Lets take Leisure World for example. This 610-acre, fenced in community, located on the Silver Spring/Rockville line of Montgomery County Maryland is home to around 9,000 elderly individuals.
I work as an EMT/Firefighter whose firehouse is located less than two miles away from the main gates of this delightful World of Leisure. I actually like old people and running numerous calls a shift, into the gates, is not what I dislike about Leisure World; it is the type of calls, abuse of the Emergency Medical System (EMS) system and the lack of resources provided to its residents that makes me dislike Leisure World.
When you have a dense population of elderly individuals with deteriorating health, the demand for healthcare is obviously going to be greater than your average suburban population. Leisure World has recognized this and has a Health Center located on its premises. Problem solved, right? Nope, the Health Center is only open during regular business hours(9-5), is by appointment only, and you must be mobile enough to get yourself there. Leisure World residents have learned that there is an alternative, 9-1-1, that provides free and immediate transport to the local hospital where the Emergency Department (ED) doesn’t ever close or require appointments.
Exhibit A:
My Ambulance gets a call to Leisure World where 82-year-old Betsy is complaining of flu-like symptoms, which have been present for four days, and she wants to be transported to Montgomery General (MGH). While I am with Betsy, there is a car accident a quarter mile away from my firehouse; 16-year-old Tom just got his license and meets a tree head on. I’m unavailable; the 2nd closest ambulance (the one closest to Leisure World) is also unavailable as they’re just arriving at MGH with their patient, 78-year-old Bob with recurring back pain (also from Leisure World). The 3rd closest Ambulance that gets the assignment is 15 minutes out (6 minutes over the standard EMS response time). When my Ambulance gets to MGH, the Charge Nurse has already assigned Back Pain Bob to the last available bed and my Ambulance remains out-of-service for the 20 minutes it takes to get Betsy a bed. The charge nurse declares MGH at capacity, meaning no more incoming Ambulances. The 3rd closest Ambulance has discovered that Car vs. Tree Tom has a decreased level of consciousness and a fractured femur. They can’t transport Tom to MGH (5 minutes from the scene) and are forced to take him to the 2nd closest hospital, Holly Cross (HCH) that is a 30-minute drive with traffic. 10 minutes en-route to HCH, Tom goes unconscious and his blood pressure drops. Once at HCH scans show that Tom’s fractured femur sliced his femoral artery and he died from internal bleeding that would have been discovered and controlled over 20 minutes ago if the two closest Ambulances weren’t being used as taxi cabs and if Leisure World meet the healthcare needs of its residents instead of allowing them to use MGH as their Primary Healthcare Provider.
1 comment:
Wow, I had no idea that the ambulance's were used in non- emergency situations. That incident that happend was really unfortunate and could have been prevented. Does Leisure World pay a fee to the county or the city for the service that you provide to their residents that aren't really true emergency situations?
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