Why we wouldn't call an ambulance where we live

[Nikia]

The other day, we were driving to a bigger city about 25 miles away. Along the way, we see the police man in front of turn on his lights and speed away somewhere. In the next few minutes, several cars with lights and sirens went speeding past (probably volunteer fire department) and eventually turned down a side road. A few minutes later, we see the ambulance from our local hospital, our only ambulance since they got rid of the other one to save money, coming from the direction of the bigger city with its lights and sirens on evidently to the accident where everyone else was going. That means they had taken our only ambulance to the bigger city, probably ferrying a patient. I suppose that I can see the need for that, but still what if someone was having an emergency in our town. Couldn't they have used one of the bigger cities ambulances for that? Would anyone else find that troubling.

[XanaDUer]

1. Isn't it amazing that the richest country in the world

has to skimp on things like ambulances?

God are we so fucked.

[Nikia]

6. It is

Where are our priorities?

[Pegleg Thd]

2. Sounds like you live in small

town Oklahoma

[Nikia]

5. Small town Wisconsin

Not having been to Oklahoma, I don't know if it is the same difference.

[skygazer]

3. I've never lived in a place where I'd call an ambulance

I've always lived in areas where I could get to the hospital faster on my own power than I could waiting for an ambulance to find where I lived.

Still, when I lived in a small town, we had a very good ambulance service, funded by donation. It was completely free and the personnel were extremely well trained and professional. We were lucky top have them (please pardon the typos - I have a huge bandage on my index finger) as I discovered when I moved to an area that had nothing of the sort.

[Lady Effingbroke]

4. I wouldn't call an ambulance. I can't afford the ride.

I can always just lie there in pain and/or die.

Exactly what *Co wants - kill the peasants, we ain't worth shit anyways.

[Kali]

7. Funny but not.

Been there - am there.

[seaglass]

8. Wouldn't there be mutual aid from a town next door? It's

the same as if your ambulance was at an emergency in your town and another emergency happened in your town.

There's always some risk involved. We've been debating this in our town because the FD wants to run the ambulance service and right now we have a private company doing it.

[Nikia]

9. Well, the other place is 25 miles away

I am not sure where their ambulances are housed, but their hospitals are way into town. If it is around five or another busy time, the main route from there to here is busy. There is a lot of traffic anyway on the two lane road as well a smaller town, which also relies on our ambulance service, between the two. I don't think that there would be very good response time.