Misuse of the system?

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During the day shift last week we had three calls. Two of those calls were for people who fell over, one of which fell down on the slippery snow, and the other fell over the pattern in the carpet. They were both fine, but we brought them in because either they wanted to go, or because their daughter insisted.

The third call was maybe on of the most blatant misuse of the 911 system I have seen. The pt. called for a rash. She claimed it was all over her body and itchy. She hadn’t put any creams on the rash at all. She wasn’t having trouble breathing, hadn’t eaten anything unusual or new, hadn’t changed soaps lately. Also, upon assessment, she had no discernable rash. She also had her travel bag all packed up and her two kids ready to go. She lived about 3 blocks from the hospital. It was a nice sunny day.
We begrudgingly drove her 2 minutes to the hospital. I want to help people, I really do, but sometimes its hard not to get mad. Maybe this person legitimately didn’t know that it was inappropriate to call 911 for her problem. Maybe she was a frequent flyer I hadn’t met yet, maybe she had no car, no husband, no friend to drive her. Maybe she didn’t have a phone or a phone book to call a cab. Maybe she didn’t have the 5 bucks that it would have cost to drive to the hospital. Maybe, but I doubt it.
Sorry but it gets frustrating sometimes sifting through the crap looking for that one sick patient. Okay, rant over. But don’t get me started on long distance relationships!

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