Specialties Emergency
Published Nov 16, 2007
core0
1,830 Posts
When I was a paramedic we had people that would call with "crushing substernal 10/10 chest pain". When we got near their favorite liquor store they would feel better and decide to AMA. Guess things haven't changed.
David Carpenter, PA-C
Noryn
648 Posts
This happens all over the country all the time. Some will actually call an ambulance, once they get to the hospital in town will leave not being seen so basically they can get a free fast ride to their stores.
That is one of the reasons I am so passionate that medical care should be available for everyone, especially the working poor. If there is enough money to spend on an ambulance to take someone to an ER with a cold then there has to be enough money to help pay for someone's chemotherapy or older person's medication.
RPN_2006
57 Posts
Although this problem is widespread, it seems clear to me that the biggest problem here is the EMS Comissioners attitude regarding the situation.
Here in the socialist haven of Canada, emergency services may be "free", but if you happen to not have been dying, you will recieve an ambulance bill.
SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN
10,263 Posts
"My privacy won't go down."
Heh.
Bugaloo
3 Articles; 168 Posts
Does it bother anyone else that we are paying a lot of money for our own health care, and then you see people like this that abuse the system. I pay a lot for insurance for myself and my family and I pay every single medical bill I receive. It really gets under my skin. :angryfire
Mulan
2,228 Posts
Oh my goodness!!! I've heard of nurses quiting ER because of it being used as a walk-in clinic rather than for real emergencies. I never thought that ambulances were also abused. If we could get a set of statistics, what do you wanna bet these people are the ones with no insurance, no job, and nothing else better to do. I'm sorry but I personally have better things to do with my time and money and taking an ambulance to the ER for a hang nail is not in my daily agenda. If they were all told ahead of time that they had to pay a $100.00 copay, I bet the urgency of needing an ambulance and ER all together would go down. I've never taken an ambulance in my 36 years and have only been to ER once, and that experience alone would detour me from going there unless I was in cardiac arrest or having a real trauma. And we wonder why healthcare insurance is so damn expensive for the ones of us that pay for it. And to you who read this and are on assistance legitimately, this is not aimed towards you, just the abusers of the system.
Yes, well, you would pay the $100 copay that you owed. The rest of those people don't pay, have no intention of paying, and they probably don't even get charged in the first place.
Toquay
128 Posts
That was truly pathetic and sad but really just the norm anymore. Heck, we have had people call 911 from the ER lobby thinking that would make things faster. People do need to be educated and I totally feel EMS should be able to refuse transport for complaints that do not require immediate medical intervention. I also feel that people should be directed to the appropriate care centers whether its their MD, a walk in clinic, or a dentist. The sad thing is Health Care is not always about what is appropriate since people do not have to be responsible for themselves or their health. This abuse of the Health Care system will continue as long as management for EMS and hospitals allow it... they give positive reinforcement to this behavior. Until then we lowly peon nurses just have to smile our way through it. Health Care is kinda like watching the Titanic.
Toq
Oops double post sorry.
RN1980
666 Posts
this is typical of the er's in mississippi, we get all kind of yahoos getting 911 rides to the er for crap. ems will be dispatched for a "medical call" but when we get report it'll be for prescription refill.. the people that abuse the system here are mostly folks that have no private insurence or one provided by a employment cause most of them don't work. but really this is old news, been going on for awhile, and is only going to get worse as our govt continues to spoon feed these folks out of our pockets. our hospital eats alot of bills and loses a ton of money every yr cause of blood sucking patients like that.
Uptoherern, RN
337 Posts
OP here, not from cleveland. Actually from AZ but it's the same here. The only city, IMO that has their s**t together is Phoenix FD. If they get called for a bogus complaint they won't transport via ambulance, but give cab vouchers instead. This STILL pisses me off, cuz taxpayers are paying for the vouchers ($50) AND this PPP now arrives at my ER with NO WAY to get home, and wants US to arrange transport back to their trailer , I mean Home........ I will stop here, too pissed.
irishnurse67
83 Posts
I floated to the ER the other day. I couldn't believe it. One guy brought his 17 yr old son in for impacted wisdom teeth. We finally dragged the story out. A couple months ago, when scheduled for extraction surgery, it didn't hurt that bad so they cancelled it, against the doctor's advice. One look (and smell) into the kid's mouth and it was obvious that his relationship w/dental floss and toothbrush was a little too casual. Cavities everywhere. Dad was missing several teeth, by the way. We sent him home w/Ultram and instructions on oral hygeine and told him to see his dentist right away. I felt bad for the poor kid-no good parental example, although Dad was polite enough. Now before anyone says cost was a factor, in MA dental care and extractions are free for those on Medicaid and this kid had it. Another patient, 20 yrs old, came in b/c her "vision shifted." She couldn't elaborate. Of course, she got the million dollar neuro work-up and complained b/c the CT result took an hr to come in. Then she told us she drove herself here. Huh? She said the vision shift "only lasted a minute." Another patient came in from a nursing home and didn't know why the nurses there sent her to the ER. The EMTs couldn't figure it out, either. Neither could we. Another FF came in for abd pain which had been repeatedly worked up at this ER and she was told that it was her ovarian cyst-same dx four times in about as many wks. When asked if she went to the clinic to see the gynecologist, she said that they wanted $100 and Christmas was coming up. Right..... Wait until you see the bill(s) from this place, I felt like saying. Then we had a patient come in with c/o "crabs." This was a four-hour span! Of note, this group of patients either had Medicaid or had no intention of paying the bill.
yesterday had a pt come in by ambo for abd pain for "eight minutes". Not ten, mind you, e-i-g-h-t. Dr. said, "what, did she fart or something?" D/C after pt. decided she didn't want to spend $250 up front for "non emergency" er visit.