Government abuse?: Citizens abusing 911 for medical care from Fire Dept

[bucs90]

Charleston area firefighters handle growing number of calls for medical help – The Post and Courier

This is happening in every state in the nation, every city. Supply vs Demand. People are calling 911 reporting a medical emergency, and the Fire Department has paramedics on duty on every fire truck, who are firemen and on the FD payroll. The fire dept gets to the scene far quicker than EMS, and usually provides the care. Why do they have paramedics? Well, in case of medical emergencies in a real fire.

BUT...as the article says, less than 10% of calls for the Fire Department are for....well, "FIRES". They are almost all medical calls now. The two departments featured in this article had a 35:1 ratio of medical/fire calls. Yes, the FIRE department is being used 35X for a medical call for every 1 fire call.

On OUR tax dollar. Why is this happening? Well, as long as you dont get into that ambulance, it is FREE healthcare. Insurance doesnt kick in until you get in the ambulance. Up to that, your healthcare is being paid for with city resources, aka, the Fire Department.

In these two examples, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant, you have two suburbs of Charleston with two dynamics:

North Charleston: A lot of poverty, about 100,000 residents, mostly in poverty. Many dont have insurance, so, they just call 911 for primary care.

Mount Pleasant: A VERY wealthy, affluent suburb. Why do they do it? As the article says, they dont want a doctors appointment during work hours, and the FD is 24/7. So, they get home at 6pm, eat dinner, then call 911 for some medical care, reporting an "emergency". And to add to that, they mostly all have insurance, BUT, by doing this, they dont make a claim and they dont have to pay a co-pay cost.

100% abuse of the system. But, in far right wing Red State South Carolina, the people bitch and whine about "small government", yet, they abuse the shit out of government. Supply and demand. If you keep asking the government to "do something", well, then supply (government) will respond.

 

[bucs90]

I dont have an immediate link for this one, but from experience I can say, people also abuse Police Depts. They call for juvenile discpline- literally, asking cops to discipline 10 year old kids for being rude. And for a countless list of other things that are NOT police issues: barking dogs, shitty customer service, wild animals that they dont feel should be in their neighborhood (like a racoon in a suburb), being angry that the supermarket line is too long (yep, firsthand experience on that one).

The same people bitching about too much government.

Supply and Demand.

Stop consuming so much government if you really want "less" government.

 

[OKTexas]

You can fix that very easily, just give them a bill if the call is not a true emergency, or prosecute for making false emergency calls. It's the cities fault for allowing it to continue.

 

[Clementine]

I see you are trying to make this a red state problem, though article says it's nationwide. Newsflash- even red states have lots of Dems and vice versa.

Thing is, emergency medical personnel can't give the same treatment that doctors do. No prescriptions for antibiotics or any other meds are written. No x-rays. No blood tests, etc. This is a very poor substitute for routine care. Paramedics are trained for emergencies and cannot diagnose or render proper treatment for illnesses. Their job is to stabilize patients who are having real emergencies and getting them to the hospital for treatment.

Maybe they need to educate some people on this because you're not going to get much help without getting in that ambulance. It's clear that those who think they can use the Fire Dept. paramedics for their primary medical care are not too bright.

I dont have an immediate link for this one, but from experience I can say, people also abuse Police Depts. They call for juvenile discpline- literally, asking cops to discipline 10 year old kids for being rude. And for a countless list of other things that are NOT police issues: barking dogs, shitty customer service, wild animals that they dont feel should be in their neighborhood (like a racoon in a suburb), being angry that the supermarket line is too long (yep, firsthand experience on that one).

The same people bitching about too much government.

Supply and Demand.

Stop consuming so much government if you really want "less" government.

Good grief! Show me where it says that those abusing ambulance and police are the same ones bitching about too much government. Hell of an assumption and clearly designed to make the right look bad. Major fail.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Charleston area firefighters handle growing number of calls for medical help – The Post and Courier

This is happening in every state in the nation, every city. Supply vs Demand. People are calling 911 reporting a medical emergency, and the Fire Department has paramedics on duty on every fire truck, who are firemen and on the FD payroll. The fire dept gets to the scene far quicker than EMS, and usually provides the care. Why do they have paramedics? Well, in case of medical emergencies in a real fire.

BUT...as the article says, less than 10% of calls for the Fire Department are for....well, "FIRES". They are almost all medical calls now. The two departments featured in this article had a 35:1 ratio of medical/fire calls. Yes, the FIRE department is being used 35X for a medical call for every 1 fire call.

On OUR tax dollar. Why is this happening? Well, as long as you dont get into that ambulance, it is FREE healthcare. Insurance doesnt kick in until you get in the ambulance. Up to that, your healthcare is being paid for with city resources, aka, the Fire Department.

In these two examples, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant, you have two suburbs of Charleston with two dynamics:

North Charleston: A lot of poverty, about 100,000 residents, mostly in poverty. Many dont have insurance, so, they just call 911 for primary care.

Mount Pleasant: A VERY wealthy, affluent suburb. Why do they do it? As the article says, they dont want a doctors appointment during work hours, and the FD is 24/7. So, they get home at 6pm, eat dinner, then call 911 for some medical care, reporting an "emergency". And to add to that, they mostly all have insurance, BUT, by doing this, they dont make a claim and they dont have to pay a co-pay cost.

100% abuse of the system. But, in far right wing Red State South Carolina, the people bitch and whine about "small government", yet, they abuse the shit out of government. Supply and demand. If you keep asking the government to "do something", well, then supply (government) will respond.

And of course you can prove your assertion with like, evidence, right?

 

[OODA_Loop]

Yes. I am certain the fire department will treat your ear ache or stomach virus and leave.

 

[bucs90]

You cant prosecute someone for calling 911 with a "medical emergency" if they say they really thought they had one. "Chest pain" is the most common reason to call. It cant be proven or disproven, but, it merits a full exam by the paramedic. And to whoever said they dont give meds, yes, they do. They cant offer prescription meds. But they carry everything you'd get at a Rite Aid over the counter, and give them whatever may help their "emergency".

Now, you could interview and investigate the person making the call to ensure this fraud is stopped. But....thats gonna now require sending a cop to every FD call to invesitgate and charge. And that is....yep.....MORE GOVERNMENT.

And to the person commenting about why I blamed right wingers for this....you must not live in South Carolina. This may be the reddest of all the red states. By far. Not even close. The two cities listed? Mount Pleasant is an extremely wealthy suburb, in South Carolina, so I doubt they are Obama loyalists. And North Charleston???? Check their website. They literally have the "Dont Tread On Me" rattlesnake flag flying at CITY HALL!!! Yes, between the US and state flag is the yellow rattlesnake flag, in front of their 4 story police/judicial/city hall building. Now...some reason, I dont think that is an Obama city!

 

[bucs90]

Yes. I am certain the fire department will treat your ear ache or stomach virus and leave.

Yep. And the taxpayers will pay for the fire engine's 5 miles per gallon truck to run, and the fire truck crew, all paid salary, benefits, pension.

All because some red stater in SC who hates big govt...is calling the govt to get around paying for his own healthcare.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Yes. I am certain the fire department will treat your ear ache or stomach virus and leave.

Yep. And the taxpayers will pay for the fire engine's 5 miles per gallon truck to run, and the fire truck crew, all paid salary, benefits, pension.

All because some red stater in SC who hates big govt...is calling the govt to get around paying for his own healthcare.

Again... you of course have evidence that it is small government conservatives doing this?

Or, as I suspect, is this just more of you being a big-mouthed, full-of-shit gasbag who wouldn't know the truth if it hit him?

 

[bucs90]

Yes. I am certain the fire department will treat your ear ache or stomach virus and leave.

Yep. And the taxpayers will pay for the fire engine's 5 miles per gallon truck to run, and the fire truck crew, all paid salary, benefits, pension.

All because some red stater in SC who hates big govt...is calling the govt to get around paying for his own healthcare.

Again... you of course have evidence that it is small government conservatives doing this?

Or, as I suspect, is this just more of you being a big-mouthed, full-of-shit gasbag who wouldn't know the truth if it hit him?

Sure do. Look at the voting records of...well, almost everywhere in South Carolina.

A Democrat in South Carolina is about as rare as seeing a polar bear in SC.

If the voting records are correct, and they are since right wingers dont commit voter fraud in SC, then this state is probably 80-90% red. And...well, that % carries over to the population as a whole calling 911.

Thats common sense man.