Emergency Room Waiting

Secretblend said:
No, it wasn't chest pains. It was stomach. However just taking the ambulance won't make you get in faster is what I was saying.
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Usually you do.

And usually people take an ambulance in an emergency situation

not because they lack of transportation.



I would have called a cab or a friend in a non emergency situation. Instead of using the emergency vehicle.
 
Babyblue said:
yeah, but $$$ is not an issue when a life is at risk.

If I see someone at risk. I will not attempt to drive them to the ER myself. I will hand it down the the pros.
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Yea i was just saying that some people think they can quickly get to see doctor if they get an ambulance ride.

if time's of great essence, drive them yourself. Ambulance ride takes about up to 15 min to get to you.... they have to prep/stabilize you... probably another 10-15 min... and then a ride to hospital.... probably another 15 min.... that's a very long agonizing time. but of course - use your best judgment
 
Babyblue said:
If you want to be admitted to the ER immediately, take an ambulance. Is what we were told. by the ER Doctor.
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i was lucky that this was true for me.

last fall i fainted while waiting in line at the grocery store (my fainting was caused by my meds due to the heat and dehydration). another customer called 911 for an ambulance. when they arrived, they asked me if i wanted them to drive me to the ER and i said yes for fear of not being able to walk home on my own without having another fainting episode.

fortunately, i was wheeled into the ER and saw a doctor right away. the only thing i *didn't* like was having to spend 4 hours in the ER to have all kinds of blood work done as well as 45 minutes of IV fluids being administered to me.
 
I was in extreme pain that's why I went ahead and took ambulance. I had no idea what was going on. The pain was so bad I couldn't barely move. I would call that an emergency. Otherwise I would have called a friend to come and get me. However If I had a car at the time, I would have drove there in spite of the pain.
 
Jiro said:
if time's of great essence, drive them yourself. Ambulance ride takes about up to 15 min to get to you.... they have to prep/stabilize you... probably another 10-15 min... and then a ride to hospital.... probably another 15 min.... that's a very long agonizing time. but of course - use your best judgment
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my old neurologist told me if i ever have a migraine and am without my imitrex that i should call an ambulance to take me to the ER. i have a 21 year history of migraines and have never done that before, but i can guarantee you that if i was vomiting (sorry to be so graphic) and a cab took forever to get to my home, you'd better believe i'd take an ambulance.

speaking of being stabilized, when i fainted last fall, it took 15 minutes for them to stabilize me and another 5 minutes to reach the hospital.

fortunately, the ambulance only took 3 minutes to arrive at the grocery store (since their headquarters were located only a few blocks away).
 
One good plus of where I live is the firehouse is right across the parking lot. If I got a problem, I'm sure they'll look at me before I decide to go to hospital or not. :)
 
Secretblend said:
One good plus of where I live is the firehouse is right across the parking lot. If I got a problem, I'm sure they'll look at me before I decide to go to hospital or not. :)
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the same is true for me. the police department, firehouse and ambulance headquarters are located only 3 minutes from where i live. the hospital is located only 5 minutes away. i consider myself fortunate in that regard.
 
it would suck if their ambulance was already dispatched somewhere else especially in busy city.... Pretty much depends on what kind of town you live in. in a nice suburb - you'll get somebody at your door within less than 5 min.
 
Jiro said:
it would suck if their ambulance was already dispatched somewhere else especially in busy city.... Pretty much depends on what kind of town you live in. in a nice suburb - you'll get somebody at your door within less than 5 min.
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i live in the suburbs, but even if i lived on the opposite side of town (in the same suburb) from where the police department, firehouse and ambulance headquarters are located, i could still get a response within 15 minutes. that's one of the reasons why i refuse to live in the city.
 
check with your local hospitals if they have agreements with sign language interpreters. visit or call or email the social work's office. the finance department won't know. if not, make a list of sign language interpreters agencies. Many hospitals won't know unless we the deaf/the Deaf educated them. What the point of suing health care if we don't act?

and if you don't have health insurance, join the trade association/society of your work field/discipline. they often have benefits.
 
jiro,

it also depends on how many ambulance vehicles are available as well as whether EMT's are volunteers or salaried employees. in some communities where firefighters and EMT's serve on a volunteer basis, there can be a severe lack of services compared to communities where they are paid.
 
Hear Again said:
jiro,

it also depends on how many ambulance vehicles are available as well as whether EMT's are volunteers or salaried employees. in some communities where firefighters and EMT's serve on a volunteer basis, there can be a severe lack of services compared to communities where they are paid.
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yep. that's a huge problem in NJ. My friend is an EMT and his father owns and runs the organization (which has been in his generations for quite a while) that provides free ambulance ride 24/7. He was saying that people's gotta work and there are insufficient number of volunteer EMT available during daytime. so he jokingly said that if you want a "free ride" - call ambulance after 4pm.

daytime = salaried EMT
evening = volunteer EMT
 
Secretblend said:
I was in extreme pain that's why I went ahead and took ambulance. I had no idea what was going on. The pain was so bad I couldn't barely move. I would call that an emergency. Otherwise I would have called a friend to come and get me. However If I had a car at the time, I would have drove there in spite of the pain.
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I can understand.

If I was in extreme pain, I would not dare to attempt to drive myself.

I would call an ambulance. :)
 
Babyblue said:
I can understand.

If I was in extreme pain, I would not dare to attempt to drive myself.

I would call an ambulance. :)
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if you live in rural area.... better drive yourself :laugh2:
 
Hear Again said:
i live in the suburbs, so even if i lived on the opposite side of town from where the police department, firehouse and ambulance headquarters were located, i could still get a response in timely fashion within 15 minutes. that's one of the reasons why i refuse to live in the city.
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"15 min" is pretty much a standard response time almost everywhere. In a nice town... usually 3 min. In city? ay... good luck... unless you're somebody of importance. I have heard that in dangerous city like LA and Philadelphia... the ambulance crew would refuse to come to a certain location if not escorted by police officers... but then the police officers would refuse to come if not accompanied by back-up.... which is why it's not uncommon to hear that the help usually arrive a couple hours later.... unless it's gun-related.
 
Jiro said:
Yea i was just saying that some people think they can quickly get to see doctor if they get an ambulance ride.

if time's of great essence, drive them yourself. Ambulance ride takes about up to 15 min to get to you.... they have to prep/stabilize you... probably another 10-15 min... and then a ride to hospital.... probably another 15 min.... that's a very long agonizing time. but of course - use your best judgment
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I agree.


But at least you are in the hand of people that can make a difference in life saving techniques.

I'm not telling people to call an ambulance for every little thing to get admitted quicker.

Just saying in the case of my mothers friend. She would have had the E.M.C.s working on her instead of dying in the Emergency room with chest pains. While she was waiting.
 
Babyblue said:
I agree.


But at least you are in the hand of people that can make a difference in life saving techniques.

I'm not telling people to call an ambulance for every little thing to get admitted quicker.

Just saying in the case of my mothers friend. She would have had the E.M.C.s working on her instead of dying in the Emergency room with chest pains. While she was waiting.
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SUE! :mad2:
 
Jiro said:
if you live in rural area.... better drive yourself :laugh2:
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better believe it.

I live in a rural area where it is very hard to find my house.

I know how longs it takes for them to get here. :)

45 min :shock:
 
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