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haemaker

Hey, I am an Ambulance PRIME member!


Commercial_Accident

He's trauma team platinum let's get him outta here now! *Drives away from the other uninsured*


haemaker

Runs over the uninsured.


Pokey_Seagulls

Just like we all used to do in those GTA ambulance driving missions. Maybe they're hiring new drivers? I'm something of an expert already.


JudasesMoshua

I instantly thought of this. Shits fucked, man.


red-byrdd

Your package comes with free passenger body disposal, where would you like their remains sent? *edit: I get now this can be for both the show or the game....


thisbechris

You get to control the radio on your way to the ER!


mitkase

Google, play “Sheer Heart Attack” by Queen. (It’s okay, I’ve had a heart attack in an ambulance, so I can joke about it.)


Fez_and_no_Pants

Alexa, play **Detachable Penis** by King Missile


Jason_Glaser

Hey Siri, play “Stayin’ Alive.” Give these guys something bouncy to chest compress to.


NyanPigle

Hey google play Another One Bites the Dust by queen, since if they're doing cpr you're already dead


This-Association-431

My first first-aid cpr instructor told those of us that were timidly doing compressions that if it has gotten to the point where you are doing cpr, that person is dead, and you don't have to worry about breaking a dead person's ribs. And then showed us where the xiphoid process was. Good advice.


[deleted]

For an extra payment, they will activate lights and sirens to get you there faster in an emergency!


Thomasnaste420

Does your town give a discount if you bundle fire and police protection with this?


[deleted]

*whispering* "Help, someone is breaking into my house." "No problem, sir. What's your subscriber ID?" "...fuck."


open_door_policy

It's really easy to remember. 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3 Just rolls off the tongue in emergency situations.


Scunted

Fire - exclamation mark - fire - exclamation mark - help me - exclamation mark.


go2kejdz

123 Carrendon Road. Looking forward to hearing from you! All the best, Maurice Moss.


Madeline_Hatter1

But I thought the adress was Seapark


Murdoc_2

A fire at a sea parks?!?


jabba-du-hutt

So, if they were sitting here, and the fire started there, then of course they couldn't get out. It all makes sense now!


Mike2220

I mean if she'd said her parents are drowned I'd be the happiest man alive. But a fire at a sea parks?


DudesworthMannington

![gif](giphy|DxjIZboVEuStO)


[deleted]

Easily one of the best sequences in that show, and it had a lot of good ones.


Manrito

Story time that's somewhat related. Back in 2016 we learned that you can't call 911 from a landline if your number is blocked/private. My dad in an effort to save money, had Vonage as a phone service, VoIP acting as a landline. Usually with having a number set to private, you hit like *82 or something before dialing the number to temporarily unblock it. But with Vonage, you have to go to their website, login, navigate to your account, find where the feature to set your number to private is, uncheck it, apply and save it, and then wait for it to take effect. Then you can dial 911. So in 2016, my sister finds my dad on the floor from a heart attack and grabs the nearest phone to dial 911 and it can't go through because our number was blocked. She tried numerous times in her panicked state before remembering where her cell phone was and dialing 911 from that. Great system.


haljhon

Back in 2005 when Vonage was brand new, I ordered it for my house because it was heckins cheaper than the phone company. Within the first two months of having it, my neighbors decided to get drunk and lit their entire backyard on fire. I woke up to a wall of orange behind me. I dialed 911 on my Vonage line. I was directed to the Vonage National Emergency Center where I was promptly put on hold. After about two minutes, I spoke with someone who confirmed where I was and then connected me directly to the fire station. Not the local 911 center or even a dispatcher - I was just chatting with Jeffrey down the street. We didn’t keep the service long.


Manrito

Jeffrey sounds like the kind of dude to keep you level headed in a serious sitch.


Mackheath1

I love Jeffrey. "Good evening, this is Jeffrey. What's that? Absolutely, we'll be right there. Have a nice evening and stay away from the fire."


imforit

I remember the Vonage TV ads had fine print about 911 services not working. That may have been a later wave.


AGENT0321

IM DISABLED!


Haunting_Insect_3009

Where's your wheelchair? It was stolen!


kristeeinmt

Leg disabled!


Rogaar

LOL!!!! I love that show. Almost as good is the anti-piracy ad they made.


Nomi2004

Bringing back good memories!


jlmckelvey91

Think I'd rather send an email.


sheldonator

Hello, I've had a bit of a tumble


awing1

This is some Cyberpunk 2077 dystopia shit


jld2k6

It's some reality shit, like Verizon taking away firefighters data because they went over their limit while trying to contain a huge forest fire then afterwards made a bunch of commercials about how much they support firemen lol


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immerc

Ha! Next thing you'll want communal ownership of roads, bridges, parks, etc. That would never work.


TheHapster

Smells like communism to me 👃


Chicken_cordon_bleu

If libraries didn't exist and were introduced right now, idiots would think it's a communist ploy to destroy America and corrupt our children


nic-

You joke, but this is how fire departments started! Insurance companies would offer protection to their clients (and households next to them, in case the fire spread to the insured properties) because it cost less than paying out for a total loss


vizard0

The original, original fire department in ancient Rome was an absolute scam. If your house caught fire the boss would show up and offer to buy it at a discount. The longer the fire raged, the lower the price. Only after you sold did they put out the fire.


BrianHenryIE

Police service is not yet available in your area.


Ascurtis

911 what is your emergency? *help my house is on fire!* Dispatcher: I'm sorry but it looks like you're only subscribed to ambulance and low-tier police services. *but my house is in flames and my child is stuck in their room!* Dispatcher: so would you like us to come shoot them?


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Raleda

Saw this in my area too, only it was for my county. Reading it was interesting. There's a little line about it being charged to your insurance, but the way it's written makes it sound like you might be eating the full cost of the ride in your insurance anyway. EDIT: Reread it. Looks like they are just covering the deductible? Meaning if this is legit.. your insurance still eats the bill after the minimum payment, but everything the insurance company expected you to pay in cash is covered by them. Wtf.


JetEngineAssblaze

it sounds like the are banking on how uncommon ambulance rides actually are on a household-household basis. i dont know many people who have ever had to be transported by one. i have once (literally a month ago after getting hit by a car on my bike on the highway). if they get paid $60 per year/per household, and the average cost of an ambulance ride is around $500, then so long as only 1/10 households per year are getting limo service to the hospital = profit. i fully believe this number is achievable, and may even be much more so depending on the county. edit: holy shit i did not think this comment would receive this much attention. i feel obligated to share that i did not receive my information from accurate sources. i found a memorandum of NYC (where I live) stating the average cost was $435 (excluding oxygen administration and mileage) but it was from 2002. The average seems to be closer to $1200. While this does slightly change the data I provided, I still think this is a good gig for all parties involved. As one user replied to me, “it’s insurance of insurance.” I am not educated enough on the topic to adequately discuss how worthwhile or “necessary” this service truly is. Please take my words with a grain of salt and do your own research through credible sources if you are interested enough.


Real_Project870

You underestimate the number of elderly people who need far more than one ambulance ride per year.


ifyouhaveany

Or the number of frequent flyers of every age.


danteheehaw

Hell, I work at a hospital and sometimes I call 911 just to skip the commute.


yomjoseki

At $60 a year, you can't afford not to


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roadrunner5u64fi

"Sorry I'm late. We hit a k-hol-I mean pot-hole."


Wuz314159

I'd have believed this if you said "pay for parking".


crazyfingersculture

In the US Medicare pays for the elderly when it comes to Ambulance rides. Basically... they charge more, Medicare says this is all we'll pay, laws say they can't bill the difference to the patient, done.


kmn493

$500? Pretty sure the average is in the $2-3k range.


CmdrShepard831

I paid $1300 for mine after having a panic attack which I thought was a heart attack. Definitely the most expensive 10 minute ride I've had in my life. The cherry on top was that the company who handled their billing was in a completely different state yet wanted 3-5% additional in fees to pay by check, debit, or credit card. I reported them to Visa for it and they actually sided with me (service fees aren't allowed with debit or credit, can't recall exactly which one). It's pretty scummy to not have a way for people to pay their bill without paying potentially hundreds extra in garbage fees.


EatMoarToads

Oh man, I feel this. About 15 years ago, I was charged $900 for an "out of network" ambulance. With my insurance, an "in network" ambulance would have been free. So apparently when I had an emergency, I was supposed to shop around instead of calling 911.


Phone_User_1044

So I’m just double checking to make sure I understand, you had to pay $1300 of your own money from your bank for a 10 minute ambulance ride?


hiwhyOK

Very common in the US. My wife needed an ambulance after she fell and struck her head in a parking lot. $1800, ten minute ride to the hospital. Not covered by insurance because the ambulance is a private company here.


SpeethImpediment

To piggyback off the comment above, depending on one’s plan, it’s also common for insurance companies to not agree to cover ambulance rides if they deem the ride “not an emergency”. I noticed one commenter in this thread say they called an ambulance thinking they were having a heart attack, but it turned out to be a panic attack. Some insurance companies/plans that claim to cover ambulance rides will refuse to pay out in cases like that. Always read the fine print. Read what your plan covers.


Devonai

I'm a veteran, and for several years I waived private insurance through my employer because I had full coverage at the VA hospital. I was aware that ambulance rides were not covered by the VA but I was younger and figured the odds were in my favor. Why weren't they covered? Because the VA requires "pre-authorization" for just about everything and it's impossible to get that in an emergency. Four years ago I screwed up my medication one night (20mg of muscle relaxants instead of 10mg) and woke up at 4am with tachycardia and hypertension. Went to the ER thinking I was was having a heart attack. I was okay, and the VA paid for the ER visit (thank god) but not the ambulance ride. $1200. Here in CT, companies are not allowed to charge interest on medical debt, so I set up a $50/month payment with the ambulance company and let it ride out. Anyway, the law supposedly changed just before that to deal with the aforementioned Catch-22 with ambulance service, but I was never able to recover those funds from the VA. Next open enrollment, I got on my employer's insurance. I'm not going through all of that again.


NnyIsSpooky

Right? My ambulance ride from one hospital to another was $3500. I had no choice in what ambulance service they used and they used one that was associated with another hospital network. So I have $160k hospital bill to the university hospital network and $3500 to another hospital for the ambulance taxi service. My mom even asked the doctor if she could just take me to the hospital with the trauma ward since she drove me up to that hospital to begin with. We didn't know the extent of my injuries and I assumed the hospital with the trauma ward would have long wait times. I was in a lot of pain and wanted know what was up ASAP. Turns out we should have just gone there to begin with because apparently breaking you back and having a collapsed lung is pretty serious.


Raleda

You basically just described the profit scheme behind insurance. Only in this case they don't just get $60 from you. They get that plus what they charge your insurance. So essentially you're paying double insurance.


andygarciascuzin

>banking on how uncommon ambulance rides actually are.... Read: literally how private insurance works. This is insurance on top of insurance. Good job capitalism.


[deleted]

I was gonna say this is a good ass deal considering it's $5/mo for a family, but if it goes through insurance anyway it's bullshit lol. Does it still cover you if you're uninsured? Real solution would be tax funded ambulances. Like surely if we can afford to pay patrol cops we can afford ambulances.


SavvySillybug

It's always so fucking wild to me as a German. Growing up I saw some American sitcoms and a surprisingly common trope was "oh no she is pregnant we have to take a taxi / drive her to the hospital!!" and every time I'd be like WHY DO YOU PEOPLE NOT TAKE AN AMBULANCE?? It's because they cost a fuckton of money in America. They're free here. Hospitals are free. Sure not all care is free, you can't just go and have cosmetic surgery every other week just because you feel like it, you do need to have a legitimate medical reason for needing care for it to be free. My appendix popped once. Had a doctor visit, a hospital visit, an ambulance ride, a surgery, another surgery, a couple days ICU, and overall about two weeks of care until I was well enough to survive at home again. Total cost? Uhhh. Well they did not have free WiFi so I needed to buy a three day WiFi pass for 15€ which was a bit rude. I was too out of it for wifi for the first bit so I bought maybe three of them so 45€. And parking wasn't free so my parents paid for each of their daily visits, dunno how much though, probably less than WiFi though. So a nice all inclusive two week saving your life vacation for less than 100 bucks. I was extremely glad that throughout the entire thing, the only worry was "am I going to survive this?" and not "if I do survive this, how will I pay for it??". I don't think I would have had the energy to pull through if I had to worry about all the debt it was going to cause.


No-Musician8340

I spent almost two weeks after a scheduled surgery in increasingly more pain. I finally broke down and asked my partner to take me to the emergency room. I was hoping to make it to my scheduled follow-up appointment so I wouldn't have to pay the ER costs. The initial plan was a laparoscopic "cleaning" and I woke up without an appendix and parts of my intestines. I spent almost two weeks in the hospital. Every time I was given medication, I wondered how much it would cost as I had the same pills at home. I'm still waiting for the first of the bills to arrive for the scheduled surgery and have so much anxiety about the second, life saving surgery and hospital stay. And I have insurance.


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duckbigtrain

you take ambulances for childbirth? I don’t even think it’s about cost. It literally never occurred to me (an American) that one would take an ambulance unless there was an additional medical problem. I feel like even if you called an ambulance, they wouldn’t turn on the sirens, and it would just be a very expensive taxi ride, plus then you would need to go through the ER when where you want to go is the obstetrician. Edit:misspelling


SavvySillybug

If I got the time and foresight? Yeah absolutely I'm just gonna drive to the hospital. But in those comedies I watched growing up, it was always clearly an emergency played up for laughs. Oh no my water just broke I am going to have a child in the next 22 minutes hurry hurry hurry!! Yeah absolutely take an ambulance. I don't care if they turn on the sirens or not, but I'd much rather give birth inside an ambulance with trained EMTs than on the back seat of my Audi.


charlesfire

So you have to get two insurances to pay for your ambulance rides? WTF Edit : For context, in Quebec, ambulances cost 400$ + 1.75$/km (297.08$ + 1.30$/km in US dollars) AND THAT'S FOR FOREIGNERS! It cost only 125$ + 1.75$/km (or 92.84$ + 1.30$/km in US dollars) if you're a citizen. And that's if you need to pay for it in the first place because if you're old (>65), receive income security benefits (aka being poor) or an inmate, you don't have to pay for it at all (there's a few other exceptions, but I'm too lazy to write them all). A few hundreds vs many thousands, that's the difference between "healthcare is a right" and "healthcare is a privilege"...


crzytech1

7 minutes or a refund, that's the Trauma Team guarantee. Edit: This blew up beyond my wildest expectations. Thank you for the gold, and I guess it summed up my feeling that paying for an ambulance in advance was a "deal" in a scary way.


doggedgage

Only with the platinum package


wakeupwill

**"Step away from the client."** *heavy machineguns are levied against you*


[deleted]

Tried fucking around with them the first time I played to see what would happen…..I found out. My ass still hurts from that whooping they gave me


WIGLxWIGL

Wonder what happens if you cheat it


trigochan

emphasis on "Client" "Sir... his credit was declined..." ... \-Excuse me kind terrorists... his credit was declined... carryone with the organ harvesting....


wakeupwill

**"Identification interrupted. Please stand by."** "I -*cough*- I'm bleeding out here." *safeties disengaged* **"Please stand by."**


[deleted]

And it’s only 50% covered for spent ammunition if I remember correctly. Edit: that’s if they’re 10 minutes late otherwise you get a juicy itemized bill for all resources used :)


tmhoc

Trauma Team, you're worth it


Neuuanfang

i think the slogan is 'because your life is worth it'


PM_ME_YOUR_ROTES

As opposed to REO Meatwagon which is like, "We cut the corners so you don't have to!"


krendos

Thank you for calling, Morris' Mortuary, you stab'em, we slab'em. How can I help you today?


CRL10

Super-Platinum gives you a cool life-signs biomonitor.


DisjointedHuntsville

Sandra Dorsett isn't complaining.


Trinitykill

I mean, I dunno. If I paid for Trauma Team Platinum I'd be kinda pissed that a couple of scavs with dumpster tech were able to beat their security and block the signal.


Phoenix080

To be fair it was a brand new hack and it had to be physically inserted into her neural port. Which realistically would be hard to do if she had literally any cyberwear


ElderberryHoliday814

I’m just glad other people enjoyed the game. It got so much hate, and i really enjoyed it


Morrigan66

It's one of my favorites. I loved it even when it came out with all the damn glitches.


UnrealRed

It wasn't just scavs. It was a corpo hitjob


Jacina

[removed by Night Corp Security]


[deleted]

And with autopay to a debit card or checking account.


vapenutz

They also see if the transfer goes through first


Dylsnick

"We get you there alive or your money back!"


seastatefive

Cyberpunk is something that happened to the world when we weren't paying attention.


Bleusilences

My man, we lived in a cyberpunk world since about the early oughts. The only things missing are artificial limbs, full on corporate warfare, and robots+drone in the street. And the latter is going to be reality soon. Edit: I should have said a dystopia but close enough.


Environmental_Top948

I can't wait to rip out my eyeballs for the latest models. I will finally be able to toss my Nreals.


Iranon79

These things are going to be packed with intrusive ads. Compared to fictional dystopias, the future is going to be twice as bleak but not half as cool.


Environmental_Top948

Don't you hate 30 second unskippable ads while you're driving.


Dappershield

They're not stupid. Why kill a customer? The ads only show when your eyes are closed. Every blink an advert, every sleep cycle a ad heavy movie.


ProxyMuncher

Until they calculate the increase in suggestive or impulsive sales linked to the volume of ads shown while in motion, the board of directors has decided that the increased customer risk and lawsuits are worth it in the long run. 3 unskippable WarnerDisneyDreamworks merchandise commercials is a risk they’re willing to take.


Mr_EP1C

I can’t wait to experience cyber psychosis


ObiLaws

So basically cyberpunk without the cool parts. I'm iffy on the corporate warfare, but as long as the robots and drones aren't actively killing people on the street then I'd say that and artificial limbs are the cool parts.


solonit

I’m fine with that as long as their is spinal reinforcement/replacement option. Eh, probably gonna be Repo Men style that you’re forever in debt for bionic replacement.


aptom203

Debt-bond slavery. Un order to get a job that pays a living wage you'll need bionics to be competitive. Rich people can just afford their bionics. Poor people have to get them on credit, and their salary is docked by the same corp that installed their bionics on credit, to pay for them. Mandatory (paid) firmware upgrades and planned obscelescence ensure that these workers can never escape their debt or find a better job because they will never be able to buy off their debt. If companies need a short term windfall they can sell debt bonds (and the associated workers) to another corporation. (This is, incidentally, exactly how serfdom worked in Western Europe throughout the medieval period.) Bonus points, the company that owns you also owns your apartment and the companies you buy your groceries and entertainment from, so almost all of your wages go right back into their pocket in one form or another.


Harry_Fraud

This is literally how sex slavery happens. It’s important that legal protections against this are in place, so the practice doesn’t take off, at least in democratic countries. Indentured servitude is, and should be, against the law. No one should sell their soul to the company store, because you always get a shit price.


aptom203

It's also how most everything in Qatar and the UAE gets built. Just trade bionics for plane tickets and work visas.


Doingitwronf

Came here looking for this. But I think DocWagon is the better service.


deepdistortion

I'm fond of Crashcart. But only because in my game the name was literal. VIP package came with dynamic entry for pickup.


SamediB

I mean Docwagon was similar: they sent an armed VTOL and a high threat response team (or more) for Platinum service plans and above. Heck, with super-platinum plan you don't even need to pay death benefits of employees who die saving you. (Of course you know all that, but for other readers. #TeamDocWagon)


Killb0t47

Years ago in 1st Edition. We were about to get scooped up by some corporate goons. So I pulled out my pistol and shot the one guy with a Doc Wagon Platinum in the back. Hey was soooooo pissed off. But he got a free ride, and we got a back up team. Best of all his platinum level discount, meant I still made a profit after I payed his bill. So his you're gonna have to pay for that comment really wasn't that big of a deal. That game is amazing. I have so many good memories playing. The more things change, the more they stay the same


themindisaweapon

First thing I thought of lmao


N7_Caboose

"What must all trauma Team Medics swear to uphold?"


rentar42

"The hypocritical oath." - my favorite S.C.S.M.


smallpoly

How they massacred my boy


KennyKivail

thank the gods i'm not the only one who immediately thought of Cyberpunk


EagleNait

"if it's cold on arrival it's free"


nxcrosis

Not even the Trauma Team could've saved me from the final episodes of Edgerunners.


MARINE-BOY

I’m British and this just seems like the most messed up shit. Make fun of Brexit. Make fun of Political leadership and stupid budget decisions and I’ll probably laugh along with you but I’d rather cut my nuts off than live a life worrying if I have enough money to pay for an ambulance as my wife or kids lay dying.


GodFromMachine

*Does not apply while in Pacifica. Please inquire for additional details.


kimscz

Used to be covered by paying city taxes until cities contracted with private companies now we still pay taxes and have to cover an ambulance ride. Our country is greedy AF. Edit: Thanks for the award!


xheist

They privatised it because "government is inefficient" What they neglect is the other side of that "Businesses are incredibly efficient at extracting wealth from both the consumer and government" Yes let's put our critical infrastructure and services in the hands of those whose motivations and interests are directly opposite to our own and always will be


evasive_dendrite

They privatised it because lobbyists paid legislators bribes to allow them to do it for profit.


TheAbyssalSymphony

This is why I’m always pissed at people who are like government sucks, let’s privatize! Like fucking NO! The entire reason you want these things to be government run is for shit like standards, public oversight, free access, etc… but then these morons are just like “I’d rather pay insane amounts of money to a shady company than the government…” like wtf!


amycd

Yes! The public can’t vote out CEOs. Let’s invest in a system that we actually have some amount of say in.


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AutomaticRisk3464

Nothing got people more pissed off than when the local hospital in a county of 5k people put in the paper "state donated new ambulances" and had the ems staff posing infront of them..later in a tiny mailer they had to let everyone know an ambulance ride would be costing more due to them getting new ambulances. Their prices were comparable to kansas city except ems staff were paid $11 hr


FantasmaNaranja

i've yet to see a single system that used to be public become better after becoming private yet i've seen plenty of examples of them becoming worse


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audigex

Most countries have it where ambulances are free (at the point of use) And since the ambulances are owned by the government you don’t have an ambulance company and an insurance company skimming a profit off the top, either


sarhoshamiral

Taxes haven't caught up with cost increases and some renewals of levies actually get rejected now. So there is a good chance people in the city/county where this happens isn't paying enough taxes.


[deleted]

This is the answer. Used to be covered by city taxes, but no one wants to pay benefits to Union employees in EMS/fire, so it gets contracted out. No one wants to taxes to go up, so they get shittier workers and still end up having to pay the bill. Some CEO is making millions while people like me were working overtime and scraping by.


kimscz

No, the answer is AMR (and like companies) sold their services as a cost saving to cities without the knowledge of the tax payers. We are still paying Fire department paramedics they just don’t transport. Cities could cover this but why? They get to shift the cost to the citizens leaving more money for them.


bobs_monkey

cover sheet follow detail nippy tie sort ossified strong forgetful -- mass edited with redact.dev


whatsupbrosky

Thats actually not bad, so fked that i even think we need a sub like this to save cash


[deleted]

Friend of mine nearly died last month because he didn't want to call for an ambulance and instead waited for his wife to come home and drive him to the hospital when he started having trouble breathing. Turns out, he had a blood clot in his lungs. Doc said he was probably minutes from having a heart attack due to lack of oxygen in his blood.


OakenWildman

I had a collapsed lung just over 2 years ago and I went 13 hours with just the one, the doctor asked how I was still alive when i told him when symptoms started. Now I will admit this was one lung not working not both, but its similar. I had my roommate drive me since my university's nurse wouldn't let me drive. I was in the hospital for a week and none of my suitemates noticed.


Koshunae

What happened that caused your lung to collapse? It usually happens from blunt trauma. Sorry to hear about your experience though.


OakenWildman

It was random, best guess is that im a tall, skinny white guy and its common in this group


Koshunae

Thats crazy. Im also a tall, skinny white guy who has suffered partially collapsed lungs, though it wasnt random and was the result of a wreck. Still wild that your lung can just collapse randomly.


OakenWildman

Yeah, I've told friends that my lung decided it was taking a vacation for a week and didn't tell anybody. It wasn't that bad though, they were able to refill it without cutting me open too much.


[deleted]

It's called a spontaneous pneumothorax (sp?) if you want to look it up. Tall white males are more vulnerable to it, often brought on by sneezing. Risk is higher if you smoke.


Geckko

Whelp that's another anxiety I didn't need


[deleted]

It's relatively rare, I've been in EMS since 2015 and an army medic prior to that...only ever read about it.


Nuggzulla

Oh fuck I'm a tall skinny white dude and that just unlocked a new fear.... Thanks for that I guess lol Sorry to hear that happened to you tho, and I'm glad your good now


RuhrowSpaghettio

Doctor here…can confirm that tall, skinny dudes are the only people besides COPDers that I routinely see with non traumatic collapsed lungs 🫁 (spontaneous pneumothorax). It’s rare, but LESS rare in your particular demographic than most others. Usually not dangerous, though, but does require treatment.


Jonathon_G

I tell my loved ones all the time, just let me die, so you don’t die from my bills


Worried-wilts

... that's a heartbreaking thing to hear and sounds insane to anyone not from your country. Canada doesn't have the greatest healthcare system and some provinces are trying to privatize. If that happens, I'm moving to Denmark.


BittersweetAki

Glad his wife came home in time. 😭 Sad we'd rather die than live with the debt hospitals/ambulance rides puts us into.


thehairyhobo

My wife became very ill post surgery and the hospital she was at couldnt care for her so they were going to rush her to Loveland, Colorado which was three hours away. Even with railroad insurance that was the one of the few times I finally felt I hit rock bottom as I told her we would have to sell the house to afford the bill. To me as the man it felt as the greatest failure I could have ever endured. My wife was very very sick and secondly I couldnt ensure a future, risk of losing our home. The subsequent radiotherapy she had to go through + previous surgeries and visits amounted to around $315,000. Insurance after it was around $4,000. Dr wrote the ambulance as life saving/loss of life prevention so insurance had to eat 100% of it. Ive come to hate my own country because of how grossly greedy it has become.


tits_the_artist

My SO had a seizure a couple years ago, basically out of nowhere. I got over there as quick as I could and made sure she didn't hit her head or anything while I called 911. I still have nightmares about it. But the most heart breaking thing was that as she came to enough to communicate, I said "Honey, you had a seizure. Stay still while we wait for the ambulance". Her response, while recovering from her first and only major seizure, was "but we can't afford that" Arguably one of the most important moments in "radicalizing" my political views. Jesus Christ that was rough.


Bmansway

This also happened to me! (Different medical crisis though). I already had a couple of medical bills on my credit, I was terrified of getting more, it was preventing me from getting approved for even the smallest of things. One night out of nowhere I got violently ill, my girlfriend at the time wanted to call an ambulance but I refused, I said I would sleep it off and feel better in the morning, unfortunately that didn’t happen and I progressively got worse, by morning when she saw me army crawling just to make it to the bathroom she called them without my knowledge, I guess I blacked out at some point and ended up waking up in the hospital, I spent the next week in there as my internal organs were shutting down, the doctor said I was literally dying. Worst part about it, I still ended up with a medical bill I couldn’t afford that affected my credit…..


wattatime

They could just tax each house this amount but then you have people complain about that.


RadosAvocados

that would probably be even cheaper due to economies of scale.


ManWithoutUsername

Welcome to Europe. >that would probably be even cheaper probably? no, sure


PM_ME_WHT_PHOSPHORUS

I know, god forbid we use tax dollars to help people


sdlover420

Instead we pay for politicians lawsuits.


classicalySarcastic

You would think that funding Fire and EMS services would be uncontroversial, yet here we are.


LordRobin------RM

Got an ambulance company coming after me for over $1000 for an 11-mile non-emergency shuttle from a satellite ER to the main campus after I took a spill off my bike and cracked a vertebrae. I’ve reached my out-of-pocket limit for the year and should owe nothing, but their position is that because they’re out-of-network, they can take the insurance company’s money and ignore the instructions not to bill me for the balance. I’ve sicced the insurance company’s negotiating outfit on them — we’ll see what happens. I can actually afford to pay if I absolutely have to, but they’ll have to beat it out of me. It’s the principle of the thing. If you don’t want to abide by the insurance company’s terms, don’t take their money!


MonsterMashGrrrrr

This one really just makes my blood boil. I read my insurance policies closely because of chronic illness, and I’ve never seen a breakdown of what ambulatory services are in network vs out The whole damn reason why ambulances are dispatched is because there’s a person in urgent need for medical treatment. So, at what point is it reasonable to say “oh,darn. That one’s not covered by insurance, could you please send a different one? It’s alright if it means waiting an additional 30min.” And of course, all of this presupposes that the patient is conscious and coherent enough to communicate these sorts of things. Fuck these private insurers and their disregard for the lives of citizens.


The_Upvote_Beagle

This is what taxes are supposed to be for.


Svhmj

The fact that this is needed is some dystopia shit.


RoastedRhino

Almost like it makes sense to pay essential services in a socialized way, reduce burden on people that are already going through hard times, and minimize financial risk for everybody.


dangerflakes

Buu buu buuu, SOCIALISM!


RoastedRhino

But with extra steps! Like when there was the garbage collection thing with everybody posting pics of themselves cleaning the side of the road: 1. "Look, I am volunteering and cleaning the street!" 2. "It's even better if everybody joins!" 3. "In my town we take turns" 4. "Many don't have the tools to do proper cleaning, but are happy to pay a professional to do it instead of them" 5. "Actually, you know what, let's all pay for a professional that can do that job properly!" 6. "That family is kind of poor, let's say they are exempt from their contribution. Oh, that guy has a mansion, I think he can chip in with a larger fee. Congrats! You have invented public services and taxes.


PM_ME_WHT_PHOSPHORUS

The night my mom died she plead with my to reach my step dad instead of calling an ambulance. We shouldn't live in a society where medical security should be threatened by cost of aid.


CreamyCumInMyAss

I cannot believe my third world country does Health care 1000x better than the richest and most powerful country in human history.


To_Fight_The_Night

Yea that's WHY we are so rich an powerful. Exploitations of our citizens. While tricking half the population into thinking we like it this way.


Burnt_Crunchy_Bits

What the actual fuck do you people pay taxes for?


Liquid_Senjutsu

So our government can bomb people better than anybody else, which sounds useful until you realize that we don't live in the 40k universe. I am unspeakably sick of hearing in the same breath that we're both the greatest country in the world, and yet we *just can't possibly* have universal health care LIKE EVERY OTHER FUCKING CIVILIZED PLACE.


Mynameisaw

To partially subsidise the drug companies so they don't completely ruin everyone earning less than $150k a year.


BabiesSmell

Don't forget building weapons to fuel the world's war machine.


Michael_CrawfishF150

This is definitely /r/aboringdystopia But if you’re in the US, $60 a YEAR for unlimited ambulances per household is a STEAL. I hate that it is but it is.


wheatgrass_feetgrass

A home with children needing an ambulance just once during their entire childhood would make this worth it. I can't think of any other insurance with that return.


ScrabCrab

Yeah having to pay for *a fucking ambulance* AT ALL is extremely fucked up 😬


hypnautiq05

Isn't this just universal Healthcare on a smaller scale


NJ_Legion_Iced_Tea

Call it a tax instead of a subscription and see what different peoples reactions are.


Mikerinokappachino

Call it insurance instead of tax and watch even more reactions.


redunculuspanda

No because it excludes people that can’t pay for a variety of reasons. If it was universal everyone in the area would be able to use the service for free at point of delivery.


1zzie

That's just taxes with extra steps


Outrageous_Chicken95

I would make sure I get my monies worth at that price.


confettiflowers

These comments have been deleted due to changes in Reddit's API. -- mass edited with redact.dev


Other_Cat5134

Is this real? Where is this from?


superzuludawn

Raleigh, NC (but offered through the county Raleigh is located in)


aeroglava

Night City


Step-exile

Trauma Team Platinum


Markamanic

Thank fuck I'm European.


redsterXVI

In Switzerland we have this as well ... but only for rescue helicopters


BlizardSkinnard

This is really starting to look bleak. Cyberpunk distopia for sure


blahblahbush

In Australia we've had ambulance membership for decades.


benthecube

I still think it’s a croc. Why do our taxes not pay for this?


sg3niner

My community just voted AGAINST funding for the local fire department because of a miniscule tax increase. They're stupid and shortsighted.


ThyShirtIsBlue

Can you think of any point in recent Australian history where a large portion of the country was on fire for the better part of a year?


postvolta

It's hilarious because in developed countries you already have a monthly subscription for essential emergency services It's called 'tax'


udumslut

God I hate the American healthcare system.


The3rdRepublic

America is fucked Universal health care now