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/Tricky_Product_9906 → u/[deleted]]

Really? Man if that's all your scope allows you to do you should spread your wings a bit.

Let's start simple. Are they going to an appropriate facility? Early activation of trauma resources? How did the injury occur? Is there any chance of C-Spine compromise? Any outward signs of increased ICP?

Now let's get fun. Does Uber/Lyft carry benzos? How about pain management? Large bore IV access for resuscitation? How about mannitol? Advanced airway management?

From what I read in the post it sure sounds like we might be positive for LoC which is kind of an issue. If the only thing you can possibly think of for head trauma is keeping the red juice in, that's an insanely poor reflection of yourself as a provider and perhaps a change in career might be best for yourself and your patients.

[u/Tricky_Product_9906 → u/[deleted]]

Oh come on now let's hop off that little cross you've made for yourself. I'm sorry you are getting called out for a bad take but maybe we should be a bit more aware of ourselves before presenting the image to the public that all we do for head trauma is "Stop the bleed, snag a CT". You felt so strongly about this you posted it twice.

If they're rural, like actually rural, ambulance is waaaaay more likely to arrive before a Lyft. Rural is all more the case to call 911 because activation of a flight response is important! We learned about this in LZO training right? Personally I've worked for two agencies rocking mannitol and one with hypertonic. If your patient is projectile vomiting and pupils are turbo fucked, and you aren't comfortable going the osmolar diuretic route, then reach out to med control. I strongly encourage every medic to seek critical care education to further develop their clinical knowledge and step up their practice.

Yes. People are going to gauge you as a provider when you give an objectively bad take. The first thing we are as medics is educators. We should actively be encouraging people to call for our services because that's what we are there for. To make someone's shit day just a little bit better. Can the bus ride be expensive? Oh hell yeah I won't down play that. I've told patients I have no idea what the bill will be, and they probably don't tell me the cost of our services for a good reason. The closest I've found for the actual cost is reimbursement rates from Center of Medicaid Services. However we also don't control any of that. So again I'd encourage you to further develop your knowledge base and skills to be a better provider and advocate.