Why does it cost so much to go in an ambulance?

The Eagle Keeper

I was a former medic & I can tell you why. Ambulances cost between $80K to $150K. Depending on model. Training to be a medic takes 1 1/2 years. Very costly. Insurance for the city or private services are through the roof. That's why. It's the killer overhead.

Marc

Everybody screams GREED GREED until you need to have their services. What is your life worth? Trained Techs and the equipment they need very expensive to procure and maintain. Think of the alternative....

shrebee

to run the services,we'd whinge if they didnt do their awesome job,or worse stil not have any in your own town.Hope you never need one mr wizard,take care in the chair! :)

ausblue

Because it cost a fortune to run just one Ambulance!!
the Equipment ALONE is so expensive SO the public have to pay for it!

Because the GOVERNMENTS dont do enough !
But thats one good thing PETER Beatie did right in Queensland ...
every house owner has to pay a fee once a year & then that's all it costs !!....................................

Bambi

Think of what a hospital charges for a couple of tylenol!
An ambulance is essentially a hospital on wheels.

Danny Dix

I f you need an ambulance bad, who cares what it costs.

Mind you;

I got my toe stuck in the rear ashtray in my car once.

(don't ask)

When the ambulance guys arrived and started laughing at my predicament, I told 'em to forget it,

I'd wait for the toe-truck.

Danny.

.

cleverclogs

I was recently in a car accident and l have just received a bill from the hospital for $295, but if it were deemed necessary by the ambulance attendants that you have to go the hospital, then, here in Ontario, the government pay $250 and l have to just pay $45
Let me tell you l was so happy to see the ambulance, l would have paid any thing, and the attendants were so gentle and kind, God bless them.

Wolf Harper

There's only one kind of ambulance. So they have EMTs and equipment prepared to deal with anything, because they don't know what they'll find when they get there. They can take any kind of patient, stabilize themm and keep them alive while they weave through traffic.

Smart people who can do that don't come cheap. You have to pay EMTs more than they could make database programming, otherwise they'd go do that.

And because they know the way to the hospital, lol! That's worth $1000 right there!

It's not that they're ripping you off, it's just that remedial medicine (as AMA-sanctioned and practiced in the United States) is very expensive by nature. There are other systems of medicine that are much cheaper, but they are mostly preventative.

Insuranceman

Just wait until you have to be transported in an AIR ambulance or helicopter..........."you ain't seen NOTHING yet!!"

Scott H

It costs a lot of money to purchase an ambulance, outfit it, insure it and staff it with trained EMT's. It's not a taxi, you know.

Rissa

It doesn't cost me anything. It's free. Well not FREE, they add a few dollars onto my electricity bill every quarter for just such an occasion.

bel4niko

Its a mini hospital on wheels

ROCKMUM luvs david bowie

in australia, if u havent got cover you pay for the trip, which depends on how far you have to travel to the hospital, it can be $200 or $500 and if u need an ambulance helicopter i guess it would cost over $1000 xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Blitzkrieg

its free in australia
if u got cover, which i think most people have.... damnn i hope i do i'll have to check o_O $150!!??? thats crazy this world is messed up

â™¥ Just Jo â™¥

If you buy ambulance cover for a family for about $100.00 a year, then it's free!

Other wise it's about a $500.00 call out fee, then kilometres on top.

You'd have to be crazy not to have cover

UCANTCME

Paramedic and nurses fees, supplies including bandages and IV supplies, any treatment required by the patientâ€™s condition and all medications including painkillers, tranquilizers, heart medications and breathing treatments.

ohiofirefighter42

The cost to cities to buy, equip, and staff an ambulance is enormous...... that vehicle has to be staffed by 2 trained professionals 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year whether it responds to a call or not......so even though you only required the use of it for an hour...that crew still has to be paid even when not on a response........ in other words mulltiply $20/hr (conservative number) x two people x 24 hrs = $1000 per day just to staff it.

Then you add fuel, drugs, oxygen, equipment, Dispatchers, on duty mechanics, tires, radios, radio system, training, pay a MD to be your medical director, supervisors, lawsuits, vehicle repairs, firehouse, health benifits, vacation, sick days, injury pay, etc, etc, that piece of equipment costs the city in the neighborhood of $1, 000,000 (and that is a conservative number) per year to have available at your beckon call 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, every holliday, every weekend, bad weather, doesnt matter, its available. ....$1,000,000/ 365 days= $2739 per day.

So a few years back cities started trying to recoup the costs be charging fees for use.... In my city and many others the intent is to recoup that cost from insurers.... we charge $750.00 for a transport, bill your insurance company, if they only pay $500 we by law have to bill you the $250....but if you dont pay it....we just write it off.

GTO

because ur dying and u have no choice but to die or pay to get rushed to a hospital

wcowell2000

The former medic hit it on the head.

firechick1721

all healthcare costs alot.... but you have to figure in the cost of the ambulance, the cost of having highly trained professionals there to keep you alive, the cost of the equipment, the cost of diesel (it used to be cheaper than normal gas.. but not anymore...)
ambulances usually charge a flat rate, plus milage, or they charge a lower rate, plus what they use, plus milage...

H-man

Here in NZ it cost us about $NZ 50 and if you are a sick person the welfare will pick that up.

larrydean09

Simply, our system could be better. The cost of medical care is overpriced. Doctors care more about big paychecks now rather than helping keep patients healthy and alive.

saint d4

this is stupid. ambulances should be free. we do pay our taxes dont we? what happens to all that money we pay the government? how can they justify a surplus in the budget??? ambulances are no different from the police and the fire department... the government should provide us with these services free of charge.

its crazy!

Leo

They got over heads like the rest of us, though, maybe, they are a bit greedier,who knows.
Big overheads, mega bucks invested in health care. Insurance and such beurocratic bull, I expect, would consume heaps too, litigation rife, they gotta cover their ***. As an alternative, develop a personal contingency plan, be prepared, as it is my experience, I wont need insurance till I let it expire, and, that putting salt to the wound.

GO TIDES!!!

Damn gas prices................
:(

Fuzzy Squirrel

Pure greed on their part. Plus they have to PAY A FRANCHISE FEE to to the city/ town to operate ambulances.

Lefty

Just greed on their part.

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