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In Boston it’s the homeless taxi. They call 911 from wherever they are, get an ambulance ride to the hospital, then decline treatment and walk across the street to cop fentanyl. It’s a $2,000 taxi ride on the taxpayers dime.
People need to get the word out.
EAch time I was in the MGH ER a couple years ago, the homeless didn't want to leave. It was cold outside, so they were hoping to be hospitalized. Hospital security had to spend an extended period of time trying to convince them to leave. Unfortunately, it seems that it would be illegal to grab them by the hair, shove them out the door, and kick them in the ass for good measure.
Obviously not. It didn't blow his head off.. duh.
You meant hand off, when it had an OOB discharge.
Ohhhh, so it was a Glock!
Here, they are trying to end that by making us get a refusal every non transport so they can bill.
That’s where Community Paramedicine comes in. It’s struggling to get a foot hold though. But I agree with how with the potential and how it can stop a lot of the nonsense going to the ED.
I have one shooting buddy that still shoots .40! Should I unfriend him
He also wear white sneakers…..the struggle is real!
I think many (most?) of them are dual diagnosis: substance abuse plus mental illness. We closed most of our mental hospitals and made it very difficult to involuntarily hospitalize the mentally ill. There was this fantasy that community shelters plus psychotropic medications would miraculously allow these people to integrate into society. Of course, NIMBYs and budget cuts ensured that such community-based shelters were never built, the psychotropic medications don’t work all that well for many (most?) patients, the medications don’t work if you don’t take them, and the medications cost money.
I get your point, but there are an awful lot of junkies that weren’t recreational drug users, but were hooked by what they were prescribed and ended up in the same boat. I lost one of my best friends to it, who was someone that prior to being given that prescription hadn’t even smoked a cigarette.
Do you think it would be feasible for most full time departments to divide into Fire and EMS? Considering both the financial aspect and the current pool of professionals in and entering those fields to choose from?
The money exists, its just going to the wrong places.
I guess what I’m wondering too though is are there that many people interested in EMS only where you could separate the two, and have a strictly EMS division even if the town had the money. I don’t hear nearly as many people going into EMS and want nothing to do with fire and rescue, as I hear people going to be firefighters that don’t want to do EMS. I’ve certainly met some, but it’s not as common. And I’m not sure logistically towns could staff two separate divisions without overlap, given the shortages in emergency response that we all currently face.
