They are called EMERGENCY services for a reason

The BBQ Pit
1

You know, in Australia most of us don’t even have to pay for any of our emergency services (be they police, ambulance, fire brigade, or state rescue services) to attend us. They work killer shifts, for not a great deal of pay, and most of the time they don’t even get a "thanks"for their efforts.

I’m really sorry that it was a cold rainy day today Ms Nextdoorneighbour and that you have a form due at a government authority on Monday and you couldn’t be bothered waiting in line with everyone else down at our local surgery to get this form completed (and you’ve known that you had to lodge this form for well over a month).

I am sick to death of hearing you complain about the inadequacy of the medical treatment you receive (I use the same doctors, remember) when I see you DAY IN AND DAY FUCKING OUT not taking the medications those doctors have prescribed for you but popping every single prescription medicine that has worked for one of your friends.

I’m tired of being at your house when you cancel every single appointment with a specialist to whom you’ve been referred because on the day you don’t feel like going. I’m tired of you using your ill health as an excuse to claim disability benefits of our government when you can’t be bothered going to either GP or specialist’s appointments because you have to dye your hair or your boyfriend is at work today.

I waited TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES the other day for an ambulance, and at the time I rang them I had a child who wasn’t breathing. Fortunately, I do hold high level first aid certificates and pretty much knew what to do anyway, and fortunately our emergency services will ring back and stay on the line to give step by step guidance. But in spite of knowing what to do, finding my own child not breathing shocked the fucking shit out of me - I wasted at least 30 seconds physically dragging her to the same location as the phone.

The reason the ambulance could not get here quicker that day was NOT because they were tied up with real emergencies; it’s because people like you ring them in the hope of being seen faster if you go to hospital by amulance than if you go to a medical centre and wait your turn.

In some ways, you’re right. When I took my daughter to the ER a couple of weeks ago she went in by ambulance and was given the IMMEDIATE care she needed to stabilise her condition. The reason she got IMMEDIATE attention when we arrived was because her saturated oxygen levels were too low. Many other people arrived by ambulance that night who were quite ill (and they really were) but their illnesses weren’t immediately life-threatening - and that, my dear, is called triage.

You were taken by ambulance to hospital this afternoon with all the indications of a TIA and you can’t even be BOTHERED waiting around for the results of the tests?

I’d love to say that next time you have a medical crisis, I won’t respond - I know that I will anyway. But I’d sure as shit like you to think about the people who couldn’t even GET an ambulance this afternoon or GET seen in the ER while you were wasting their time.

If it’s serious enough to get an ambulance to take you to hospital, it’s serious enough to hang around for the results.

When Bree went to the ER the other week, her X-rays and bloods had been taken within an hour - her sats by that time were stable (actually, I pretty much knew she was out of danger once her sats hit 96%), but there was not fucking way on EARTH I was leaving that ER before I knew the results of ALL of the tests. It took almost 5 hours between the paediatric registrar being given her results and him being able to find time to tell us what they were. We STAYED. I was hungry, I was tired, I was thirsty as hell and we didn’t have any money beyond the cab fare home, but we STAYED? You get the picture.

Do not - EVER - abuse our emergency services again; cos the very next time you get an ambulance to take you to hospital and then phone 30 minutes later for someone to collect you because the wait is “too long”, I’ll hang up on you…

2

{{{Bree}}}
And hugs for you too, rep. Sometimes I think it’s so much harder on those who are waiting, not the injured party, so you deserve a round of hugs, too.

Re : the op : I agree 100%

I can’t stand people who abuse our emergency services.

3

About 5 minutes after I posted this, the said neighbour rang ME trying to track down her SO (who is currently en route to the hospital via public transport) to complain about the fact that she hasn’t yet been seen by a doctor so she’s going to take herself to a medical centre (you go girl, it’s 5:30 of a Friday afternoon, you aren’t going toget seen ANYWHERE fast).

I repeat, if you’re sick enough to present at the ER then you are sick enough to wait as long as it takes to be seen…and if you’re well enough to complain about the service, then perhaps you should have used your local GP or the medical centres rather than assuming that calling an ambulance gave you some kind of “priority”.

And yes - she’s now stuck at a hospital which is a $20 cab fare away and can’t even track down her SO so she can get a cab home. I don’t have enough cash on me to pay for one (even if I was prepared to, which I’m not), so she might as well stay and let the doctors assess her…

4

There’s a thing called “enabling.” Don’t do it. If the neighbour thinks the ambulance service is a taxi, let her try getting one to take her home.

Heck, I’d be tempted to tell the hag to take a hearse back.

5

The update. Said neighbour is now home because she couldn’t be bothered waiting at the ER. An after hours doctor is coming out to see her at the government’s expense (the ambulance trip was also at the government’s expense).

Pardon me if I don’t feel TOO sorry for her givent hat she’s next door right now smoking cigarettes and drinking cups of tea and busily phoning everyone she can think of telling them how awful it is that she would have had to wait about 10 hours to be seen by a doctor in the ER…

As I just said to her, if you are that sick, you STAY, no matter WHAT they delay.

No frigging wonder when I call an ambulance we get seen in 5 minutes and she doesn’t - we don’t CALL ambulances unless we need them, and even when we DO call them we give very detailed information and do not accept transportation to hospital unless the ambos recommend it (there’s lot’s of stuff they can fix).

What really concerns me is that this woman DOES have legitimate health problems, but she’s “cried wolf” often enough that the day something really DOES go wrong, I’m not going to know the difference and so I’m not going to belt over there.

And I hate myself for even SAYING that. I would have done ANYTHING and called ANYONE just to have some company the other day when Bree stopped breathing and I was waiting for the ambulance to arrive. And it’s a STUPID feeling. All I could do was kick myself for wasting the best part of a minute on emotional reactions I’ve NEVER felt before when I’ve had to use my first aid skills. I even dialled 911 first up, which is NOT the emergency number here.

Yes, I still think it’s a probable TIA. But I don’t have a lot of sympathy for anyone who calls the emergency services and then leaves because the wait is “too long”. People die in Sydney every single fucking day because on average it takes 12 minutes for an ambulance to reach you - it would take a LOT less time if they weren’t being used as a “cheap” (to the person calling them; in fact it costs the government about $300 per ambulance call out) transportation system.

And BTW lady, I was THERE when the ambos assessed you - please don’t try to tell me that they were going to give you a pain killing injection but didn’t “because”…

I’ve done that trip myself often enough to know that the only circumstances under which the ambos administer ANY drugs are life-threatening ones and they only do THAT after radioing a doctor and getting clear instructions about WHAT to administer (they already know what to do and how, but they still legally need that confirmation).

There is not a chance on this planet that those ambos would have even CONSIDERED giving you a pethidine or morphine shot for pain relief for a 15 minute journey unless you were exhibiting signs of MAJOR trauma (which you were not - you WALKED to the ambulance, if you recall).

No wonder no-one in this country can afford health care. By the time tonight is over, between the ambulance charges and the after hours visit by the locum, your little foreplay with your SO exercise will have cost the taxpayer in excess of $1000.

You - my dear next door neighbour - represent the very worst of what happens when you have a socialised healthcare system…

6

TIA? What does that mean?

Personally, I’d tell her flat out to stop it. Remind her that while she’s tying up the ambulance, people are dying because of her selfishness.

7

Not for nothin’, but I’d like to say a huge “thank you” to anyone and everyone involved in working for emergency services. I can tell you that when Allan (husband) was hit by a truck on his motorcycle, I was sure as shit glad to see them show up- lightening fast, excellent heath care, and rushed to the ER, who also treated him immediately and wonderfully.

To everyone who works in emergency services, be it dispatch, EMS, or ER, a huge thank you. To everyone who abuses the efforts of these folks, a huge “fuck you”.

Zette

8

TIA = Transient Ischemic Attack.

A temporary loss of blood flow to a part of the brain.

A mini-stroke. A warning sign. Get thee to a doctor.

9

I hope Bree is ok now. I don’t have children but I can only imagine the feeling of finding your child not breathing.

Unfortunately Reprise, EVERY country has a pretty good idea, be it welfare, goverment funded education or health care. There will ALWAYS be some piece of shit that abuses the system for their own gain.

IMHO, forget about your neighbor and be glad your child is ok. As you say, there are people who die in Australia every day. Had the Emergency Response people in your country done their job as well as they did poor Bree might have been one of them. As for the neighbor, eventually her ambulance will be driven by KARMA and then she’ll be fucked.

Sanscour

10

Here in the Chicago area folks who try to use the ambulance service as a taxi frequently find a large bill for services in their mailbox.

And I think I heard something about taxi-drivers who take someone sick/injured/in labor to the ER get reimbursed by the city (if they don’t, they should)

I’m sure the emergency services are quite aware of the system abusers. The EMT’s are still compelled to transport her, but you did notice that she wasn’t seen for a long long time… yes, she costs the system for the transport, but if she leaves early and never sees the doctor then the doc’s time is not wasted on her, nor are medical supplies.

Of course, if ever she DOES walk in with a valid complaint she’s liable to be treated as a fruitcake and may NOT be seen on time.

11

Bree,
You’re a great kid. A cheeky bugger, but a great kid anyway. But don’t go scaring your mum like that, m’kay? :slight_smile:
Love,
Andrew.

12

Bree’s fine TLD. I am just so appalled at the fact that my neighbour’s little drama the other night cost the government the best part of $2000 and she couldn’t even be bothered waiting around to be properly assessed?

I don’t really consider how much the taxpayer is paying when I call 000, but I sure as shit don’t leave the hospital before we’ve been seen because the wait is “too long” (and it’s absolute crap that the wait was 10-15 hours…the other day when I had to call the ambos for Bree they told me on the PHONE - IE, before they even got here - that there was a 4 hour delay at Blacktown even for emergencies; when the ambos took my neighbour I specifically asked them whether they were taking her to Blacktown or Mt Druitt - cos the ERs get closed all the time). No frigging wonder people can’t afford health care in this country.

And yes, it was almost certainly a TIA which my neighbour suffered - but she couldn’t be bothered waiting to see her own doctor yesterday morning either…

And no - I won’t let her die the next time she has a medical crisis. But I don’t have to like the fact of wasting 7 hours on her medical dramas when she won’t eeven wait one hour to see a doctor.