Post by suba on Aug 10, 2016 11:35:07 GMT -5
A friend was coming across town to see me last night on his motorbike when a bus ran a red light and wiped him out. The bike is a wreck and he's in a hospital - off to see him shortly.
The ambulance arrived at the same time as my wife and another of our friends did, my wife rang the medical coordinator in Reina Sofia which was a couple of blocks away and arranged for him to be seen immediately by the relevant specialist (we work with these guys).
The ambulance guys were having none of it and insisted on taking him on a long journey across Bogotá to a hospital we hadn't even heard of, when he got there they had to wait half the night for a specialist to be sent from another hospital as that one couldn't provide anyone remotely qualified.
I was obviously fuming, he was in no condition to travel very far (Reina Sofia was at the end of the bridge he had the accident on for Gods sake) and the waiting for a specialist could have been avoided, (they didn't even examine him on admission), the insurance company was happy for him to be treated at Reina Sofia, the specialist stood waiting for him to arrive etc etc.
The reason? Apparently the hospitals pay $100k to the ambulance crews to bring them patients and the ambulance staff care more about the money than the patients well being.
We were told by the staff in Reina Sofia that if ever we were in an accident that we should immediately call the police and tell them that the ambulance staff do not have authorisation to move us anywhere except to the hospital we insist on - this happens every single day apparently with no one doing anything about it. Just been told that recently there was an article in the media on this very practice.
I despair at how sick and twisted some people are - he could have died waiting to see someone just so the ambulance crew got their money.
The ambulance arrived at the same time as my wife and another of our friends did, my wife rang the medical coordinator in Reina Sofia which was a couple of blocks away and arranged for him to be seen immediately by the relevant specialist (we work with these guys).
The ambulance guys were having none of it and insisted on taking him on a long journey across Bogotá to a hospital we hadn't even heard of, when he got there they had to wait half the night for a specialist to be sent from another hospital as that one couldn't provide anyone remotely qualified.
I was obviously fuming, he was in no condition to travel very far (Reina Sofia was at the end of the bridge he had the accident on for Gods sake) and the waiting for a specialist could have been avoided, (they didn't even examine him on admission), the insurance company was happy for him to be treated at Reina Sofia, the specialist stood waiting for him to arrive etc etc.
The reason? Apparently the hospitals pay $100k to the ambulance crews to bring them patients and the ambulance staff care more about the money than the patients well being.
We were told by the staff in Reina Sofia that if ever we were in an accident that we should immediately call the police and tell them that the ambulance staff do not have authorisation to move us anywhere except to the hospital we insist on - this happens every single day apparently with no one doing anything about it. Just been told that recently there was an article in the media on this very practice.
I despair at how sick and twisted some people are - he could have died waiting to see someone just so the ambulance crew got their money.