Emergency Ambulance Service

dewdrop

If i had the need to ring for an ambulance will they automatically come or will there be some question of going to a doctor for confirmation. Sounds silly but i hear stories which suggested something like this. Also will there be a charge for this service. This morning i witnessed how professional these people are...ambulance came to a man who collapsed very quickly and reassured his wife that he would be ok.

Chris.Buckley

There should never usually be any need for a doctor to confirm the need. If you accurately describe the situation over the phone, then the ambulance should arrive quite quickly with a good knowledge of the situation from the start. the only time a doctor would be needed to confirm the need is if the ambulance service was particularly busy and the claim didn't sound too serious eg : "my husband feel out of bed and I think he fractured his ankle".
but yes, the ambulance service generally are very professional, often much more professional than call out doctors (often rude).
If you have a medical card, there should be no charge for an ambulance call out.

kub

AFAIK there is no charge anyway, just the A&E charges. But once you call an ambulance, they will always come. Best for the lads though if it is an actual emergency.

beer enigma

If there's any doubt they will often send a paramedic by car ahead of the ambulance & he can make a judgement call on it

veronicav

I hd to have the ambulance to me yesterday morning as i had sever abdominal pain. i didn't want to go to hospital but i was wondering will they actually charge for the call out and if so how much is it? i don't have a medicial card.

beer enigma

veronicav wrote: »

I hd to have the ambulance to me yesterday morning as i had sever abdominal pain. i didn't want to go to hospital but i was wondering will they actually charge for the call out and if so how much is it? i don't have a medicial card.

I didn't think there was a fee but having asked a friend in the business, it appears in some cases where there is no medical card there "may" be a call out charge.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/emergency_health_services/ambulance_and_transport_services.html

MrFrisp

veronicav wrote: »

I hd to have the ambulance to me yesterday morning as i had sever abdominal pain. i didn't want to go to hospital but i was wondering will they actually charge for the call out and if so how much is it? i don't have a medicial card.

From post #8 on in this Thread..

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80680204




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familystand

There are Charges for Ambulances, I was billed for an ambulance years ago in cork city.

timmywex

There are no charges for calling an Ambulance at all no matter how many resources turn up or what the injury is/call is about. There are no charges either for going to A+E, only charges is the ~100 (?) for the A+E services that is charged by the hospital



Gardai and Ambulance are free, fire brigade, in some areas have a charge associated with them (sorry, not sure what the story is in Cork

gbee

The fire service always had charges. It’s nothing new, but they were not implemented. One will have to pay to out a chimney fire, approx €600. Some time ago a private fire service allowed the UCC West Wing to burn because no one had paid them.

Ambulance services had traditionally been owned by the hospital and driven by hospital porters.

Today all emergency response services are PMT trained, hence a fire appliance may be dispatched from central because it will carry five or more paramedics.

HSE Ambulance services charges for everything. Whether the patient is actually charged or not, there is an incident number and an invoice raised for accounts detailing response level, time, materials etc. These charges are often recovered through insurance and government allocations through hospital funding.

SAR: CHC Helicopter are paid directly by government to provide helicopter rescue and transporting services [but they are not air ambulances] and as such they do not raise invoices as the contract is inclusive.

Coast Guard: This is too big and includes the Gardaí, SAR and the Navy. Much of the day to day personnel are volunteers in their inshore ribs. Private lifeboats and the RNLI also partake under this umbrella but they operate voluntarily and funded by fundraising and charity donations.

timmywex

gbee wrote: »

HSE Ambulance services charges for everything. Whether the patient is actually charged or not, there is an incident number and an invoice raised for accounts detailing response level, time, materials etc. These charges are often recovered through insurance and government allocations through hospital funding.

Sorry, thats wrong, the HSE Ambulance service do not charge for emergency callouts.

Also it is only in Dublin that fire appliances will be dispatched in addition to an ambulance (because the ambulance service is run by Dublin Fire & Rescue)

The National Ambulance service (NAS) is funded directly through the HSE and do not charge, or have the ability to charge anyone. Likewise they do not charge the hospitals which they deliver patients to.Similarly, in Dublin, there is no charge, regardless of whether just an ambulance responds or an ambulance and fire unit.


I dont know where this stuff of emergency ambulance charges has come from, if you have any queries though, just ring your local ambulance station rather than listening to some 'pub' stories on the internet!

evilivor

timmywex wrote: »

Sorry, thats wrong, the HSE Ambulance service do not charge for emergency callouts.

Also it is only in Dublin that fire appliances will be dispatched in addition to an ambulance (because the ambulance service is run by Dublin Fire & Rescue)

The National Ambulance service (NAS) is funded directly through the HSE and do not charge, or have the ability to charge anyone. Likewise they do not charge the hospitals which they deliver patients to.Similarly, in Dublin, there is no charge, regardless of whether just an ambulance responds or an ambulance and fire unit.


I dont know where this stuff of emergency ambulance charges has come from, if you have any queries though, just ring your local ambulance station rather than listening to some 'pub' stories on the internet!

Friend of mine was taken to hospital in Cork and was charged for the ambulance.


According to Citizens Information:
"There is no clear right to an ambulance service. Generally, ambulances are used when the emergency services are called. For non-emergencies, the use of an ambulance is usually a medical decision. In general, people who do not have medical cards may be charged for the service. The practice varies between the HSE and charges may be waived in certain cases (i.e., hardship), etc"

and also

Rates
"Unless you have a medical card, you may be charged for ambulance services. However, the practice varies between parts of the and charges may be waived in certain cases (i.e., hardship), etc."


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/emergency_health_services/ambulance_and_transport_services.html

timmywex

evilivor wrote: »

Friend of mine was taken to hospital in Cork and was charged for the ambulance.


According to Citizens Information:
"There is no clear right to an ambulance service. Generally, ambulances are used when the emergency services are called. For non-emergencies, the use of an ambulance is usually a medical decision. In general, people who do not have medical cards may be charged for the service. The practice varies between the HSE and charges may be waived in certain cases (i.e., hardship), etc"

and also

Rates
"Unless you have a medical card, you may be charged for ambulance services. However, the practice varies between parts of the and charges may be waived in certain cases (i.e., hardship), etc."


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/emergency_health_services/ambulance_and_transport_services.html

As i said above just ring your local ambulance station if you dont trust me :P I was linked here from here: in the emergency services forum, pop over there where there are plenty of serving paramedics if you want and ask them!

evilivor

timmywex wrote: »

evilivor wrote: »

Friend of mine was taken to hospital in Cork and was charged for the ambulance.


According to Citizens Information:
"There is no clear right to an ambulance service. Generally, ambulances are used when the emergency services are called. For non-emergencies, the use of an ambulance is usually a medical decision. In general, people who do not have medical cards may be charged for the service. The practice varies between the HSE and charges may be waived in certain cases (i.e., hardship), etc"

and also

Rates
"Unless you have a medical card, you may be charged for ambulance services. However, the practice varies between parts of the and charges may be waived in certain cases (i.e., hardship), etc."


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/emergency_health_services/ambulance_and_transport_services.html

As i said above just ring your local ambulance station if you dont trust me :P I was linked here from here: in the emergency services forum, pop over there where there are plenty of serving paramedics if you want and ask them!

I linked to an official source showing one may be charged - care to give me an official link showing that one won't?

timmywex

Indeed you did, its worded badly to be fair.

There are no charges for emergency ambulance's in this country! (as per thread title).

Sometimes however there are interhospital transfer's that aren't emergencies carried out (more often than not by private ambulance companies, but some by HSE). If it is a private ambulance, you will of course be charged, private ambulance's only do this transfer work (no emergency calls). You generally wont be charged for the HSE one, but are liable to. Again this is only for non emergency transfers between hospitals

familystand

There IS a charge for the Ambulance in Cork City if you are TRANSPORTED to hospital by ambulance , it is generaly €100 to €150 and more if you are brought from cork county to a cork city hospital.