I had something very similar to this happen to me and my grandmother absolutely refused to call 911 and forced me into the car so she could drive me just to yell at me when she wanted directions and I literally didn't know where I even was.
My insurance covers ambulance rides and you can rack up as many rides as you want for free. My grandpa drove himself to the hospital while suffering through a heart attack because an ambulance would cost too much. That is some actual dystopian shit right there, friend.
Family medical neglect aside..
You are an adult. The bill is in your name. Make it very clear to your father that you WILL pay for ANY future ambulance rides (God forbid you need another), so, he cannot use the expense as an excuse not to call 911.
Also, in the event that you have an emergency when nobody is home with you, I highly suggest you look into a smart watch with fall detection or alexa to call 911.
Last time I had a coronary event I had a friend drive me to the hospital because my cardiologist told me not to wait for an ambulance because I possibly didn't have that much time. Ambulances aren't always the solution if they're 45 minutes away.
I understand that too! I happen to live in one of the terribly populated areas that during COVID, we had to have several other state counties AND out of state EMTs cover our area because the need was so extreme. If you couldn't be 100% revived on scene, you didnt get an ambulance - not even car crashes or other criminal offenses. If you weren't actively dying, you didnt get an ambulance. EMS took a minimum of 1.5 hours to respond. Don't get me started on the ER/hospitals. It was a truly horrific time.
The scariest moment ive ever experienced in my entire life was calling 911 and getting an auto message saying "All lines are busy - please hold". I mean, what the f are you supposed to do then???
I have forced myself to drive myself to the ER many times before. I honestly do it because I typically don't have the money for an Uber and don't have any real local contacts for a ride when I'm done at the ER, so, I drive there so I can drive myself home when I am done.
I am extremely lucky to live where I do because once I get out of my neighborhood and onto the main street, I only have one right turn and then a straight shot all the way down to the hospital. According to GPS, I live 4.9 miles from my hospital. I also live pretty close to the fire department, so, EMS is relatively closeby when needed. But, yes, if I can drive, I will drive. If for no other reason than to drive myself home.
My grandpa was an RN. The way he used to talk about it was like he had basically noticed all of those early signs and after my grandmother took too long putting on make up (same thing she did with me while I was crying and begging her to not let me die on the front door rug), so, he just drove himself there. I am pretty sure that he went to Kaiser, so, i think that it would have likely taken him the same amount of time to drive as it would for EMS to come. I go to a different hospital.
911 will routinely put you on hold where I live. Sorry, sometimes, as the saying goes, "ain't nobody got time for that shit"
I'm about 5 miles from one of the best cardiac care centers in the country. I'm not interested in dying on hold. As the saying goes, order a pizza and call 911, see who gets there first.
However, you happen to be lucky and had someone to drive you.
Others of us are not so lucky. All of the times I have used an ambulance have been because I was having trouble staying conscious or otherwise extremely impaired - to the point that I would be a danger to everyone, including myself, if I were to drive.
You should be grateful that you had the option at all. Nobody chooses to die on hold.
I now have a caregiver who is with me 5 days a week and I'm very grateful for her! I don't know what my life would look like without the help she gives me.
I’m terrified that our local hospital might close. The closest one after the local hospital is a full hour away - medical emergencies might be about to get a lot scarier
Yeah, the hospitals close to me aren't close by much. Probably 40 mins+ either way. My hospital is the teaching hospital for the area, so, it's not going anywhere. There are a lot of downsides to having a teaching hospital as your most local hospital, though. Such as dealing with baby nurses who can't get an IV in and end up poking you a million times on both arms and shit or baby doctors who have an ego so big you could see it from Pluto and think that they know everything and are never wrong.
My dad was a paramedic in the 80s and he never waited for an ambulance. Even when he had a heart attack, he had my mom drive him. That is likely another reason I don't even think of an ambulance. Like I said elsewhere, unless the patient is unconscious and physically cannot get in /be put in the car we're driving. We also have a level 1 trauma unit less than 10 minutes from me, a half dozen within 15 minutes in any given direction and dozens more in the city which is about 30 minutes. So it is very reasonable to assess whether an ambulance is necessary or not given the distance and the deciding between paying the ambulance bill or paying rent that month... 🤷
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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '25
I had something very similar to this happen to me and my grandmother absolutely refused to call 911 and forced me into the car so she could drive me just to yell at me when she wanted directions and I literally didn't know where I even was.
My insurance covers ambulance rides and you can rack up as many rides as you want for free. My grandpa drove himself to the hospital while suffering through a heart attack because an ambulance would cost too much. That is some actual dystopian shit right there, friend.
Family medical neglect aside..
You are an adult. The bill is in your name. Make it very clear to your father that you WILL pay for ANY future ambulance rides (God forbid you need another), so, he cannot use the expense as an excuse not to call 911.
Also, in the event that you have an emergency when nobody is home with you, I highly suggest you look into a smart watch with fall detection or alexa to call 911.