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Don't take the ambulance, just walk.

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Kazabazua
Posts: 3529 - Karma: 1,128

Last April I suffered a 3rd degree separation of my shoulder and a concussion while visiting Whistler BC (from Ontario). I was given morphine and phentanyl for my shoulder and sledded down the hill where an ambulance awaited to bring me to the hospital just down the street. They did some x rays figured out what was wrong with me, i paid for my sling etc. Several month's later I received a $530 ambulance bill from the BC government. Is this not covered under Ontario's beloved health insurance? No they dont cover ambulance rides. WTF. Basically guys , if your out of province and you break your leg, if you break your arm, basically if you can still crawl to the hospital half a km away just do it or you'll be walking into a $530 death trap that you werent told about.

Mar 24 2010 2:51PM
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paige.
Posts: 1930 - Karma: 907
Yah you might have. My dad was at whis this weekend and broke his arm and he told me they gave him phentynal and then morphine later. I had always assumed phentynal was just for cancer patients and stuff, it seems kind of extreme for an arm (even if he did have to stay in the hospital for a couple days).
Mar 25 2010 1:03AM
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corona
Posts: 12752 - Karma: 32,266
ahh, so I was just reading about Ontario's ambulance shite (which I'm sure is very similar in each province), and this is what you need to not have to pay:

Your ambulance transportation costs are fully covered :

  • if you are a resident of Ontario, and :
  • you have a valid Ontario health card, and
  • a physician deems your ambulance service medically necessary, and
  • your ambulance trip originates at an Ontario hospital or health care facility, and
  • your destination is a hospital or health care facility outside the province but within Canada, and
  • treatment is not available anywhere in Ontario.


SO: if it is the same in BC, first off you're from Ontario not BC, and second your injury is not an injury that is medically necessary to have an ambulance.  that's why you'd have to pay. In Ontario anyways if you do not have an injury necessary of an ambulance then it's a minimum cost of $240.

So I think the big thing is that a separated shoulder is not a serious injury in which an ambulance is necessary. If you had a broken femur or were bleeding profusely then you wouldn't have had to pay.
Mar 25 2010 1:06AM
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Willard
Posts: 5117 - Karma: 429
i got a nice $700 bill for an ambulance ride mhmmm probably 6 blocks because some lady decided to call an ambulance we were just gonna drive down there
Mar 25 2010 1:09AM
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solitaryman
Posts: 3578 - Karma: 123
Two reasons I know the doctor was lying about the drugs he gave you:

1. Fentanyl can kill you without a ridiculous opiate tolerance

2. You take Fentanyl in a patch...

3. If you IV'd fentanyl and then morphine without an opiate tolerance you would certainly die.
Mar 25 2010 1:13AM
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Mr.Gaga
Posts: 2021 - Karma: 542

I dont know for BC, but in QC they alway make you pay 100-125$ if you call an ambulance. They say its a way to make shure peoples dont call ambulances without reasons, this way healthcare system can be more efficient and ambulances are only used for real emergency...

100-125's a fair price tho... its just little more then a taxi? why the charge 500 in BC meh not shure but they fix the price

Mar 25 2010 1:19AM
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Kazabazua
Posts: 3529 - Karma: 1,128
^ you only have to pay for an ambulance ride if the doctor deems in unneccesary im pretty sure.
Mar 25 2010 8:04AM
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fricino13
Posts: 268 - Karma: 14
europe rocks in this way
Mar 25 2010 8:12AM
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eikitt
Posts: 131 - Karma: 182
In alta ski patrol blow you up instead of giving you morphine.
Mar 25 2010 9:02AM
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Craigskis
Posts: 6648 - Karma: 1,636
I have several stories here....

1st)) They will collect it off your income tax refund if you refuse to pay.

2nd)) You could have refused the ambulance bill, example one time when I refused it a member of ski patrol drove me over in one of there trucks, throw liability out the door he was hooking a broke ass dirtbag skibum up and it saved a few hundred dollar bill.

3rd)) I had a drinking accident on my BMX one night in Whistler. THere is a 5 set of stairs between the Starbucks & Westbeach near the IGA. One night after the bars I jumped the 5 set and when I landed my front fork snapped in half and I head butted the cement. When the ambulance showed up I was literally under a couple hundred meters away from the hospital. Drunkenly I refused service and walked over "Supervised" with an ambulance attendant. Even though I refused service they loaded my BMX in the ambulance and drove it over to the hospital. I REFUSED Service. A couple years later I got a bill, which I refused to pay, and argued to have looked over the records of the said service and dealt with bureaucratic bullshit. They took the money I owed from my next tax return.
Mar 25 2010 9:55AM
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fuck.your.tits
Posts: 935 - Karma: 20
They shouldn't have charged you, thats retarted...
Mar 25 2010 10:42AM
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skiierman
Posts: 28699 - Karma: -5,563
i'm still trying to figure out why someone is pussy enough to get ski patrol then take an ambulance ride over a separated shoulder? if anything that's a lesson to be not such a fucking pussy.
Mar 25 2010 10:52AM
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Kazabazua
Posts: 3529 - Karma: 1,128

I don't think you realize how much a 3rd degree separation of a shoulder hurts especially when you see your collar bone poking out of your chest not to mention having a very bad concussion, literally exploded the lens on my spy soldiers. I also said 'i got up and walked a few steps and collapsed'. so chillout, smoke some weed or something negative nancy because you've said nothing of value in this thread all you did was chirp out my injury to make yourself sound cool I guess?

Mar 25 2010 11:06AM
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EH_DUBS
Posts: 3080 - Karma: 969
hey now, 3rd degree separations are nothing to laugh about pain wise. That shit hurts.
Mar 25 2010 11:07AM
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Kazabazua
Posts: 3529 - Karma: 1,128
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/01/health/adam/15044.jpg

look at this and honestly tell me you don't think it would hurt.
Mar 25 2010 11:11AM
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skiierman
Posts: 28699 - Karma: -5,563
aw do you need another ride in the whaaambulance? you dislocated your shoulder. big deal.
Mar 25 2010 11:42AM
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GGreene
Posts: 993 - Karma: 42
taxis are a lot cheaper than ambulances.
Mar 25 2010 1:53PM
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ohpatti
Posts: 745 - Karma: 25
Dude in Aspen I dislocated my shoulder at buttermilk and the hospital was like a mile away , insurance covered all but a $1200 ambulance fee.... I feel really bad for my parents who have to pay because I'm brokeee
Mar 25 2010 2:16PM
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Kazabazua
Posts: 3529 - Karma: 1,128
you fucking moron a separated shoulder is not a dislocated shoulder how stupid can you possibly be?
Mar 29 2010 10:53AM
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mystic_bud
Posts: 51 - Karma: 10
your lucky there was no helicopter cause their even more expnesive

you should always just walk, last year i broke my jaw skiing(also blacked out) and instead of hoping on the ambulance and telling ski patrol i walked from the base of blackhomb to the hospital
Mar 29 2010 11:00AM
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OoobeFu_k
Posts: 327 - Karma: 49
this made my day, sorry you had to pay a huge bill...
Mar 29 2010 12:38PM
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Furrer92
Posts: 784 - Karma: 341
checked out a couple sites and it is pretty commonly used but just in small doses. The instance he's describing makes sense because its meant to kill pain extremely quickly but for short periods of time.

"The stronger doses of fentanyl (50mcg/hr or stronger) are for use only in patients that are already using narcotics for pain relief. Do not use this medication in children less than 12 years old nor in children less than 18 years that weigh less than 110lbs (50kg) except in a research setting."

sparknotes: http://www.medicinenet.com/fentanyl-transdermal/article.htm
Mar 29 2010 12:58PM
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skiierman
Posts: 28699 - Karma: -5,563
wah, same area different joint. try having a posterior dislocation.
Mar 29 2010 10:41PM
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Tjacks19
Posts: 342 - Karma: 42
I dropped a ledge with my scooter and fucked up my face. chipped tooth, hole in my lip, concousin, etc. Nobody called the ambulance for me...... wtf
Mar 29 2010 10:43PM
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brosif
Posts: 654 - Karma: 28
I had one a couple years back and insurance covered the whole thing
Mar 29 2010 10:50PM
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corona
Posts: 12752 - Karma: 32,266
hmm.. maybe they should have
Mar 29 2010 10:52PM
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caucasian_chad
Posts: 4078 - Karma: 3,625
350 for a ride in the amber lamps is nothing. In the US, you would be paying thousands, and if they load you onto the heli, tens of thousands.
Mar 29 2010 10:53PM
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Tjacks19
Posts: 342 - Karma: 42

Yeah dude your right. My bro is a parimedic or EMT or whatever, on an ambulance. he was telling me it could cost in the thousands for a ride in the ambulance. Idk about hepichoppers

Mar 29 2010 10:55PM
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babujib
Posts: 5039 - Karma: 104
yeah, try having a posterior dislocation every time you go over a speed bump, sneeze, jump, etc. torn labrums suck. Granted, i was only in that state for like a month, but it was the most painful month of my life.
Mar 29 2010 11:01PM
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Twinjibber77
Posts: 6239 - Karma: 2,356
FFFFRRRRREEEEEEEEE HEEEEAAAALLLLTTTTHHHHH CCCCAAAARRRRREEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 29 2010 11:01PM
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skiierman
Posts: 28699 - Karma: -5,563
you're wrong. i've had over 200 dislocations, 2 surgeries (one of them being a shoulder joint reconstruction) and out of all of them, one was a posterior dislocation. what you are talking about is anterior. those are nothing and pop right back in and i know how annoying they are especially when you can get one in your sleep or when you close a car door. posterior is when it pops out backward and gets jammed behind your shoulder blade. now that one took a while to get back in and was extremely painful.
Mar 29 2010 11:10PM
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skibikeclambake
Posts: 2346 - Karma: 27
I am glad that we always try to one-up one another.
Mar 29 2010 11:21PM
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skiierman
Posts: 28699 - Karma: -5,563
just lettin him know that posterior dislocations are very rare to get.
Mar 29 2010 11:23PM
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Kazabazua
Posts: 3529 - Karma: 1,128
your definately one of those annoying people that tries to one up the person before you because you need  the attention  which your parents didn't give you growing up. No one asked you about a posterior dislocation, I didn't even whine about my shoulder separation, all you did was belittle my injury and say you had a worse one. Okay you had a worse injury, your way tougher than me and better at hurting yourself, good job buddy.
Mar 31 2010 9:17PM
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Elmo.
Posts: 4317 - Karma: 663
ski patrol thought i broke my hip... felt liek it 2 and i wen tto the hospital in an ambulence cuz they said that if the bone moved then it could severe a main artery and i got x rays and it wasnt broken it just swelled liek a mother and i had a bone bruise... and then 2 weeks later i get a billl 4 like 700 bucks and i had health insurance... i was so mad... basically i will get to the hospital without the ambulence form now on
Mar 31 2010 9:23PM
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SlickRick.
Posts: 4329 - Karma: 300
wait... so you took an ambulance for an ac joint? and then got morphine for it? you deserver the $500 bill then. i walked away from a type 3, and skiied 2 more dayson it after when i was on a trip to keystone this winter.
Mar 31 2010 9:38PM
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Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
yup, when I had a bad crash on my back in Banff ski patrol said I should probably get an x-ray on my spine but I seemed to have good mobility and was probably ok and that they would normally call an ambulance but it costed 500, so I hoped on the bus to the hospital
Mar 31 2010 9:39PM
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JahJahBinks
Posts: 3567 - Karma: 460
It was 700 dollars for five stitches....with insurance.
Mar 31 2010 10:29PM
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mBall
Posts: 1690 - Karma: 2,827
Citizens on medicaid and medicare pay a fixed amount (which is ridiculously low) when they get treated for ambulance rides and stuff. So when people that aren't on medicaid and medicare (most of us) get ambulance rides the ambulance company has to charge you a ton of money to make up for all the lost money from the medicaid patients just to stay in business. You have no idea that some of these small ambulance businesses are really suffering from obama's plan to get everyone on medicare or medicaid or whatever.
I dont know all the specifics but it's really ridiculous.
Mar 31 2010 10:53PM
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skiierman
Posts: 28699 - Karma: -5,563
hit the nail on the head, except for one detail... it was my foster parents and it was only because i was trying to bring attention to the fact that my foster grandpa was sexually abusing me by jerking me off in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep.

but that still doesn't make you any less of a pussy for riding in the waaambulance
Mar 31 2010 11:00PM
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Walkawalka
Posts: 314 - Karma: 43
whistler/blackcomb has one doctor on each mountain, thats why they can give you meds
Mar 31 2010 11:08PM
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Sveetski
Posts: 572 - Karma: 22
Amen to that!
Apr 1 2010 4:49AM
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=Carson=
Posts: 665 - Karma: 24
its fentanyl
Apr 1 2010 1:32PM
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Justo8484
Posts: 3905 - Karma: 204
i was with AshyToClassy when he dislocated his hip in whistler. i can vouch for the fact that they did indeed shoot him up with morphine on site, probably within 5 minutes of patrol coming to the scene. we were technically out of bounds, and patrol was on it super quick, and were far more helpful than any patrol i've encountered in the states. that flight back at home probably would have cost 20k, easily.
Apr 1 2010 3:36PM
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Kazabazua
Posts: 3529 - Karma: 1,128
sorry man but there is no possible way I was skiing after my injury. I hate how people are trying to belittle my injury on here, it wasn't even about that, I don't fuckin care what kind of injury you've had. All I know is I've had many injuries and have a fuckin high pain threshold and that was one of the worst and most painful injuries I've ever had. To this day (11 months later) I can barely sleep on my left shoulder even after a month of physio.
Apr 1 2010 5:58PM
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pothier
Posts: 302 - Karma: 619
i called my insurance company before i got in the ambulence and they paid for it
Apr 1 2010 6:01PM
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omnomnom
Posts: 1280 - Karma: 73
in steamboat, unless you're critically injured, we have a free shuttle that takes you from the triage center straight to the hospital. they load you on the board straight into the back of this big van thing. but for an injury where you may go into shock, they will most likely just use an ambulance.
Apr 1 2010 6:04PM
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