Have you ever required an Ambulance?

Fell onto the garage floor broke two bones, and tore four ligaments. Hard-of-hearing Hubs started to miss me after about an hour and when he finally arrived I told him to call an ambulance. He came back after about five minutes and asked if I knew the number. I said 911. He left and came back asking if I'd like a pillow. I said, " No but you might want to open the garage door and move one of the cars out of the way." Some people fly into a panic in an emergency and others go into a slow-motion catatonic state.

Anyway, the dear, sweet ambulance people were there in a flash. They asked me if I needed any pain medicine and I said, no I could wait, we were very close to the hospital. When I got to the hospital they took a few hours taking x-rays and finding a surgeon in Columbus for me. After a while my husband noticed I could no longer remember my dog's name, and only then did they all realize I hadn't had any pain meds and was going into shock. So he was good for something after all. ;)

Then the ambulance drove me all the way to Columbus for my happy ending.
 

3x that I remember. First time — gall bladder and liver malfunction (jaundice and blockage) at thanksgiving when I was 32. Luckily my parents were 20 miles away and could take my 4 year old. Major surgery and 6 days in ICU.

2nd time — car roll over when I was in my 50s and son was driving. Another driver t-boned us. Everyone was able to leave hospital ambulatory after hospital and tests but I still have residual neck issues.

3rd time — major sinus surgery when I was 64. 2 days after, reaction to the pain meds and couldn’t stop vomiting after 12 hours. Ambulance came and took me to the hospital 20 miles away. When I was released, I had to call a neighbor to bring my car and pick me up and I didn’t have any shoes.

I hate the way ambulance companies try to bill you for months and months until they finally decide to charge your insurance.
 
I hate the way ambulance companies try to bill you for months and months until they finally decide to charge your insurance.

They're relentless....AND the insurance company doesn't make it any easier.

When we first moved to Florida, there was only ONE ambulance company in the area/city. My late husband was hit by a car and transported to the ER by ambulance.

The insurance company didn't want to pay the full amount because "it was more than the prevailing rate for the area". WHA? When there's only one company, then that IS the prevailing rate for the area. It took some fighting to get that bill paid.
 
Yeah! The bill for 96 days in three hospitals, the 6 hour ambulance ride was over $1,000 by itself, all of the Doctors were seperate, etc., all that came over $200,000. I was saying Thank God for Insurance a lot as the bills came in. I was terrified that I would have to pay 20% of that, but my deductible was met the first day, and all they said I had to pay was $100, which was 20% of whatever the first procedure was that cost $500. But and after two years, they have never asked for it.

I was also afraid the were going to dock me a month of my retirement because they said if was in any of the three hospitals for longer than 30 days, they would. I was in the last one for 48 days, but again, they never said anything else about it. Plus, I got a new Cadillac when I checked out. Medicare denied me one August of 2022, and that saved me $400 too.
 
Just once when I had my appendix removed. That was really painful.
Oh I'd forgotten about that..yes I was sent in an abulance when my Appendix almost burst....I was 7...my mum had taken me to the doctors surgery (office) and he called an ambulance from there.


It's astonishing how things change. When my daughter was in her early 20's she was doubled over with the pain of appendicitis, but she was made to wait 5 hours in A&E.. before they gave her a bed and emergency appendectomy
 
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In my teens, I had gotten an evening summer job sorting mail. I was walking there .. stepped off a curb, hit by a taxi, bounced off the hood. The taxi driver called an ambulance, though I was okay. Checked out at the hospital - no injuries, other than scraped knees. My father failed to phone my job, as I requested, so - lost the job. The taxi driver's insurance agent was very clever, and offered me a clerical job with the company. I wouldn't have sued, in any case.
 
Last spring housemate called neighbor one night when I was acting strange and throwing up blood. They called an ambulance and I required 4 bags of blood due to internal bleeding. Odd thing was that I had seen a cardiologist (feeling miserable) that very day and he told me come back in three months. I got a new cardiologist.
 
Once when I slipped on an icy curb and couldn't put any weight on my ankle. Bystanders helped me and someone called an ambulance. I had to wait six hours in the ER with ice on my ankle in freezing cold weather before they xrayed me and fixed me up sort of. There was one doctor trying to take care of all the emergencies and he really couldn't.
 


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