From the Ironton Tribune:
According to Rachel, following the advice of a friend who dealt with medical laws and policies, they figured out that publicly-funded ambulance services, like SEOEMS, were required to respond to a patient’s call regardless of the circumstances. Plus, most EMS calls get preferred treatment at area emergency rooms, meaning less waiting in triage.
“They have to take us. It’s a free ride to the front of the line.”
They also figured out what conditions to call their “emergencies” under in order to have the greatest potential in snagging the prescriptions drugs they needed. After discussions with an area medical associate, the conditions they would use were finalized to chest and joint pain.
Following some internal role-playing they were ready. The first call was going to be chest pain.
“It worked like clockwork. The call was made, EMS came, he told the medics his choice of hospital and he was admitted within minutes while we waited in the parking lot,” Rachel said. “An hour and half later, he was walking out with Lortab.”
Rachel said they learned ahead of time current hospital procedures for conditions like chest pain.
“When you are admitted to an emergency room with chest pains, most doctors are going to want to administer nitroglycerin right away. By putting up a strong stance and saying you need something stronger, your wish might be granted.”
And what if things do go as planned?
“You get the heck out of there. We had a rule that if you felt it wasn’t your day, demand the AMA (Against Medical Advice) release document, sign it and walk out the door. There is always another day and a variety of hospitals to choose from.”
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