Son billed $781 after dad dies waiting for ambulance

[Hum]

Durand Ford, Jr. says DC Fire & EMS has sent him a $780.85 bill for an ambulance that he called for his father early on the morning of January 1.

Ford tells News4 that his father died waiting for that ambulance, after it took more than 30 minutes to arrive.

?I feel angry. Upset,? Ford said. ?I?m disturbed that we even received this bill.?

Ford said he and his family called 911 in the early hours of New Year's Day because his father, 71-year-old Durand Ford, Sr. had trouble breathing.

According to records, the 911 call was made at 1:25 a.m. A DC fire truck arrived only nine minutes later, but an ambulance was unavailable. According to Prince George?s County Fire & EMS records, DC Fire did not call Prince George?s County for assistance until 1:47 a.m. One minute later, the county dispatched an ambulance from Oxon Hill to go to Ford?s home in Southeast Washington. It arrived at 1:58 a.m.

By then, Ford had died.

?We?re still grieving about the situation,? Ford, Jr. said. ?[We?re] very angry about what happened and the service we did not receive from the district.?

DC Council member Yvette Alexander, who represents the Fords in Ward 7, tells News4?s Shomari Stone, ?Based on my experience in similar circumstances, DC Fire & EMS has not billed.?

?This seems quite unusual, and I will help the family resolve this matter,? Alexander continued.

source

[jakem1]

User pays FTW.

[psionicinversion]

the american dream!

[DocM]

Sadly, in a lot of cities a 30 min 911 response time isn't considered unusual. There was a story on the Detroit news a few weeks ago about a woman who called in a home robbery and it took 2 hours.

[Mr.XXIV]

Sadly, in a lot of cities a 30 min 911 response time isn't considered unusual. There was a story on the Detroit news a few weeks ago about a woman who called in a home robbery and it took 2 hours.

I waited the whole day, for my mom to come home and then wait for the police. I was supposed to be in school that day, but I'm glad I wasn't.

[Hum]

I doubt an ambulance would have made a difference, but the son sure does not deserve a bill.

[zhangm Supervisor]

According to records, the 911 call was made at 1:25 a.m. A DC fire truck arrived only nine minutes later, but an ambulance was unavailable. According to Prince George?s County Fire & EMS records, DC Fire did not call Prince George?s County for assistance until 1:47 a.m. One minute later, the county dispatched an ambulance from Oxon Hill to go to Ford?s home in Southeast Washington. It arrived at 1:58 a.m.

Someone dropped the ball. Total response time could have been 11 minutes if they'd passed the message on immediately.

[Growled Member]

Well, someone has to pay for the service regardless of someone dying or not. That's just the way it is.

[siah1214]

Well, someone has to pay for the service regardless of someone dying or not. That's just the way it is.

What service? Was the gas for the drive $700? It's not like he used any medicine or took up a hospital bed. When I provide ****ty service, I don't expect to get paid..

I'd want an itemized bill of the expenses to justify that charge.

[Rippleman]

What service? Was the gas for the drive $700? It's not like he used any medicine or took up a hospital bed. When I provide ****ty service, I don't expect to get paid..

I'd want an itemized bill of the expenses to justify that charge.

2 trained ER's, 1 Driver possibly trained in ER, phone system costs, medical insurance costs, $200,000 vehicle rental costs , after-service call check over and maintenance costs, and on and on and on... rent any $200k vehicle and driver for a couple hours and you are looking at the same bill. Now that one looks at it, its a damn cheap to get that for $700 considering what it is.

[Brandon]

2 trained ER's, 1 Driver possibly trained in ER, phone system costs, medical insurance costs, $200,000 vehicle rental costs , after-service call check over and maintenance costs, and on and on and on... rent any $200k vehicle and driver for a couple hours and you are looking at the same bill. Now that one looks at it, its a damn cheap to get that for $700 considering what it is.

I'm pretty sure the father didn't receive any service though.

On the other hand, Insurance should have covered it.

[notuptome2004]

Well i had to call 911 for my dad 2 times once December 13th and after a 5 day stay then had to call agian on january 1st when the home health care nurse was there and well my Father passed away on the 8th of january this year but both ambulance rides tho paid by OHP Oregon health plan and Keizer hospital each ride was $1.645.00 and only 23miles on milage it siad on the paper work . i Miss my dad a whole lot

[theyarecomingforyou]

Well, someone has to pay for the service regardless of someone dying or not. That's just the way it is.

Only in America could it be considered acceptable to charge people for using the ambulance service.

[ILikeTobacco]

Only in America could it be considered acceptable to charge people for using the ambulance service.

You get charged in the UK too. Don't know what your own taxes pay for or something?

[jakem1]

You get charged in the UK too. Don't know what your own taxes pay for or something?

Not if you can't afford it. Here in the UK we support each other to ensure that everyone is cared for whereas in the US people can only use an ambulance if they can afford it.

[ILikeTobacco]

2 trained ER's, 1 Driver possibly trained in ER, phone system costs, medical insurance costs, $200,000 vehicle rental costs , after-service call check over and maintenance costs, and on and on and on... rent any $200k vehicle and driver for a couple hours and you are looking at the same bill. Now that one looks at it, its a damn cheap to get that for $700 considering what it is.

Looks cheap until you use some common sense. Of course, that would require you to stop trolling.

• 2 trained ER's, 1 Driver possibly trained in ER: At $40 an hour, which is more than they get paid, with an average time of 11 minutes to respond, without giving any service, $22 dollars total.
  
• Phone system: less than 60 cents. That is including the cost of the operator which gets paid close to minimum wage.
  
• There are no medical insurance costs because no treatment was given. (He was already dead. Had you read the post and not been trolling, you would have known that.
  
• The most expensive ambulance's in the US cost $133,000, and they are in New York. On average, the cost is around $85,000. With a 10 year life span, the per minute cost is about 11 cents. So that means, for a $133,000 ambulance, which these are not, $1.21.
  

So far we are up to $23.81. No medical equipment was used, gas cost would have been less than a dollar. Maintenance from that trip would be just as small. At worst, the cost of that ambulance is less $30-$40 for an 11 minute response time.

[techbeck]

**** happened, mistakes were made. If an Ambulance was not available, then that really sucks. The bill was probably sent in mistake and lack of a slow news day for the media, this became news.

[ILikeTobacco]

What are you talking about? I didn't say that healthcare has no costs, I simply said that those costs are born by those who can afford to pay. The unemployed or people who earn too little don't pay National Insurance (the tax that covers healthcare and pensions) which means that these people don't pay for the cost of an ambulance or a doctor. Similarly, nobody has to pay for healthcare at the point that they need to use the system which means that there are no sudden bills that you might not be able to afford if you've run out of money.

Also, why do you find it so hard to reply to a post without being rude and aggressive? You seem to have a massive inferiority complex.

Of course someone like you would claim someone else has a massive inferiority complex. Every post from you is about how superior you and the UK is. Hence we get trash like this.

Not if you can't afford it. Here in the UK we support each other to ensure that everyone is cared for whereas in the US people can only use an ambulance if they can afford it.

I am not being rude or aggressive. Just responding to the trash you keep posting about how the UK is so much better than the US. Whether that is true or not is debatable, but you only use lies to debate it so not worth debating with you.

[theyarecomingforyou]

What are you talking about? I didn't say that healthcare has no costs, I simply said that those costs are born by those who can afford to pay. The unemployed or people who earn too little don't pay National Insurance (the tax that covers healthcare and pensions) which means that these people don't pay for the cost of an ambulance or a doctor. Similarly, nobody has to pay for healthcare at the point that they need to use the system which means that there are no sudden bills that you might not be able to afford if you've run out of money.

It's also worth pointing out that the UK pays half the amount that the US does relative to GDP and provides a better service, according to the World Health Organisation. So people in the US pay more and get less, with the poor being the hardest hit by such charges - it's a fundamentally flawed and unfair system.

The right to health is considered a fundamental human right by the UN, yet in the US it's treated like a privilege.

[giantsnyy]

...

• 2 trained ER's, 1 Driver possibly trained in ER: At $40 an hour, which is more than they get paid, with an average time of 11 minutes to respond, without giving any service, $22 dollars total.
  

You're not just paying for the drivers and EMT's for that ride. You're paying for all of them.

• Phone system: less than 60 cents. That is including the cost of the operator which gets paid close to minimum wage.
  

Not the case. E-911 call charges take into account the overhead of the entire building, not just the cost of the call and operator. You have to pay their supervisors, and building maintenance too.

• There are no medical insurance costs because no treatment was given. (He was already dead. Had you read the post and not been trolling, you would have known that.
  

If they were paid EMS techs, then they have health insurance. Who's going to cover the EMS tech's medical bills if they get sick?? That's what he was referring to.

• The most expensive ambulance's in the US cost $133,000, and they are in New York. On average, the cost is around $85,000. With a 10 year life span, the per minute cost is about 11 cents. So that means, for a $133,000 ambulance, which these are not, $1.21.
  

Fuel, maintenance, supplies, storage. Maybe no equipment was used, but how did it get there in the first place? It's not like the equipment isn't billed by the source company until it's used. What about the building where the ambulances are stored? Most are rented, the money to pay for that must come from somewhere? Remember, you're paying for ALL of that. Most of the volunteer rides cost about the same in my township. They're entirely funded on the billing that comes from the ambulance rides.

[V8nside]

In Canada a trip in an Ambulance to the Hospital is around $150. This came about mostly because people would use the Ambulance service as a personal Taxi service when they needed to go to the hospital for Dialysis, or tests.

[Hum]

The $781 bill is not based on just this incident -- it is high to cover all those other cases where the people can't or won't pay.

[LaP]

Sadly, in a lot of cities a 30 min 911 response time isn't considered unusual. There was a story on the Detroit news a few weeks ago about a woman who called in a home robbery and it took 2 hours.

wow

The only time i called an ambulance (for my mom) it was there in less than 5. The only time i called the police (when i was working as a parking attendant) it was there in less than 5 minutes. I can understand if you call at an hour where there's traffic congestion but in the middle of the night it should be there in less than 10 minutes easily.

[Xilo]

Sadly, in a lot of cities a 30 min 911 response time isn't considered unusual. There was a story on the Detroit news a few weeks ago about a woman who called in a home robbery and it took 2 hours.

Well it is Detroit afterall... The whole city is practically a warzone.

[testman]

OMFG are you lot nutters? Stop attacking each other.

In the UK, people who work pay National Insurance contributions out of their wages. This means that everyone ordinarily resident in the country gets care and doesn't get billed (I say ordinarily resident because if you live outside the UK, you are billed like in other countries - usually the way to prove you are ordinarily resident is to produce your National Insurance number).

In countries like the US, how I understand it is that the person who uses the service is responsible for the bills. However, for those who work, they may take up their workplaces' health insurance plan, who will pay for certain services, or they may take up their own health insurance themselves. Unfortunately, this means if you don't have any health insurance you have to pay it out of your own pocket.