# A medical dispatcher's tale

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-dispatchers-tale/742013>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 2, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-dispatchers-tale/742013 "2016-01-02T20:22:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-dispatchers-tale/742013/1 "2016-01-02T20:22:07Z")

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I know that some Dopers work in the emergency services, so I think you’ll be interested in [this article](http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/jan/02/999-call-emergency-medical-dispatcher).

> [@](#):
>
> The best calls are straightforward childbirths, where you get the joy of hearing a baby’s first cry. That’s magical. The worst calls are when a baby has stopped breathing.

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**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-dispatchers-tale/742013/2 "2016-01-02T22:06:59Z")

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> [@Quartz](#):
>
> I know that some Dopers work in the emergency services, so I think you’ll be interested in [this article](http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/jan/02/999-call-emergency-medical-dispatcher).

1. So that’s in the UK.

How does that work there?

I know in every town I’ve lived in here in the US, you call for an ambulance or accept a ride in an ambulance that’s already there (example: you’re at a public gathering and there’s an ambulance there as part of the emergency services), they stick you with a nice, fat bill. Maybe your insurance covers it, maybe it doesn’t. (I’ve seen both.) But I’ve never heard of the bill being less than $1500 for a simple ride to the hospital.

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**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-dispatchers-tale/742013/3 "2016-01-02T22:57:54Z")

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> [@lalaith](#):
>
> 1. So that’s in the UK.
> 
> How does that work there?
> 
> I know in every town I’ve lived in here in the US, you call for an ambulance or accept a ride in an ambulance that’s already there (example: you’re at a public gathering and there’s an ambulance there as part of the emergency services), they stick you with a nice, fat bill. Maybe your insurance covers it, maybe it doesn’t. (I’ve seen both.) But I’ve never heard of the bill being less than $1500 for a simple ride to the hospital.

It’s NHS, it’s paid for by taxes, not at point of use.

Some people do abuse the system, by trying to call for a lift or because of the sniffles or whatever, but the triage is generally pretty good at minimising the issue.