Posted on Jul 5, 2021
Rural Ambulance Services At Risk As Volunteers Age And Expenses Mount
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/07/05/ [login to see] /rural-ambulance-services-at-risk-as-volunteers-age-and-expenses-mount
Vern Greyn was standing in the raised bucket of a tractor in Dutton, Mont., trimming dead branches off a tree, when he lost his balance. He fell 12 feet and struck his head on the concrete patio outside his house in this small farming town on the central Montana plains.
Greyn, then 58, couldn't move. His wife called 911. A volunteer emergency medical technician showed up: his own daughter-in-law, Leigh. But there was a problem. Greyn was too large for her to move by herself, so she had to call in help from the ambulance crew in Power, the next town over.
"I laid here for a half-hour or better," Greyn says, recounting what happened two years ago from the same patio. When help finally arrived, they loaded him into the ambulance and rushed him to the nearest hospital, where they found he had a concussion.
Vern Greyn was standing in the raised bucket of a tractor in Dutton, Mont., trimming dead branches off a tree, when he lost his balance. He fell 12 feet and struck his head on the concrete patio outside his house in this small farming town on the central Montana plains.
Greyn, then 58, couldn't move. His wife called 911. A volunteer emergency medical technician showed up: his own daughter-in-law, Leigh. But there was a problem. Greyn was too large for her to move by herself, so she had to call in help from the ambulance crew in Power, the next town over.
"I laid here for a half-hour or better," Greyn says, recounting what happened two years ago from the same patio. When help finally arrived, they loaded him into the ambulance and rushed him to the nearest hospital, where they found he had a concussion.
Rural Ambulance Services At Risk As Volunteers Age And Expenses Mount
Posted from npr.org
Medical
Health
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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I've seen this lack of stuff in some places. Wish I hadn't. It really lets you know how worthless some places are and how poorly they are run. .
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EMS as a whole is a dying profession (no pun intended). Technicians are tired of being underpaid, overworked, and underappreciated. More and more people abuse EMS services for things that are not medical emergencies. I've lost track of the number of calls I've responded to where the patient says "well, my toe has been hurting for six months but I don't want to sit in a waiting room. I'll get seen faster if you take me in the ambulance." You can imagine their surprise when I put them in the aforementioned waiting room. (Here's a bit of free advice: you do NOT get seen faster just because you arrive by EMS) Couple that with the ever present threat of defending yourself against litigation because someone's family member who was 300lb overweight, two-pack-a-day smoking habit, non-complaint with medications passes away because "obviously the EMS crew did something wrong", it's no wonder experienced EMT's and Paramedics are leaving the profession in droves.
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