Man calls ambulance 50 times a year, demands ride home

Mainichi Daily News ^ | July 5, 2005 | no byline

[Cowman]

Man calls ambulance 50 times a year, demands ride home TAKAMATSU -- An unemployed man who often called for an ambulance to take him home after he went drinking has been found guilty of obstruction of duties and sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Judge Hidenaga Manabe at the Takamatsu District Court called the wrongdoing of Satoshi Nakagawa "selfish."

"He committed a selfish crime by obstructing the highly urgent duties of ambulances," the judge said when he handed down the ruling on Monday.

On the night of June 8 last year, Nakagawa, 55, was sitting down on a road in Takamatsu and asked a passerby to call an ambulance for him.

An ambulance dispatched by a local fire station arrived, and Nakagawa demanded that the paramedics take him home.

The ambulance, however, headed for the fire station, not his home, which prompted an enraged Nakagawa to poke one of the paramedics in the cheek, slightly injuring him, according to police.

Nakagawa called for an ambulance about 50 times a year since August 2003 and was driven home after he had been drinking in October 2003 and in April 2004, police said.

[Cowman]

Shoulda called a cab

[handy old one]

Now he is now homeless or unemployed. For the next three and one half years.

[newgeezer]

Or, now he has a home and need no longer worry about getting a ride.

[Jubal Harshaw]

Happens here in the USA too. It's a pretty regular occurence that people will call an ambulance, go to an ER near a shopping district, then simply leave the ER, presumably to go shopping.

[Cowman]

I used to drive a bus in a college town. The bus route shut down at 0115 and the bars closed at 0100. You knew that if you took the last shot of the day you were going to have to hose the bus out.

I didn't take the last shot unless I had to.

[Pablo64]

I seem to recall reading reports of ambulance abuse (and Emergency Room as well) in Canada under their "wonderful" government run healthcare debacle...er...um...I mean, system.

Yeah, that's what we want more of. /sarcasm

[handy old one]

I don't know if he needs a ride but I bet he gets ridden hard and put up wet.

[ncountylee]

Or, now he has a home and need no longer worry about getting a ride.

Now he has to be worried about being ridden!

[mountaineer]

There was an elderly, very cantankerous and disagreeable woman in our town who called 911 every time she was out of cigarettes. The entire VFD breathed a sigh of relief when she shuffled off this mortal coil.

[Cowman]

Yeah, that's what we want more of. /sarcasm

Lemmee get this straight, you want to put the people who run the DMV in charge of the hospitals.

This will improve health-care how?

[Blood of Tyrants]

People with no insurance or on the public dole do it all the time. If they want to get a free ride to the hospital for their chest cold, they just call 911 and say they are having dificulty breathing. In a Heinlein book I once read it said that the worst bums would rather owe you $2 for a house call then 50 cents for an office visit. They aren't going to pay so what do they care?

[marblehead17]

ping

[Pablo64]

Where did you ever come up with that idea from what I wrote??? Go back and read my post again, slowly, and pay very close attention to the sarcasm tag at the end.
Sheesh!

[Cowman]

No offense my friend, my post was dripping with sarcasm as well.

and if it makes the DU lurkers throw a rod all the better.

[Pablo64]

Sorry. Gotta up my morning caffeine intake before I get into full swing. Normally I clue into the sarcasm really well.