Posted on 08/02/2012 6:03:00 PM PDT by grundle
VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Seventeen-year-old John Clark, a senior at Hudson's Bay, says he didn't think twice about running into the ocean to save a drowning 12-year-old.
But what he hasn't stopped thinking about, is the bill he received as a result of his effort.
What started at Rockaway Beach
The guardian angel is busy this week teaching Boy Scouts to tie knots. It's a far cry from the sand at Rockaway Beach nearly a month ago -- when John Clark heard screams for help from a 12-year-old swept out to sea.
The call for help came just five days after Clark had been certified as a lifeguard.
"He had to do something," said Dan Clark, John's dad.
So John Clark dove in -- through the breakers and heavy swells -- to reach the boy in the ocean. Then he calmed the boy down, and kept him afloat.
"I don't know exactly how big the swells were," Clark said, "but they were big enough to push both of us underwater -- all the way down to where we were touching sand."
Jet skis arrived and pulled both of them to shore.
John had a headache, and the 12-year-old was wrapped in a blanket to warm up. Into the ambulance they both went.
'When we got the bill it was a shock'
Clark thought the trip to Tillamook General Hospital was standard procedure; he didn't give it a second thought until several weeks later ... when the bill arrived.
"I am extremely proud of him," his dad tells KOIN. "When we got the bill it was a shock."
The emergency room bill came to $449. The physician's bill was $227. The 15-mile ride in the ambulance to Tillamook: $1,907. The total bill for saving a young man's life? Nearly $2,600.
"I had a feeling there would be a bill," Clark said. "But I didn't know how much it would be, and I kind of feel bad for the fact that it's so expensive. But I couldn't just let the kid go -- I had to do something."
John Clark is a lifeguard at the Firstenburg Community Center pool and the Marshall Community Center in Vancouver. He's the youngest of nine kids; his family is trying to make arrangements to get the bill paid.
That’s a very poor analogy. Cops don’t usually send bills; ambulance companies do. Whoever called them, hired them and that’s who owes the fee. If I hired a photographer to take your picture would you owe their fee or would I?
“Bill over $8,000.”
Hope everything turned out okay.
6 weeks ago my grandson fell off a 35’ rock cliff near Angels Camp (Yosemite area). His face broke the fall on the rocks below. The rescue team could not reach him from the ground so they had to be lowered into the ravine and ‘basket’ the boy out and airlifted to the nearest hospital in Modesto.
Cost of the rescue totaled $23,000! Thankfully, his insurance covered all but $400.00.
I missed that the lifeguard was examined in the ER too. But his share of a 15-mile ambulance ride was over $1,900? Something doesn’t compute.
The 12 year old nearly drowned.
The 17 year old lifeguard jumped in and saved him.
The 17 year old lifeguard complained of a headache and ALSO went to the ER for treatment.
Voila, that is where he got a bill for nearly $2,600.
Disclaimer - I HAVE also misread or not read articles too. Hey, nobody's perfect ;-)
When I left a hospital after a short stay I wanted to ride home in my daughter’s car (I was fully well enough to do so) but the hospital insisted that I use an ambulance. Got a bill for $400 for medical transport I didn’t want or need.
In this case implied consent comes into play. The EMT would have to determine if a reasonable person would want medical care in the other persons condition. Especially if the person was unconscious. The one that receives the treatment foots the bill.
Even I thought he was an ocean lifeguard, but it appears that wasn't true. He was a lifeguard at the pool.
That “got to ER by ambulance for immediate service” ploy is something illegal aliens use since they don’t pay anything anyway.
All children and certainly all paid lifeguards should have health insurance.
In this case the subject was a minor. Implied consent is pretty shaky especially when the contract is unenforceable. The EMT is not in a position to place his own orders for work and expect others to pay his bill. What if a housepainter decided your house needed painting, painted it and sent you a bill?
I had to reread this three times. I think he was off duty at the beach when this occurred. He’s a lifeguard at the pool. Im not sure if minors can refuse treatment....
I may have misspoke before I read the horribly written article. I thought perhaps the lifeguard was on duty at a municipal beach being paid by tax dollars. I also made the assumption the EMTs in that county are also paid by tax dollars. That’s why I made the initial police analogy.
People are under the misconception that a doctor has some kind of police/God-like power to have control of your life.
The fact is that the only thing a doctor can force you to do is to get off of his property unless they are able to make the case that you should be institutionalized for being a danger to yourself or others.
We run in to this frequently when running calls at the local Doc-in-the-Box.
You want to leave on your own? Get up and do so.
Oh I’ve gone against “doctor’s orders” more than once. But not that time.
“But if you do have a problem, they will see you in the ER right away if you come in an ambulance...”
Not true. You will still go through triage and may wind up being taken out to the waiting room and sitting there for hours. I have seen it many times.
People get a little ticked over their $800 ambulance ride (got to pay for your ride plus the 2/3 that don’t pay) only to sit in the waiting room waiting to be seen for their stubbed toe.
Both of them got medical attention.
From the article:
John had a headache, and the 12-year-old was wrapped in a blanket to warm up. Into the ambulance they both went.
I did read another article (off FR) that didn’t mention any treatment for the lifeguard so didn’t bother to read all of the one linked on FR.
Wow! he’s very lucky to have come out of that alive I hope he makes a full recovery!!
I say F’ those who sent him the bill...especially the ambulance...totally out of line. And this is in Vancouver...just wait until the full effect of Obamacare hits us here...
Who goes to the hospital in an ambulance for a headache? Pay up, dude.
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