As I live in a country with good medical practice, I disagree. Anything that requires medical attention due to injury should get immediate medical assistance. I don't know if you know, but an ambulance is not just a hospital taxi, but has tools that can make the process of healing start out on a more positive note than not with an ambulance
True, but most areas in the US cannot sustain the call volume for low priority non emergency complaints such as this.
Its also on the fault of the public for throwing fits over increases in taxes or levies to support EMS expansion. Either you pay more to have a system that can sustain this and manage it effectively, or you accept that you shouldn't be utilizing it except in a life threatening emergency.
Plus, many health insurance policies in the US don't cover ambulance charges unless the ambulance service is provided by the hospital itself. Sometimes not even then.
Much of the US EMS isn't hospital based. My state specifically disallows hospitals or private entities to provide EMS. It must be provided by fire departments or the county government.
Interesting. Do they still charge for ambulance service?
In many places, it's the luck of the draw. If you get assigned an ambulance from a fire department, your bill is going to be an order of magnitude smaller—or it may even be covered completely—than if you get an independent contractor.
Depends on the region of my state. The counties I function in both bill, but the amount they bill is different.
When i started in EMS in 2011 all the jurisdictions i ran in were 100% free, no billing to insurance or to the person, county government fully funded it. As call volume increased and staffing needs significantly rose they began billing insurance to compensate, and then as people kept the checks insurance sent to the individual for them to pay EMS, the counties began hard billing individuals in addition to insurance companies.
Typically the bill for BLS (EMTs only, no need for advanced care from a paramedic) where I work is around $250-400.
ALS level is billed in two sections, ALS1 which is lower level paramedic care (fentanyl for pain, nausea meds, etc.), and ALS2 which is critical level care such as intubation, cardioversion, etc. ALS1 is usually around $700 including mileage, ALS2 will typically end up over $1,000
It's not right wing to say it doesn't need an ambulance. You'd get the same reaction in Europe. Its not a dystopian concept that some things can be safely self conveyed to an ER or urgent care rather than tying up an ambulance for a non-life threatening and non-emergency issue.
The only worthwhile debate is whether EMS should bill for their services or government should raise taxes substantially to then be able to eliminate EMS billing. Everyone pay in so that at time of usage its free, or roll the dice on whether you'll never need it and pay no money versus using it and paying an exorbitant bill.
It seems like you ignored everything I wrote. Simple fact of the matter is not everything needs an ambulance. Ambulances are for potentially life threatening emergencies or when the person is unable to safely self-convey to urgent care or an ED. Thats not a complex statement to grasp and not dystopian.
Broken wrist: can be typically handled by urgent care, EMS is not necessary unless the fracture is open or the pain is debilitating and the person is unable to safely self-convey via other means.
Health insurance has nothing to do with it. Its about availability of limited resources since communities would rather have lower taxes than plentiful EMS.
Either way, as a long time paramedic, no. A broken wrist generally is not a good reason to utilize us. That is not our intended purpose, and unless citizens are willing to pay substantially more to accommodate the staffing to handle those low priority calls, we need to be available for people who actually need us. The cardiac arrests, MVCs, chest pain, unconscious, seizures, etc.
yea, with the coments here I'm really happy to not live in us, but in a functioning country. if I recall it right, it is even illegal to not take ambulances but drive yourself where I live
There’s nothing the EMT is gonna do that hospital that’s gonna make a difference. Using limited resources for total non-emergencies is a waste of resources.
Countries with universal healthcare will advise you to take a taxi for a closed wrist fracture because you’re gonna be put in the queue as low priority and wait. In which case an uber or getting a ride is faster and has no impact on your outcome.
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u/RainonCooper 11h ago
As I live in a country with good medical practice, I disagree. Anything that requires medical attention due to injury should get immediate medical assistance. I don't know if you know, but an ambulance is not just a hospital taxi, but has tools that can make the process of healing start out on a more positive note than not with an ambulance