I just really want to vent and I decided this is where I want to do it.
What the hell is wrong with people these days? I have a very hard time trying to figure out why people do the things they do. I will give an example. Yesterday my squad was called out for a 911 for a person complaining of arm numbness, this type of call could be indicative of a impending stroke(CVA) so we always are concerned. When we arrived at the residence(which happens to be in the projects area of our community) the patient was sitting on a couch, she stated that she has been up all nite with numbness and tingling to her right arm. When I asked her when it started she stated taht it began approximetely 3 days prior, I asked her if she had seen a doctor, she stated that she went to a emergency room the day before and all CT-scans where negative, she was diagnosed with a pinched nerve, which she was given a anti-inflammatory. Plus she was told not to sleep on her side, I asked her if she has been sleeping on her side, she said she had been. I than asked her what the doctor said about the numbness and specifically how long it should last, she further told me that the doctor told her it will take 24 to 72 hours before the problem would go away. Well I was a little stunned, I mean she just told me that it wont go away for awhile and it has been only 24 hours since seeing the doctor. I decided to ask the question that was on the mind of my partner and mine. Why do you want to go to the emergency room? Well the lady said she wanted to get her arm looked at again, I told her that she will get the same answer she got yesterday and I told her she should continue taking the meds. Now here is the part that got me mad. She told me she has not been taking the meds because she did not go to the pharmacy and get them. I asked her why and she said that forgot about it, well she did not forget the 12 pack of beer she got last nite, of which I saw the remains on the coffee table in front of her. I was getting mad, and in my line of work this could make me forget why I am there. So I said very quietly. Why do you want to take a ambulance to the hospital since your condition is not an emergency, well she floored me with her response. She stated that she did not have enough gas to get to the hospital and she did not want to wake up her friends to take her. I told her that her insurance would not pay for this ambulance trip and her bill will be expensive, this did not bother her in the slightest, she told me that Medi-Cal will pay for it (Medi-Cal is the California version of public insurance for the poor). Now as you can tell I am kinda rambling, this is because I was up last nite 4 times with calls like this. This last person I talked about is not a isolated incident, we get calls all the time, with people that just don't want to pay for a taxi or they think that if they go by ambulance they will be seen quicker. I had one person I brought into the emergency room, the nurse told me that the same person came into the ER this afternoon and when she was told that it would be about 1 hour before she could be seen, she left. and 20 minutes later I show up with her on my gurney. What she did was leave the hospital and take a cab home and call 911. Now I know that this is not the norm for everybody, but I hope you can see why I am kinda pissed, I mean what if while I was tied up with one of these ignorant morons, and there was a real emergency. Well I guess that poor soul will possibly make it or they could die. Either way it is a waste of the taxpayers money and my precious time. Not only will I have to take them to the hospital since it is illegal for me to refuse to transport someone to the hospital, but I will be out of the system for at least 1 hour due to transport time and filling out the paperwork. Now I will give you some of the statistics of my daily calls
Average 911 calls per day: 15
Number of these that are legit(Strokes/AMI's/Accidents): 3
Number of these that are bogus: 6 to 8
Number of these that are false alarms: 2 to 4
So you can see how expensive this kind of call will be to the community. TO transport one person to the hospital costs approx, $1,000 dollars, this includes taking my squad out of service and up staffing another. I can go on and on with examples of bull**** calls that I go on. I even have one person that calls 911 at least 2 to 4 times a week to go to the hospital and the complaints are usually minor, we picked him up last week for a blister on his finger, and another time for a stuffy nose, I mean how f***ing dumb can a person be. Anyway I just wanted to rant a bit, I feel a bit better now. Thanks.
What the hell is wrong with people these days? I have a very hard time trying to figure out why people do the things they do. I will give an example. Yesterday my squad was called out for a 911 for a person complaining of arm numbness, this type of call could be indicative of a impending stroke(CVA) so we always are concerned. When we arrived at the residence(which happens to be in the projects area of our community) the patient was sitting on a couch, she stated that she has been up all nite with numbness and tingling to her right arm. When I asked her when it started she stated taht it began approximetely 3 days prior, I asked her if she had seen a doctor, she stated that she went to a emergency room the day before and all CT-scans where negative, she was diagnosed with a pinched nerve, which she was given a anti-inflammatory. Plus she was told not to sleep on her side, I asked her if she has been sleeping on her side, she said she had been. I than asked her what the doctor said about the numbness and specifically how long it should last, she further told me that the doctor told her it will take 24 to 72 hours before the problem would go away. Well I was a little stunned, I mean she just told me that it wont go away for awhile and it has been only 24 hours since seeing the doctor. I decided to ask the question that was on the mind of my partner and mine. Why do you want to go to the emergency room? Well the lady said she wanted to get her arm looked at again, I told her that she will get the same answer she got yesterday and I told her she should continue taking the meds. Now here is the part that got me mad. She told me she has not been taking the meds because she did not go to the pharmacy and get them. I asked her why and she said that forgot about it, well she did not forget the 12 pack of beer she got last nite, of which I saw the remains on the coffee table in front of her. I was getting mad, and in my line of work this could make me forget why I am there. So I said very quietly. Why do you want to take a ambulance to the hospital since your condition is not an emergency, well she floored me with her response. She stated that she did not have enough gas to get to the hospital and she did not want to wake up her friends to take her. I told her that her insurance would not pay for this ambulance trip and her bill will be expensive, this did not bother her in the slightest, she told me that Medi-Cal will pay for it (Medi-Cal is the California version of public insurance for the poor). Now as you can tell I am kinda rambling, this is because I was up last nite 4 times with calls like this. This last person I talked about is not a isolated incident, we get calls all the time, with people that just don't want to pay for a taxi or they think that if they go by ambulance they will be seen quicker. I had one person I brought into the emergency room, the nurse told me that the same person came into the ER this afternoon and when she was told that it would be about 1 hour before she could be seen, she left. and 20 minutes later I show up with her on my gurney. What she did was leave the hospital and take a cab home and call 911. Now I know that this is not the norm for everybody, but I hope you can see why I am kinda pissed, I mean what if while I was tied up with one of these ignorant morons, and there was a real emergency. Well I guess that poor soul will possibly make it or they could die. Either way it is a waste of the taxpayers money and my precious time. Not only will I have to take them to the hospital since it is illegal for me to refuse to transport someone to the hospital, but I will be out of the system for at least 1 hour due to transport time and filling out the paperwork. Now I will give you some of the statistics of my daily calls
Average 911 calls per day: 15
Number of these that are legit(Strokes/AMI's/Accidents): 3
Number of these that are bogus: 6 to 8
Number of these that are false alarms: 2 to 4
So you can see how expensive this kind of call will be to the community. TO transport one person to the hospital costs approx, $1,000 dollars, this includes taking my squad out of service and up staffing another. I can go on and on with examples of bull**** calls that I go on. I even have one person that calls 911 at least 2 to 4 times a week to go to the hospital and the complaints are usually minor, we picked him up last week for a blister on his finger, and another time for a stuffy nose, I mean how f***ing dumb can a person be. Anyway I just wanted to rant a bit, I feel a bit better now. Thanks.
