance didn't pay but that was mysteriously reversed. The insurance companies, health care providers and the politicians have all colluded to keep costs up. The same will happen to the proposed Prescription Drug program.

What was the medical industry like in the 40s and 50s, before HMOs and all that?

Oh, the good old days! I was a kid in the 50's, and we had a doctor who made house calls. We were poor, so sometimes the doctor had to wait awhile for payment.
I did like the idea of the doctor coming to my house when I was very sick rather than having to go out to a hospital or clinic.

The doctors were among the richest people in the community, but even the poorest had house calls. Of course, there was no regulation for what they charged, so I don't know if they "soaked the rich" to subsidize the care for the poor. Maybe they did, and kudos if they did.
I'd like that system back.

As Wesley Smith points out in his books, people in the USA have called 9-1-1 from their hospital beds to get necessary medical attention. It's not just Canada.

A 70+ year old friend of mine was driving in Brantford Ontario when he realized he was having a heart attack. He drove to the hospital parking lot and leaned on the horn. Less than 5 minutes later he was flat on his back in the ER. He's still with the living although this summer he was told to cut back on his tennis. To 3 afternoons a week.

There is no excuse for the BC incident to happen. And if you look close chances are it's a union thing and location of the patient deciding responsibility.

Got nothing to do with medicine.