Could a homeless person, who has not eaten for 4 days, go to the emergency room and get food? If you stay in the hospital overnight if you get in a minor car wreck, they will feed you. So, could a homeless person who has not had food for several days, check in, claim to be emaciated, eat a few meals, and check out?
I think to stay overnight you have to be diagnosed with a problem. So if they find something wrong then they could stay as long as the doctor advises.
I was in a minor car wreck and there was no way they were keeping me overnight. But I guess it depends on the definition of minor.
Yes, but if you were to the point of hunger where there is a scientific/medical danger involved…
They also might send the person to a local shelter or charity to get him food. One medical issue he might have is dehydration so they would treat him for that.
4 days is not starvation level. Humans can survive for 30-45 days without food. Therefore they would not be covered by EMTALA.
But, as Bijou Drains notes, I imagine they would hook the homeless person up with a local soup kitchen or food bank or something.
They can go to a food pantry , or Goodwill and get some food to eat . I guess if they’re ready to pass out and have health issues they can get some food . They might get send to a homeless shelter for awhile too. Do you know someone homeless that needs some help ?
Homeless shelter, maybe, if they aren’t already full. Food pantries are only open on certain days for a very limited number of hours(almost certainly never at night), and Goodwill does clothes, not food.
I have a friend who has aspergers and does not manage his money well. Every month he runs of food/money. Well, it is very typical, at least 3 out of 4 months he does it.
I have loaned him money in the past. I was going to loan him money today but he got funds from somewhere else first.
I feel bad that I would not help someone with aspergers (he is more functional than not functional, he has a part time job) but I think next time this happens I will decline helping him.
Thank You for the clarification
Does he have food stamps? If his income is below some level, he should be able to get a EBT card. That helped me a lot when I was homeless.
Or even some form of disability assistance?
Thank you.
He does get food stamps but they are around 100 dollars which he spends before the month is up. I know his family, I called them (I have spoken with them before) and we made a plan that when my friend get’s his SSI check at the beginning of the month, they will hold $100 for him until the 25th/27th of the month…
The medical center I go to often has donations from a local food shelf available in the urgent care clinic & ER. So they could get something there.
I don’t really understand the logic here - you have someone with a cognitive disability that apparently interferes with his ability to plan for the future, you’d like to help him out from time to time, but you somehow think withholding help is going to do… what?
Unless, of course, you can no longer afford to help him - but you wouldn’t even refer him to someone who could help him? Because I don’t think that sounds like a situation where “tough love” is going to make a change.
Did you not read the whole thread? It is not that long a thread. Your response is #13. In response #11 I said:
I know his family, I called them (I have spoken with them before) and we made a plan that when my friend get’s his SSI check at the beginning of the month, they will hold $100 for him until the 25th/27th of the month…
I am really not interested in hearing your comments unless:
1- You have an honest desire to help
2- You can refrain from insinuating that I don’t/won’t help my friend
If it’s really true that he has Aspergers and that this is the reason that he doesn’t have enough money to live on most months, then not loaning him money isn’t going to work. This is true for most mental illnesses. The problem isn’t that he just isn’t trying hard enough to spend his money wisely. The problem is that he doesn’t know how to spend his money wisely or that his condition prevents him from doing so. You can’t shame a mentally ill person into acting rationally. You need to get them help. Why isn’t he living in an institution or with another member of his family or a friend or something?
First of all, how do you know that he has Aspergers? Has he actually been professionally diagnosed (as opposed to someone saying “Golly, it sure sounds like he has those symptoms I saw on a webpage about Aspergers”)? If he hasn’t been professionally diagnosed, get him professionally diagnosed. Then get some professional advice about where he should live. You make it sound like his family already has some control on the money he gets from welfare. Apparently this isn’t enough. It looks like he can’t live by himself.
I know him quite well. I’ve know him for almost 10 years. He is kind of like a little Brother to me. He calls me frequently to chat and ask for advice. Sometimes he is in a bad mood and complaining. Sometimes he is in a good mood and very excited.
He was diagnosed some time ago, before I met him. He is functional enough to live outside a facility. He now has an apartment, which is paid for by a government program. He is quite smart. He has a computer science degree from NYU and a Graduate degree in Math from another school.
He has great problems with controlling his spending but he is aware of the problem, he will admit it when I point it out to him. But he has rejected the idea having his parents hold 100 for him. It takes 2 hours one way for him to get to his parents house on public transportation. He rejected the idea of having his check split up (direct deposit) and redistributed to him 4 times over the month. I (politely but firmly) said to him, it sounds like you just want to keep all your money so you can spend it at the beginning of the month… right? He reluctantly agreed that I was correct.
At the beginning of the month he buys expensive groceries, goes out to eat everyday, buys video games, pays someone to transcribe music into readable note/sheet music (rare songs that you can’t purchase the sheet music for) or spends money on music in other ways. He frequently borrows money from friends but he is able to pay them back.
He has had a job tutoring people in math and music both but has not been able to become a permanent tutor yet.
I do not mind helping him but at the end of the month I too am on limited funds.
But I’ve told him, politely but firmly, if he wont give his parents 100 to hold for him, and, if he won’t set up his account to split his check into 4 smaller checks, then don’t bother me for money or complaints when you get in trouble. Maybe I need to change my position. I am not sure what to do.
He has maxed out 3 or 4 credit cards. He does not handle money well at all. He asked me should he declare bankruptcy on his credit cards and I told him I don’t know if he should or not. The bank gave him additional card(s) knowing he had bad debts on previous cards.
His family gives him some help bt they are largely out of patience with his situation.
The number of college degrees he has is irrelevant to his mental condition. You say that he is functional enough to live outside of a facility, but the description you give of his life seems to show that this isn’t true. It appears that you and his family can’t control his spending when he lives by himself. It appears that he has to live with other people, either in an institution or with friends or family.
The short answer is no. You can’t be admitted to the hospital for being homeless. You can only be admitted for a medical or psychological condition that requires hospitalization.
He had the same financial problems when he did live with his family…
Sorry for two posts. Deleted most of what I had written as it was unclear.
The longer answer is yes, MOST Emergency Departments will try and help you. We will try and give you a meal now, and hook you up with social services. But unfortunately that is going to depend on the hospital and how busy it is.