What do you know about dealing with a health emergency?
In "Other Topics" because it's not a health question but what to do in dealing with the pre-treatment actions.
Instead of giving answers, here are some questions that involve actions, and costs.. You can decide whether you need to know the answers or not.
In no particular order.
AMBULANCE
What ambulance service do you have in your area?
-- 911? or direct ambulance tel number to save time?
-- Private
-- Volunteer
--City
--County
--All responders Ambulance Fire Police
--Hospital based
--Ambulance Costs
--Insurance paid?
--Self Paid
--Paid if ambulance moves you to care provider? or, if determined to be a non critical/not transport situation... free service to home... (as in our area)
--Medicare paid?
--Supplement pay?
--Wait time if going to hospital by ambulance vs. driving yourself
--Ambulance additional costs for test equipment used
--Hospital costs for additional equipmant used
--Hospital emergency room costs
--Does your doctor take minor emergencies, cuts, broken arm etc.
--Doctors fees in hospital.. emergency room dr. , consulting doctors?
--Admission to hospital room for observation. Additional costs?
Clinics...
--When are they open? Daily, weekends?
--Who is on duty? Nurse Practitioner? Doctor?
-- Just pills or full test equipment?
--A one time clinic or as a sub for a personal doctor?
--Facilty cost?
--Clinic prepared to handle what kinds of complaints?
--Cost compared to Hospital?
--Affiliated with a Hospital?
Hundred of more questions, but good enough for starters. FWIW, about 90 percent of the public knows only "Call 911".
From personal experience, and having learned some of this up front... and doing the right thing, has saved us (two instances in the past 6 years)... in one case I calculate about $1600, and in the second case, over $5000.
As an extreme... a neighbor who feared he was having a heart attack drove himself to the hospital, where he went into the emergency room, where they found no indication of a heart attack... but kept him for observation for 5 days... total cost $14,000.
Just to put a fine point on this... DW felt chest pains at Walmart a month ago. In an abundance of caution we called the ambulance, and loaded her in. The EMT's did an EKG and some other tests in the back of the ambulance and found that except for a slighly elevated pulse, no indications of other problems. "Did we want to go to the Hospital for more tests?" No... We went home, and an AlkaSeletzer and some Miralax solved the problem.
Our total cost for the ambulance.... Zero!. Except for a voluntary donation that we made in thanksgiving.
We have a wonderful nearby clinic that is associated with our local hospital... just daily hours but every day. One price for visit $76... nurses and always a doctor in house. If you have a clinic, do you know the hours? and whether it is open weekends. Clinics definitely the coming thing... All are not created equal... especially Walmart... at least in our town.
I don't think this should be an arguable thread, as every situation is different, but I would be very interested in other observations about questions or situations that will require knowledge or decision.
Emergency healthcare is far different than it was in the 1970's or 1980's.
In "Other Topics" because it's not a health question but what to do in dealing with the pre-treatment actions.
Instead of giving answers, here are some questions that involve actions, and costs.. You can decide whether you need to know the answers or not.
In no particular order.
AMBULANCE
What ambulance service do you have in your area?
-- 911? or direct ambulance tel number to save time?
-- Private
-- Volunteer
--City
--County
--All responders Ambulance Fire Police
--Hospital based
--Ambulance Costs
--Insurance paid?
--Self Paid
--Paid if ambulance moves you to care provider? or, if determined to be a non critical/not transport situation... free service to home... (as in our area)
--Medicare paid?
--Supplement pay?
--Wait time if going to hospital by ambulance vs. driving yourself
--Ambulance additional costs for test equipment used
--Hospital costs for additional equipmant used
--Hospital emergency room costs
--Does your doctor take minor emergencies, cuts, broken arm etc.
--Doctors fees in hospital.. emergency room dr. , consulting doctors?
--Admission to hospital room for observation. Additional costs?
Clinics...
--When are they open? Daily, weekends?
--Who is on duty? Nurse Practitioner? Doctor?
-- Just pills or full test equipment?
--A one time clinic or as a sub for a personal doctor?
--Facilty cost?
--Clinic prepared to handle what kinds of complaints?
--Cost compared to Hospital?
--Affiliated with a Hospital?
Hundred of more questions, but good enough for starters. FWIW, about 90 percent of the public knows only "Call 911".
From personal experience, and having learned some of this up front... and doing the right thing, has saved us (two instances in the past 6 years)... in one case I calculate about $1600, and in the second case, over $5000.
As an extreme... a neighbor who feared he was having a heart attack drove himself to the hospital, where he went into the emergency room, where they found no indication of a heart attack... but kept him for observation for 5 days... total cost $14,000.
Just to put a fine point on this... DW felt chest pains at Walmart a month ago. In an abundance of caution we called the ambulance, and loaded her in. The EMT's did an EKG and some other tests in the back of the ambulance and found that except for a slighly elevated pulse, no indications of other problems. "Did we want to go to the Hospital for more tests?" No... We went home, and an AlkaSeletzer and some Miralax solved the problem.
Our total cost for the ambulance.... Zero!. Except for a voluntary donation that we made in thanksgiving.
We have a wonderful nearby clinic that is associated with our local hospital... just daily hours but every day. One price for visit $76... nurses and always a doctor in house. If you have a clinic, do you know the hours? and whether it is open weekends. Clinics definitely the coming thing... All are not created equal... especially Walmart... at least in our town.
I don't think this should be an arguable thread, as every situation is different, but I would be very interested in other observations about questions or situations that will require knowledge or decision.
Emergency healthcare is far different than it was in the 1970's or 1980's.
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