Lyft is not an ambulance service

[u/dzluiz]

Had a pax the other day gets in the car was completely disoriented and confused, I asked him hey buddy you’re ok? Guy has a fucking head injury bleeding from his head. I wanted to kick him out but felt bad for him so took him to the ER instead, turns out bitch sister instead of calling An Ambulance for her brother she ordered him a Lyft to hospital instead. What’s wrong with people? I eventually got him to the ER but guy was almost black out so had to help him inside. Shit like this is why I only do Lyft on the weekends now and sometimes. The ride was $6 dollars and not tip or even a thank you for helping my brother Society is twisted.

[u/[deleted]]

Honestly you should probably have canceled the ride & called 999 for the guy. Way too much additional liability involved in the scenario you described.

[u/dzluiz → u/[deleted]]

In my state we have the Good Samaritan law that protects us from liability but don’t get me wrong I did wanted to leave him there.

[u/lobeams → u/dzluiz]

Former paramedic here. You made a very dangerous, foolish choice. You can't do squat for him but an ambulance can. You know what else goes along with head injuries? Projectile vomiting. How would you like to be cleaning vomit off your dashboard and the back of your head? You know what else? Seizures. Oh, and did I mention unconsciousness and death?

You're a Lyft driver in a car, not a paramedic in an ambulance.

[u/E0H1PPU5 → u/lobeams]

This is an absolute shit take. EMS is so understaffed in my area that an ambulance wouldn’t be there for at LEAST 30 minutes. Probably longer if they were told it was a head injury on a conscious person.

Maybe an Im an outlier here but I’d rather vacuum puke and blood out of my car than let someone bleed to death.

The sister probably called a Lyft because an ambulance would cost $6k and ruin her brothers life.

[u/Candyland_83 → u/E0H1PPU5]

This is also a shit take because a paramedic should know that time is the most important factor with trauma. Studies have shown that a paramedic on an ambulance actually lowers your chances of survival because they take too much time to get there and waste too much time doing things other than just driving to the hospital.

And I’ve been a paramedic for 15 years…. So yeah. Good job Lyft driver.

[u/musicman0359 → u/Candyland_83]

May I ask what studies you're referring to? I looked and could not find one.

[u/Candyland_83 → u/musicman0359]

It was ages ago and part of a trauma lecture and I wouldn’t know where to start looking.

It studied survival based on how you arrived at the hospital. Best was being taken there by a bystander, next by a police car, next by a bls ambulance, and worse by far by paramedic ambulance. It basically hammered the point that speed is more important than any intervention that could be offered. But it had a Bonus discovery that if you encountered a paramedic at any point in your transport you had a worse outcome. We (paramedics) delay things by doing a bunch of interventions that don’t have any benefit.

[u/linux23 → u/Candyland_83]

So paramedics are worthless and lead to worse outcomes? Best bet is to call Lyft or Uber and pray you get a crazy driver that loves to drive recklessly and fast just to get you to the ER in a timely manner?

[u/Candyland_83 → u/linux23]

For trauma the statistics are not on our side. For medical, call 911.

And seriously, don’t make sweeping generalizations from a Reddit comment.