EMS abuse: The Ride to get High

Specialties Emergency

Published

Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Wooooooooow!

What the caller, and only the caller, knows is that his chest is not throbbing in pain. Actually, his chest is fine. What he has done is just reserve his personal medical limousine for transport to the head of the line at the area emergency room-an emergency room that may unknowingly feed his current prescription drug addiction. The caller also knows that Lawrence County taxpayers are going to pick up the dime for the entire trip. Not a single cent is coming out of his pocket. He does not have insurance and has no intention of paying for the trip.

The only thing the caller is sure of is the chances of him "scoring" depends on acting skills, choosing the right hospital and if the doctor he is assigned to is willing to buy his story.

EMS cannot come soon enough for this prescription drug addict.

Calls like this are not fiction or random acts. Actually, abuse of the area ambulance companies, including Lawrence County-funded Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Services, are becoming an ever-growing nuisance.

So much so, statistics indicate that nearly 50 percent of calls that come into SEOEMS' Ironton station are not true emergencies.

Many are emergency calls for ailments such as ingrown toenails, colds and assistance getting out of bed in the morning.

But another chunk of the non-emergency calls SEOEMS responds to comes from an underground society of prescription drug addicts who know how to beat the system and Lawrence County taxpayers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Here is their story.

Full story

cheers,

Roy

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Yay. Finally someone in the media has picked up on this. Now we just need to take it nationally. Oh, and publishing real names for these people as well as the hangnails, etc. would be awesome. Of course that would violate HIPAA, but I can dream. Shame the idiots into proper behavior.

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, Peds ICU.
...statistics indicate that nearly 50 percent of calls that come into SEOEMS' Ironton station are not true emergencies.

Many are emergency calls for ailments such as ingrown toenails, colds and assistance getting out of bed in the morning.

...publishing real names for these people as well as the hangnails, etc. would be awesome.

If I may offer my opinion, I worked on the ambulance for several years and I have a slightly different take on this.

I'm not familiar with Lawrence county, but the statistics (trying to find the study, will post if I can locate) support the idea that low socioeconomic status correlates with a high rate of non-emergency 911 calls. I can support this with my own experiences also, having worked in both "South Central" Los Angeles and other more affluent areas.

It's a complex issue, with economic and social factors, and one I won't claim to be able to explain adequately. Part of it is underinsurance, or no insurance, which leads to not having a primary care physican. The emergency room becomes the primary entry to healthcare in such areas. The misconception that arriving by ambulance moves you to the front of the line compounds the problem.

It doesn't mean I didn't get angry when I was woken up at 3:00am for a Code 3 (lights and sirens) run that puts my partner and I and everyone else on the road at risk, to transport someone with the sniffles to the E.D. Meanwhile, across town someone's having an M.I. and has to wait because we're so impacted.

Understanding why it happens though helps alot.

My two cents.

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When I worked in the ED there were very affluent people abusing the system. Their attitude was, "I pay my taxes, I'm entitled to the ride." They would lie in the same way about chest pain, etc., and it would turn out they actually had very minor complaints, but wouldn't tell you until after the work up. All documented of course, but how do you stop these people?

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I don't see why people should ride EMS for minor stuff. I have a story about this. 28 years ago, I had a friend who died of an accidental gunshot wound, and she lived about 3 miles from the nearest hospital. It took about 45 minutes for the ambulance to get there.

I don't know why it took that long, and since it was a wound to the head, I don't know if getting there sooner would have helped, but if I ever find out it was a delay due to a hangnail or 'the sniffles'---someone is going to be in trouble.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU/CCU/NICU, EMS, Transport.

"People without insurance tend to use the ED less than any other group"

JAMA 2008; 300: 1914-1924

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"People without insurance tend to use the ED less than any other group"

JAMA 2008; 300: 1914-1924

That is so true. I don't have insurance, and I don't go in unless I REALLY need to. And I go to a Drs. office instead of the ER. I guess it's going to take a lot to get me into the ER.
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Specializes in ER.
"People without insurance tend to use the ED less than any other group"

JAMA 2008; 300: 1914-1924

This may be true, but I also believe that most frequent flyer drug seekers seen in every ER tend to not have any intention to pay. Insurance or no insurance.

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Specializes in NICU.
I don't see why people should ride EMS for minor stuff.

They do so because they can (and do) get away with it.

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Specializes in ED, Flight.
This may be true, but I also believe that most frequent flyer drug seekers seen in every ER tend to not have any intention to pay. Insurance or no insurance.

It may be we can split the non-insured into two groups. Those who are concerned, and want to pay, and so avoid the burden as much/long as they can; and those who blithely figure it is free care and have no intention of paying anything at all and don't worry about it. The second, I think, we see quite a bit in the ER.

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They do so because they can (and do) get away with it.

This is so true. I heard somewhere that EMS abuse can get a person arrested, at least somewhere in Texas.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

It takes a lot before "the system" will put the smackdown on people for 911 abuse. I've seen it happen a couple of times in a couple of different counties in Virginia -- in the one where I work as an ED nurse, and also in the county where I volunteer as a medic. In both cases, it took many, many, MANY calls to 911 before something was done about it. But now, if these people call 911 for a non-emergency, they go to jail.

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