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Patient sent two ambulance bills for one hospital trip
Patient sent two ambulance bills for one hospital trip
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Dana Mitchell takes 26 pills a day -- so it's not unusual for her family to call 911. After a seizure a year and a half ago, she went on something of a wild ride.
"To this day I haven't gotten an explanation as to why that happened," Mitchell said.
After a particularly brutal seizure, she landed unconscious on a coffee table.
"I tend to fall face first," she said.
Her husband called 911.
"Paratech was the ambulance company that came. They transported me for four blocks and then just stopped," Mitchell said.
She says she was awake in the back of the ambulance.
"I'm listening to them saying it should have been, they should be here by now, and I'm thinking who, who?" Mitchell said.
"And then all of a sudden I hear an ambulance," Mitchell said.
Mitchell was transferred from one ambulance to another -- the second one operated by the Wauwatosa Fire Department.
"I started thinking well maybe something was wrong with the first ambulance. Maybe they were like running low on gas, I mean anything."
After arriving safely at the hospital she forgot all about the ambulance trips, until a few months late when the bills showed up.
"They billed for that ride and they were paid $500 for that 4-block ride. Wauwatosa billed for the same ride and they cashed their check, too. I couldn't believe it."
Two bills for what Mitchell thought should have been one easy trip to the hospital.
"I mean nothing about this situation made any sense at all," Mitchell said.
"Everyone thinks that an orange and white ambulance is staffed with paramedics - that's not the case."
Larry Knuth is the Vice President of Operations at Paratech, one of four private ambulance companies used in the city of Milwaukee. He says what happened to Mitchell isn't uncommon, and while it's less likely to happen in the city, it happens all of the time out in the country.
"Milwaukee County has a EMS system. And there are protocols that everyone in the system has to adhere to," Knuth said.
In other words, Mitchell needed more care than Paratech was able to give her.
"We had to make that call - and that required her to be cared for by another agency."
Paratech says it feared Mitchell was having a second seizure, and because their ambulances are only staffed to give basic care, they had to call in a backup -- which meant calling an agency with paramedics on staff.
"This individual wanted to know why there were two ambulances involved and anecdotally we suspect we told her that it was likely that you needed that second ambulance. Your condition changed or worsened."
"I feel like they should have given me that answer a long time ago," Mitchell said.
Mitchell says she's grateful insurance covered both rides, but she still finds it hard to believe not every ambulance is equipped to handle every type of emergency. Like many people, she just assumed all ambulances have paramedics on board.
"Anybody who has any standard of care should be able to be transported as fast as possible in an ambulance, from wherever they are, directly to the hospital, because you should get there as fast as possible," Mitchell said.
"I never thought I'd have to question if 911 was going to be there for me."
But Paratech says it was there for her, and the process worked like it was supposed to.
"Individuals should always call 911 if they feel that they have a medical emergency. You will get the response. You will get the care that you need."
You may still be wondering why not all ambulances have paramedics on board, the bottom line? It's more expensive.
As Milwaukee County Emergency Medical Services points out, many times when 911 is called, the paramedics aren't needed. That's why these private ambulance companies are hired.