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langthwaiter t1_j034v8v wrote

Reply to comment by upkerry14 in iPhone 14 Crash Detection gets man to wife's accident before ambulance by chrisdh79

It seems you’ve somehow been convinced that less calls to emergency lines is the solution to the problem.

I’d re-evaluate as to whether you’ve been lead to believe that because of facts or because of sensationalism.

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Electrical_Taste8633 t1_j039gi7 wrote

You’ve obviously never worked in a hospital or in the medical field.

People call for an ambulance when their toe is stubbed. But, there was one day that always stuck out to me, there was a woman who came in, a nut job who wears a helmet to walk around outside, because she tripped and fell on her arm. It wasn’t broken, it was sprained, scraped and a bit bloody, but no worse than an average afternoon for an elementary school boy. She claimed to be in 10/10 chest pain though, so she was brought back, her only issue was the arm and she wanted to be seen quicker.

Meanwhile, waiting there, was this woman who was like 6 months pregnant and had lupus, going through some major complications, being carried back and forth to the bathroom by her Boyfriend or husband. Occasionally screaming out in pain; And an 18 year old girl, who’d been hit by a car going 35 mph through a red light who had 2 broken legs, and had been knocked out by the impact, Trying her best to bear with the pain

Those two waited for fucking two hours (at least until the end of my shift) because they told the truth, the helmet nut, was out in less than two hours with only a bandage.

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[deleted] t1_j03ctmk wrote

[deleted]

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Electrical_Taste8633 t1_j03e5ii wrote

Then you’d know like 20% of patients are the same people on their latest bender and how common wasted 911 calls are.

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upkerry14 t1_j037tbs wrote

34 years as a paramedic led me to that conclusion.

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langthwaiter t1_j03d9cm wrote

Well that’s very sad that you’ve taken the view that people should just stop calling.

Clearly not the solution, how about better educating the general public on first aid?

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AirborneRunaway t1_j03mlca wrote

There are absolutely people who don’t need to call the emergency line. Most of the bulk of the calls we get on a daily basis do not need a ambulance to take them to the ER. If you can drive yourself, you don’t need an ambulance. If it’s not an actual emergency that is threatening your life and you can have someone else drive you, you don’t need to call. There are plenty of situations where even taking an Uber would be better for the system. Most paramedics can’t tell a potentially paying patient “no” so they transport the stupidest shit you’ve ever heard of.

This isn’t even counting fall calls where someone shows up to help pick up an elderly or disabled person who simply can’t get themselves back up from their position. Those at least serve the community in some meaningful way.

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Electrical_Taste8633 t1_j041uz0 wrote

Honestly, those falls calls and transport calls taking people to dialysis we’re favorite ones to deal with because of that reason. At least you’re providing a service.

And yeah, if you’re telling people they don’t need an ambulance ride you’d be fired lol

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practicallyimperfect t1_j038jwe wrote

Maybe you should have retired at 33 years to have less jade. Former first responder here too. Leave before it gets you to this point of view from a Reddit post.

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upkerry14 t1_j039qzk wrote

My "jade" as you call it is well earned and an opinion I am well entitled to. I wanted to make the system better ("We want to hear from you! Tell us what you think") and was ignored. Some due to politics and power struggles between medical directors, chiefs, hospital CEOs etc.... Ironically the very things I spoke of are now starting to be instituted, not because they are more efficient but because of economics. The system simply cannot continue this way anymore. I loved my job up until the day I retired and considered it a privilege to help people. I got angry when I hear a chest pain come up and I was taking you in for an earache at 3am that you were too lazy to call you're doctor about at 3pm. Every medic feels this way eventually, even you, after seeing how horribly run 911 is in this country. Litigation /fear is a big part of it as well. Suffice it to say you don't know me, nor I you, so let's work a shift together and tell me if I'm "jaded". Ad hominem attacks are a sign of a weak argument.

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practicallyimperfect t1_j03ca97 wrote

It wasn’t an attack, it was a post opinion on what could have prevented such jade to keep YOU happier but I can see your point. Not trying to be offensive. Thank you for dedicating your life to your calling. It’s thanks-less at times and gets worse with time.

When I first started in the ED I remember clear as day a nurse who was a FANTASTIC nurse asking someone “when exactly did this become an emergency?” To something that was clearly not an emergency but was presented to the emergency room.

Her nursing was on point. She could work harder than anyone I ever met. Her attitude and jade weren’t. She (thankfully) left shortly thereafter to become the most incredible advocate for change but from a distance so that she didn’t continue to feel angry, frustrated and disappointed in a Brooke system but could continue to use her servants heart with action.

I left front lines for essentially the same reasons. We have all experienced the worst in people if you work for a single moment as a first responder.

But we’ve also seen the best and most selfless acts that the world almost never sees. Being grateful for an additional service that helps response times and assists in locating victims should be celebrated.

I hope you’re proud of what you did and can forgive those that took advantage of services that they abused and weren’t intended to use as they did.

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Wardogs96 t1_j05pyoc wrote

Bruh have you worked any emergency response or hospital positions. It's abused, over worked and under-staffed. Having people use 911 or the ER for actual emergencies as opposed to a taxi or get away is a very fair criticism of our collapsing medical and emergency response system.

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langthwaiter t1_j05s86l wrote

I literally work at a hospital, and at no point have I said these aren’t issues.

Just that the attitude “less calls is better” when there are people who would actively choose to not call a service based on this prejudice because they don’t deem themselves worthy of the effort.

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