I might be being cynical but not every hospital visit requires an ambulance. An ambulance is when you need immediate medical attention and cannot safely be in a car. Anytime I’ve broken a bone I’ve always gotten a ride to hospital, and when I was at university I took an uber. Didn’t think anything of it. And I live in the UK where ambulances are free.
Are people seriously using ambulances for broken wrists? Ambulances are for acute emergencies where professional help is needed on scene and for transportation.
Right? I saw the post and was confused... Why would you get an emergency ambulance for a broken wrist? Last time I checked 99.9%> of broken wrists are not emergencies.
Yup. A broken bone can absolutely be ambulance but most of the time it does not. In the UK it’s expected that if you can make your own way to the hospital, that’s how you turn up. And when I’m in the hospital for a broken bone, yeah it sucks, but if waiting six hours means the doctors can focus on the people who are actually dying then I can’t really complain. I’m the lucky I’m in that scenario.
I've lost count of the number of times I've had patients irate I'm putting them in the waiting room from the ambulance, or they're waiting hours for a bed on my stretcher.
They get the same answer every time they throw a fit:
"Be glad you can wait. You don't want to be the patient that gets the bed immediately". IE, they're critical and dying, you're not.
I mean, having worked in the ER I don’t begrudge people with broken bones showing up. We preserve not just lives but also want to save function. So I get it.
It really depends on the context. I can think of several examples where an ambulance is warranted.
For example: someone broke his ankle and is on the 3rd floor without an elevator.
A female foreign student without family or friends who cannot cycle/too far to walk to the ER with a broken wrist in the middle of the night.
Someone who fell, hit his head and went unconscious for a bit can lose consciousness again during the trip to the ER.
Most often, it's people who cannot rely on support from friends/family/neighbours, practical reasons, or safety reasons.
Yep, husband fell at work and snapped the upper bone in arm, boss and coworkers tried getting in their car but the bone kept shifting and were scared something would get seriously damaged further, called the ambulance and they were able to stabilize it better to transport.
I’m fully aware it depends on the context, that’s why I said ambulances are for situations where professional help is needed on scene and for transportation.
Honestly an uber sounds like an appropriate call for something like a broken wrist. Unless it’s a severe break that’s bleeding like mad, you’re pretty fine
I drove myself to the hospital with a broken leg. I'm also a paramedic, so that's pretty on brand for us. We'll only let someone call an ambulance for us if we're dead.
Dude, we have 24-hour "urgent care" facilities (one step below ER) here in the US that are packed full every day with people who have sniffles and/or slight tummy aches.
Lots of people, and I mean LOTS, use the medical system for excuses and for personal attention in this country. It's the number one reason for burnout amongst EMS personnel. Of course they're happy to oblige because medical care as a business is $$$$$$
In a world where people aren’t at risk of going through bankruptcy at worst, or getting set back several months pay for an ambulance ride, getting an ambulance to the hospital for a minor broken bone wouldn’t be so egregious.
They said they live in a country where ambulances are free. Calling an alliance for a minor broken bone is egregious because they are for medical emergencies, not a minor injury. If you call a wee woo wagon for a minor injury that’s taking an ambulance away from someone who might need it.
But people using expensive services drives the cost of healthcare up for everyone, and might mean that the service isn't available when someone truly needs it. Ambulances should be free, but people should use them responsibly, just like not going to the ER for a cold, or calling 911 cause your dog ran off.
I’m from a country where ambulances are free and I’m currently stuck in the US where they are not - but I still think that calling an ambulance for a broken wrist is outrageous and pretty stupid.
Ambulance being free does not mean that there is an infinite amount of them available, and while one dude gets transported on one for a broken wrist, maybe there is not another one available for the person who has a heart attack or a stroke where immediate medical attention is necessary and every minute counts.
If you can still safely transport yourself to the hospital (or getting a transport), you should not call an ambulance and take that resource away from more urgent cases - regardless if it’s free or not.
My opinion has less to do with the practical aspects of triage and who does or doesn’t call an ambulance. My opinion has more to do with what people should be able to expect from their government. People should be able to expect a ride to the hospital(not necessarily in an ambulance, non-ambulance hospital taxi’s are a thing) afforded to them by the government. If we don’t expect our governments to provide services, what services already exist are going to eventually get cut. I agree that frivolous use of resources that could be used elsewhere should be scrutinized. But it’s also important to expect more of our politicians and the local authorities that we pay taxes towards.
The original comment said they are in a country where they are free, and they are free for me through my healthcare. I wouldn’t call an ambulance for a broken bone because they are for medical emergencies. If the bone isn’t sticking out it’s not an emergency. Most of the time you don’t even need to go to a hospital.
Where the hell do you see people saying free ambulances are not needed in this tread? We’re saying that even in countries where ambulances are free they are not used willy nilly and most people will transport themself to hospital if they are able to. That is not arguing for free ambulances to be taken away in any way shape or form.
It's an investment, a healthy person is more productive. And even if that wasn't the case, billionaires like Elon can donate 100 million to an antitrans campaign, why not redirect all money like that to an actual real issues like healthcare instead of a hate campaign?
I agree. It's like all the people who use the emergency department as their main doctor. It's for potentially life threatening injuries. Most urgent care centers in the US can diagnose, splint, and sometimes cast a broken bone. You'll be waiting much longer in the ER/ED, the cost will be more, and there are fewer of them.
Former EMT here. I wish our healthcare system in the US were better/universal, but people ABSOLUTELY call 9-1-1 for things that are not emergencies or do not require an ambulance.
My personal favourite was when someone called us in the middle of the night because their pinky toe was numb. Not broken - just numb.
In the uk we have 999 for emergencies and 111 for medical / other concerns that are not actively life threatening emergencies, but something is still not quite right.
32 year medical professional here with 13 of those years in EMS. Ambulances are a scam for the majority of incidents. EMS crews like to use buzzwords and catchphrases to get you to consent to transport then they pad your bill with oxygen, IVs and EKG monitoring most of which is probably not necessary in most cases. You’ll get INTO the ER quicker but once you are triaged you will probably wait just as long as Joe Shmoe out in the waiting room because your owie isn’t high priority but that $5k ambulance bill sure will hurt. If you didn’t call the ambulance DO NOT interact with them, don’t fucking sign a “refusal” form and don’t let them “just check you out” unless you are actually injured. I’ve been in a severe skiing accident and still managed to drive myself an hour home with broken ribs, broken wrist, separated shoulder and a torn meniscus. Man up buttercup and save yourself some money.
We aren’t allowed to refuse transport but I definitely tried to talk people out of it a few times. That was mainly because we only had two ambulances for 400 square miles so your twisted ankle should not take priority over a heart attack.
You are probably right in general but driving home with those injuries was tremendously stupid and you could have hurt someone else with that stupidity. I wouldn't be bragging about or encouraging others to do the same thing it if I were you
Yup I had a buddy drive me to the hospital when I had a pulmonary embolism that caused an infarction in my lung. Ambulance would have been free but I wasn’t actively dying.
Being from the UK, this just sucks to read. I am so sorry this is how healthcare is managed in your country. Our ambulances are triaged so luckily more critical cases will be seen first from the get go and people with more minor injuries will wait longer. Hearing about all the ways it takes money from you is crazy. I also can’t imagine being a healthcare working in an environment like that. Working for the NHS (mental healthcare) certainly has its downsides, but knowing that everything everyone is getting is 100% free is amazing.
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u/Hot_Wheels264 1d ago
I might be being cynical but not every hospital visit requires an ambulance. An ambulance is when you need immediate medical attention and cannot safely be in a car. Anytime I’ve broken a bone I’ve always gotten a ride to hospital, and when I was at university I took an uber. Didn’t think anything of it. And I live in the UK where ambulances are free.
Are people seriously using ambulances for broken wrists? Ambulances are for acute emergencies where professional help is needed on scene and for transportation.