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Struggling paramedics called to house 650 TIMES in A YEAR sparks calls for court action
Express ^ | 1-3-2015 | HELEN BARRATT

Posted on 01/03/2015 8:21:08 AM PST by Citizen Zed

Only 11 of the 653 callouts to the address in Shard End, Birmingham, had actually resulted in anyone being taken to hospital, despite 400 being described as being for “someone generally unwell”. It means paramedics were called on average nearly TWICE A DAY.

In one shameful incident paramedics rushed to the house as the resident had a HEADACHE.

Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe wants court action against prolific time wasters after it was revealed the West Midlands Ambulance Service was called out a scandalous 5,000 times to just 30 addresses.

He said: “Someone is going to die while hard-pressed ambulance services are having their time wasted on these kind of callouts - that simply isn't acceptable." 

He called for a reporting and monitoring system which followed up on offending callers.

He added: "Where calls might simply be regarded as malicious there should be a police warning, followed by a caution and prosecution.

(Excerpt) Read more at express.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: entitlementculture
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Government run healthcare. What can go wrong?
1 posted on 01/03/2015 8:21:08 AM PST by Citizen Zed
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To: Citizen Zed

Gimmie girls using ambulances as taxis is common in America as well. They don’t pay taxes, and are judgment proof in litigation. Beats the hell out of waiting in the cold for a bus.


2 posted on 01/03/2015 8:23:22 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (This is known as "bad luck". - Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: Citizen Zed

You would think the 911 service would have figured it out after the first 300 or 400 calls.


3 posted on 01/03/2015 8:25:14 AM PST by Michael.SF. (It takes a gun to feed a village (and an AK 47 to defend it).)
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To: Citizen Zed

>>He said: “Someone is going to die while hard-pressed ambulance services are having their time wasted on these kind of callouts - that simply isn’t acceptable.”

But, it’s FREEEEEEEEEEEEE!


4 posted on 01/03/2015 8:25:32 AM PST by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: Michael.SF.
You would think the 911 service would have figured it out after the first 300 or 400 calls.

It's probably the law that if someone calls for an ambulance, one responds, no matter what.

5 posted on 01/03/2015 8:29:10 AM PST by Drew68
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To: Drew68

I can assure you that it is either the law or SOP, to ward off the almost-certain mega-buck lawsuit if dispatchers ignored what turned out to be, at long last, a true emergency.


6 posted on 01/03/2015 8:35:30 AM PST by daler
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To: Drew68

My MIL is batsh*t crazy, and every time my FIL leaves the house without her express permission she dials 911 knowing full well they HAVE to take her away in the ambulance.

I can’t recall what the exact price of that ride is, but my FIL is going broke fast because insurance isn’t paying for it anymore.


7 posted on 01/03/2015 8:35:56 AM PST by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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To: Drew68

“It’s probably the law that if someone calls for an ambulance, one responds, no matter what.”

This is absolutely true. If they don’t come out that one time and it matters, it would be as good as hitting the pick 5 for the person who called or their next of kin.


8 posted on 01/03/2015 8:36:06 AM PST by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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To: Citizen Zed

When it’s “free” of course you call an ambulance for a headache.


9 posted on 01/03/2015 8:36:57 AM PST by aquila48
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To: Citizen Zed

I listened to Michael Savage for a while. Way back, he mentioned a SF homeless guy that had racked up $80K in ambulance/ER visits that year, and I think it was only September.


10 posted on 01/03/2015 8:37:10 AM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: Drew68
You are probably right, so the solution would be a 'co-pay' system of say $25.00.

If it is a real emergency the fee could be waived, or everyone gets one trip per year with no fee involved.

11 posted on 01/03/2015 8:38:33 AM PST by Michael.SF. (It takes a gun to feed a village (and an AK 47 to defend it).)
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To: Citizen Zed

We see this kind of thing in our ER all the time too. Lot’s of people call an ambulance because they can’t get a ride/afford a cab/whatever. There’s generally a strong sense of entitlement associated with these people. They typically expect us to feed them, wait on them hand and foot, load them up with dilaudid, and provide them with a free cab ride home and their complaints are rarely emergencies. As often as not, they’re looking for a fix and a script for percocets.
Plenty of stupid stuff comes through the front door too though. Some of them will come in 4-8 times per month. A little exploring reveals that they’re pulling the same crap at the other local hospitals too. This is their job, chasing narcotics at hospital ERs. Eventually, they get a dumb doctor who gives them their fix and writes them their script and it’s pay day. They are frequently white too btw.


12 posted on 01/03/2015 8:46:01 AM PST by RC one (Militarized law enforcement is just a politically correct way of saying martial law enforcement.)
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To: aquila48

[ When it’s “free” of course you call an ambulance for a headache. ]

I have driven myself to the hospital when I was in severe danger of dying....

A POX on all those that abuse the “Whambulance” system.


13 posted on 01/03/2015 8:46:03 AM PST by GraceG (Protect the Border from Illegal Aliens, Don't Protect Illegal Alien Boarders...)
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To: Drew68

Hubby was a firefighter in an illegal alien welfare crowd town for many years. He and the ambulances went on many of these calls. They used them as a taxi ride to the hospital in the city then would go wherever they wanted. Legally they have to respond to the calls. But once the firefighters and ambulances got there many times the ambulance would treat them on site and refuse to take them to the hospital. They knew real calls from the fake ones. They also used to respond to what they termed ‘Hispanic panic’. Lol they would stick an oxygen mask on them and do their vitals then remove the oxygen mask and leave. Treatment. Rofl


14 posted on 01/03/2015 8:47:06 AM PST by sheana
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To: Citizen Zed

I used to be a manager in a distribution center. We used a lot of temps. One came up missing and I went to look for her. I found her in the lounge on the phone. She was calling 911 to get them to take her to the doctor because she had a headache. I got on the phone with the operator and she wanted to know what was going on. I told her I’d take care of it. I had to explain to this chick how 911 worked. She really thought they were there to squire people around. Needless to say I got rid of her. Figured she was just too stupid to mess with.


15 posted on 01/03/2015 8:47:34 AM PST by Himyar (Sessions: the only real man in D.C.)
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To: RC one

[ Plenty of stupid stuff comes through the front door too though. Some of them will come in 4-8 times per month. A little exploring reveals that they’re pulling the same crap at the other local hospitals too. This is their job, chasing narcotics at hospital ERs. Eventually, they get a dumb doctor who gives them their fix and writes them their script and it’s pay day. They are frequently white too btw. ]

I blame the ambulance chasing lawyers that have made it so that if a hospital take steps against this they would get sued into the ground by those a-holes....


16 posted on 01/03/2015 8:49:11 AM PST by GraceG (Protect the Border from Illegal Aliens, Don't Protect Illegal Alien Boarders...)
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To: Michael.SF.

They’ll just tell them they don’t have it on them and to “send me a bill”, which will be instantly dropped in the trash. That is what is currently happening, with some rides billing out $1k a pop.

That, plus the ACLU would have a field day if you enforced it on the poor.


17 posted on 01/03/2015 8:49:15 AM PST by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

The one thing I admired about former DC Mayor the late Marion Barry was calling out his constituents on using 911 as a taxi service. At least he understood that much. May he rest in peace.


18 posted on 01/03/2015 8:49:17 AM PST by EDINVA
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To: Citizen Zed

Man, ain’t that the troof!

Nationalized Health Care: Not, “what could go wrong?” but “how can the gibsmedats abuse it?”

Twix-a-day? Really?


19 posted on 01/03/2015 8:53:44 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations: The acronym explains the science.)
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To: RC one

“There’s generally a strong sense of entitlement associated with these people. “

If only they got their repatriations so they could go back to college ...


20 posted on 01/03/2015 8:53:54 AM PST by TexasGator
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