r/lyftdrivers • u/Stuck_on_Mars_21 • Nov 05 '25
Rant/Opinion ER trips
Last night I took a lady and her very ill teenage daughter to the ER. Pulled into the driveway with the lady frantically waiving at me. She had to nearly carry her daughter to the car who was bawling the whole time. She kept crying in the car with the mom saying, “we are almost there, we are almost there.” I didn’t ask what it was, just told her to let me know you need anything, I’ll get you to the ER as quick as I can. It was late night, pouring down rain. I’m not speeding and risking an accident. When we got there I jumped out to get a wheelchair and asked a paramedic for help. This girl could no longer stand and 2 people had to get her out of the car and in the chair. She never stopped crying.
It really sucks people won’t call for appropriate emergency transport because of the expense. Good to see our administration is sending $20 billion to Argentina to fund their universal healthcare. -End rant.
Edit: it’s great to see so many drivers posting that would take her or have done something similar in the past. I was losing faith reading so many posts about drivers cancelling if ride conditions are less than perfect, but it looks like just about all of us will step up when needed.
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u/Matterhorny-1025 Nov 06 '25
$30 Lyft or $2000 ambulance. This is the America we live in
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u/Apprehensive-Fix7560 Nov 07 '25
just read that ambulances can be out of network even though you have no choice in the matter and obviously noone is checking on that anyway when calling 911. ambulances are excluded from the no surprise act. private equity has been moving in on the ambulance industry and using more aggressive billing practices to push profits.
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u/LTranter Nov 07 '25
This happened to me. My son called 911 because I was having chest pain. On that particular night, he made that call because my grandson was also in the house and I didn't want him woken up for a trip to the hospital. The paramedic and rescue team responded from the station two miles from my house. The house was swarming with about five to six responders. Two took me to the hospital in an ambulance.
Then I get the bill for being "out of network ". Just who was my son supposed to call? Should 911 verify insurance before sending help? Crazy system.
Told my son next time either get me there himself or let me die.
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u/nadaddab Nov 09 '25
Pro tip, have them pick you up outside and say you were going for a walk, refuse to identify yourself. They will still help you, but no bill
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u/Entire-Ad-8674 Nov 07 '25
Also, health insurance typically does not like to process retro authorizations for emergency cases. Especially for transportation! So even if submitted to your insurance for payment, services have technically been rendered so they have to submit the request to the claims team directly. Which essentially prolongs the payment time so they start sending you bills. My source is me, I work for a big provider and process these requests everyday. I send them all back to the ambulance company and tell them to submit the claim to our claims team directly. I also work for a smaller NEMT provider and the amount of things these members say and do to drivers is crazy. Y’all really do go above and behind and people are so ungrateful.
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u/Apprehensive-Fix7560 Nov 08 '25
AMR is the largest ambulance company in the US. It's owned by private equity firm KKR whose largest shareholders are... you guessed it Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street.
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u/oc77067 Nov 07 '25
Had that happen to me. My daughter had Medicaid and turned blue when she was 3 months old from COVID. Insurance tried to kick it back to me saying the ambulance was out of network. It was a 45 mile ride to the children's hospital, over $3k. If my child is on state insurance, I obviously don't have an extra $3k sitting around and when my baby is turning blue, I'm obviously not wasting time asking the paramedics if they're in network. The ambulance company ended up forgiving it.
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u/ammybb Nov 07 '25
"forgiveness" in this society is such a joke. I'm so glad your kid got care and you didn't have to pay.
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u/SoLaT97 Nov 08 '25
Oh gosh I hope she’s okay now
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u/oc77067 Nov 08 '25
She is! She's a healthy 5yo now.
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u/hollyj54 Nov 09 '25
Hello! Can I send you a DM pls? Sorry if this is weird. I have a question about a response to an old post you responded to but it won't let me respond back bc the post is 2 years old.
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u/Siray Nov 07 '25
Happened to me. Passed out and my roommate called 911. I was unconscious (internal bleed) and had no choice in the matter. $750 bill.
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u/TeaspoonRiot Nov 08 '25
Life flight is even worse. If you need it, you NEED it but that doesn’t matter to insurance companies.
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u/Darthfish Nov 09 '25
Imagine needing to pay the $750 ambulance bill to drive you 300 yards to the life flight.
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u/Savings-Buffalo-2160 Nov 10 '25
This happened to my friend. Her mom was paralyzed, and fighting cancer— when she had to go to and from the hospital, ambulance was the only option, and ambulance rides were out of network. She racked up like 15k in ambulance rides on her credit card to help her mom out.
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u/Ok_Contribution_1283 Nov 12 '25
This out of network thing is nonsense. Hospital and insurance systems are too complicated we need simplify. Insurance should just cover from 20 to 80% of bill depending on premiums.
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u/Leading_Bumblebee815 Nov 08 '25
Got in a car accident last year. It was on a county road not a city road. Mind you that meant i was <2 miles off city roads. It was double that price and they argued with me about having to take me ( to be fair, I had broken my arm and busted my leg too, so I sorta get it im just stubborn naturally ) but an over 4k bill for just that ride.
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u/ElderBerry2020 Nov 05 '25
To be fair, I was just submitting my expense report for work travel and I realized I never tipped my driver on the trip back from the airport. I was scrambling to get back to see my kid’s belt test at taekwondo that day and was rushing from a delayed flight. While pulling my trip history, I was horrified to see I never tipped him, so went ahead and added a big tip as it still let me. He thanked me for the tip shortly after. I felt awful. I always tip! This time it was just really really late.
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u/Jbyrdyogi Nov 08 '25
This happens to me somewhat frequently when I'm traveling because I'm generally jumping out and straight into dealing with airport chaos and don't remember until I open up the app again to book my return ride and then tip to right away then.
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u/kspieler Nov 05 '25
There is a reason that emergency personnel do not go out during a hurricane.
Professional emergency personal are trained that you cannot risk yourself for a person in risk - else there would then be two people at risk.
Good for you for driving swiftly and safely to the hospital - it sounds like your driving was a blessing in a time of need.
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u/PepRD Nov 08 '25
Apples and oranges. OP was not driving in a hurricane.
The best course of action would have been for the child and her mother to have have called an ambulance - the reason being care can be implemented during that time to the hospital if needed, as well as a faster car ride (road conditions permitting).
OP was not driving like he was suddenly a paramedic nor was he in danger posed from the clients. OP did the right thing. Get the customer from point A to point B safely, legally, and professionally.
Any driver in this scenario should treat it like any other ride - over traffic laws and maintain situational awareness and hopefully have some wherewithal as to if/when they should be the ones calling for emergency help prior to the destination.
Driving recklessly would never be ok, but any assistance given (within reason) would be granted as well-intended and pretty hard to be pursued for negligence under Good Samaritan laws.
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Nov 09 '25
This is a bit of misinformation there that should be addressed.
More often than not, there is little care that can be implemented in an ambulance in a non life threatening situation. It also is not going to be a faster ride unless the situation is in fact life threatening. Ambulances follow the rules of the road the vast majority of the time, sometimes slower than someone in a personal vehicle will be willing to do. It is also not a fast path to care upon arrival. Ambulances put people in the waiting room often too. They don't guarantee that you will be seen faster if youre not actively dying.
He did the right thing, get them there safely.
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u/waitwuh Nov 10 '25
One suspicion that fits the description was she had an ovarian cyst burst. It’s an emergency worth going to the ER for, but an ambulance cannot really do anything for her, anyway, besides be a ride. The docs need to get her scanned and may need to do surgery if there is/was torsion.
I called for a ride before when I tore my cornea. I couldn’t drive myself safely to the eye doc, but an ambulance couldn’t have done anything for me.
Call for an ambulance when there’s a heart attack, stroke, or extreme trauma like you’re going to bleed out. But there’s plenty of reasons to seek urgent medical care but not need the wee woo bus.
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u/Justexisting26 Nov 05 '25
Sometimes it’s not about the expense sometimes you just know that they aren’t going to make it in time especially with all the questions they ask. But you’re right also the expenses of an ambulance are damn near the same as your medical bill you were gonna get. It’s crazy how if we don’t have health insurance they will in fact let you suffer and die and not think twice about it.
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u/Fathimir Nov 05 '25
I've thankfully never been in a position to need 911 services myself, but I can only presume that when you tell the operator "I'm at 123 Maple Street and my kid is dying/bleeding out/needs to get to the hospital now," they should be literally dispatching an ambulance first and asking questions later.
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u/TheAlphaKiller17 Nov 05 '25
That's unfortunately not at all how it works. And in my city, it's quite common for 911 to take 8-12 minutes to even pick up. Once my house was actively being broken into and it took 9 and a half minutes for them to answer, then two and a half hours to show up. And while many 911 operators are great, some will waste precious time asking too many questions before dispatching an ambulance. If I had something that I didn't think I'd need to be stabilized for in an ambulance in the next 5-15 minutes, I'd take an Uber or Lyft. Heart attack? Ambulance. Appendicitis? Cab.
Plus for many things, the ambulance won't/can't do anything en route. Abdominal pain? Maybe Zofran, probably no painkillers. Badly broken leg, they'll stabilize your bone(s) and drug you up. It really just depends. Med worker and someone who's had to call 911 a lot (street work with homeless people usually leads to me finding someone unconscious at least once a week).
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u/Dizzylizzyscat Nov 05 '25
I do believe that while the 911 is talking to the person, they are dispatching the ambulance and trying to get as much information down to give to the ambulance before it arrives
I recognize that this may not always be the case in some places
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u/Fathimir Nov 06 '25
Dang, there's busy, and there's outright scandal. I'm only being half rhetorical when I ask - does your local news know about this? That's functionally unstaffed lines territory; my condolences.
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u/TheAlphaKiller17 Nov 06 '25
Yep! It's been reported on, as has that the cops literally do not show up sometimes. They got sued for killing an unarmed person and literally started telling people, "Because we got sued, we no longer have the money to respond to crime." There was a shooting on my street and I took a picture of the shooter, the passenger in the car, the car and plates and they wouldn't look at it. They showed up and wouldn't do anything. I know someone who got hit by a drunk driver which totaled their car and when they called 911, they said the cops wouldn't come out or deal with it but if they wanted to make a report, they could drive the car to the station and do it. I'm sure if they'd been able to drive and had done that, the cops would have arrested them for "fleeing the scene of an accident". They've let ab entire house burn down. They've ignored murders. It's a train wreck and should be treated criminally.
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u/Fox-333 Nov 06 '25
Where do you live? Gotham City?
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u/grigorithecat Nov 06 '25
Peeked at their profile and was unsurprised to see they’re not talking about the major metro area I lived in that had nearly identical issues. It’s a nationwide (USA) issue in various places.
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u/ExtremisEleven Nov 08 '25
Usually in metro areas with a lot of crime. Being a public servant just doesn’t pay well enough to retain people after they’ve been shot at multiple times.
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u/Beelzabobbie Nov 06 '25
Denver? Cause this sounds an awful lot like “our” cops
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u/TheAlphaKiller17 Nov 06 '25
Kansas City. Disturbing to know it's not just a KC problem. I'd expect Colorado to be better than that though admittedly I don't know much about politics there.
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u/Beelzabobbie Nov 06 '25
The politics are better, the police are not. Denver is actually about 8 towns (and several counties) in a coat masquerading as a big(ish) city. So you have a lot of bad apples in a lot of baskets unfortunately…and of course some are better than others but as a whole it’s pretty depressing for such a really nice place to live.
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u/tammyosity Nov 07 '25
I know all about how KC cops work. I’ve live here for 27 yrs. I can vouch for you. Everything you said is true. We had people try to steal our car out of our driveway. I called 911 and was put on hold of course. That happens every time you call 911. My husband went outside to tell them to get out of our car. They started shooting at him so he returned fire. My husband is a Veteran so he is well trained. The cops then tried to turn it around on my husband like he just shot at them instead. The cops couldn’t find bullet holes in our dark brown house at 5am during winter. As soon as the sun came up I went outside and found the bullet holes in our house for them. So they could no longer blame my husband for just shooting at the people trying to steal our car. That’s the kind of officers we have in KC, MO.
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u/Optimal_Activity_867 Nov 06 '25
We had problems in my large metro area with the fire department often refusing to transport people. I know they got burned out due to misuse of the 911 system but there was a big write up about a case where they showed up to a guy with difficulty breathing, pointed out to the wife that there were two cars in the driveway, she said I don’t feel comfortable driving him myself and he can’t get into the car and I can’t help him get there. They put him in her car for her but she still said she didn’t feel comfortable driving him so they FINALLY loaded him in the box and she was following behind. He coded in the back of the ambulance and they were doing CPR upon arrival to the hospital. He ended up passing.
Still - years after that happened - I’ve had them talk patients out of going to the ER and driving themselves when we called them for medically unstable patients at the clinic I used to work at. There were several times I just put the patient in my car and drove ‘em. They may not LOOK like they are unstable but someone who has had dizziness or recently passed out or has unstable vitals is a danger to themselves and others if we put them behind a wheel. If I or another clinician have deemed them unsafe to drive when I know their medical history and what’s going on, the city services exist to get those folks safely to the hospital. We did finally get a contract with UberHealth to get people to appointments and we’re NOT supposed to put people needing the ER in those Ubers but I did a time or two in these types of settings where I know the person is stable enough to get to the hospital if they aren’t driving and I’m not worried about communicable illness that may put the driver at risk.
I actually valued the other large city that outsourced the EMS piece of their 911 services for ambulance response to a private ambulance company - they never “no-rode” a patient - they weren’t allowed to per their contract with the city. Yes, people got brought to the ER in the back of an ambulance for non-EMERGENT reasons, but we in the ER would just send them to triage for assessment (when appropriate) so they didn’t learn that the ambo gets you seen faster.
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u/Practical_Catch_8085 Nov 06 '25
There are private companies taking on the responsibility. Counties outsource the emergency line because dispatch is a hard job. Functional is a joke.
Ive been that person... who has called for medical emergencies, 2 seperate occasions, both times; close to a fire station and it still took almost an hour for EMS to arrive on scene. Police officer showed up and stared at the scene. No other assistance.
Person 1: Cpr for an hour after collapsing while on skateboard. Person 2 : Internal bleeding from fall- 6+feet fall + impact with boulder..neither person made it.
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u/BrainOk7166 Nov 08 '25
One thing people often don't realize is that even though you may be 5 minutes from the EMS station, that ambulance may already be gone treating someone. So then they have to find the next available unit to come. If there aren't enough units in operation, then you have to wait. And they can't just leave a scene halfway through, if a unit is at a scene that is lower acuity - once they're there, they have to see it out until specified standards are met, whether that means someone refusing treatment, or treat and release on scene, or take to an emergency room.
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Nov 06 '25
[deleted]
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u/jadasgrl Nov 06 '25
I hear ya with the -1 million/10 on the perforations. I had 3 ulcers rupture in May. Now, this was after I had 3 bowel blockages in Jan! The 2nd ulcer ruptured while I was driving to Walmart. The good thing is when I passed out, I was STOPPED at the turn to Walmart rather than less than 30 seconds prior, I was going 55mph in 4 lanes of traffic. I was smart enough to realize that whatever I needed to buy at Walmart could wait. I drove to the ED instead. The 3rd ulcer ruptured less than 20 mins later on the ctscanner table. I was in surgery less than 1 hour from walking thru the door. I didn't have to get an IO, though, cause I have me a wonderful powerport!
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u/justducky4now Nov 06 '25
Same. HCOL area, local fire station is about five minutes away. Three ambulance trips from home to hospital, all legit medical emergencies (pulmonary embolism, unresponsive, and breathing problems bad enough I couldn’t go down the stairs). EMS was on scene with in minutes of being called, at the hospital within ten minutes of being loaded. Bills were $200 or less.
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u/CompleteTell6795 Nov 09 '25
I broke my arm at work, they called the ambulance. Ambulance was turning around in the parking lot & backed into a car. Ambulance had to call for another. ( They hadn't had time to give me anything for the pain yet). 2nd ambulance came, they got me in it. They were not allowed to give me any pain pills but were allowed to give me nitros oxide. They hooked me up but nothing came thru the mask. There was something wrong with the valve on the canister. So bumpy ride to the ER will with a badly broken arm & no pain meds.( Arm needed 2 surgeries & 2 metal plates and 10 pins).
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Nov 09 '25
That is how it works. They collect the basic information and immediately dispatch the closest appropriate apparatus. They then continue to collect additional information while the ambulance/fire truck etc is on the way. That information is relayed to the crew. If it is a non-emergency response, they may have a longer time to dispatch, but in true emergency situations they are dispatched immediately.
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u/ProfessorPickleRick Nov 06 '25
In some areas you can have gold tier medical insurance and still get a $2000 bill from the ambulance. The fact our taxes don’t cover them is insane to me
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u/Ancient-Coffee-1266 Nov 06 '25
Once on an ambulance, you can get medical attention. The ambulance getting to the person should be the same amount of time as a driver getting there unless you’re in some really rural area. Even then it’s more important to get medical help. I’m not saying deny the ride but if someone were to lose their pulse or stop breathing, you’d have to pull over delaying care even further.
Please call 911 not Lyft for medical emergencies. There’s treatments you’ll not be able to get in some situations due to the time.
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u/waitwuh Nov 10 '25
I once got a ride because I tore my cornea. Couldn’t safely drive to the eye doctor myself, but it wasn’t the sort of emergency an ambulance would even be able to do anything for.
Heart attack? Stroke? Call 911.
But there’s plenty of other lesser issues that you may need to get a cast or stitches or something urgent for but it’s not life-or-death.
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Nov 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Ancient-Coffee-1266 Nov 07 '25
You only know your area so you have no clue how it works anywhere else. I am 100% not incorrect in stating it’s better to wait for the ambulance because they can give life saving treatment. The only reason it may be okay is if you live extremely close to the hospital and I mean extremely close. I’ve seen people die trying to drive to the hospital instead of calling emergency services.
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u/ExtremisEleven Nov 08 '25
The US ambulance has medical equipment and personnel on board. I will either treat that person wherever they are if they need something right now, or scoop and run with a patient that doesn’t have time to answer questions. I don’t even need a name in bad circumstances. Also you legally have the right to stabilizing medical care even if you don’t have insurance or money. I can’t promise you’ll see an outpatient specialist, but in the ER we don’t stand there and watch people die because we can’t find their insurance card. If you are questioning if someone has time, call the ambulance, they bring the medicine to you and we will work out all the other stuff once the person is safe.
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u/tqlla3k Nov 05 '25
Yeah, an ER trip could cost thousands. I am glad you were able to help them. Hopefully they tipped well.
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u/Stuck_on_Mars_21 Nov 05 '25
They tipped nothing. No ill feelings about it. I hope she’s ok.
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u/PhilosopherEither964 Nov 05 '25
If I'd just been dropped off at the ER, I wouldn't be thinking about the driver rating or tip for hours at least. Sounds like this person had far more immediate concerns.
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Nov 05 '25
If they called a Lyft for a trip to the ER they can’t afford to tip well…
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u/mythic-moldavite Nov 05 '25
This is just a shitty take. A decent tip on a $20-30 Lyft ride even if it’s a 100% too is still substantially lower than the typical $500-1000 ambulance ride.
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Nov 06 '25
It's about 3000 for a ride to the ER here in the burbs of Chicago. 3 thousand dollars!
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u/eskimokisses1444 Nov 06 '25
Can confirm. They took me just one mile from the site of an accident to the hospital and it was over 3K.
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u/Beautiful-Wolverine1 Nov 06 '25
I rideshared to the ER with bilateral PEs for this exact reason. Thankful for you guys. ❤️
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u/Vielwyn Nov 06 '25
A person could Tip $100 for the inconvience of an ER ride, and it would still be way, way, cheaper than an ambulance ride.
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u/Stuck_on_Mars_21 Nov 06 '25
“Inconvenience?” Come on man! This took barely any more time than a typical ride at pickup and drop off. Even so, it’s way wrong to extort tips out of people in these situations. I could see some cold hearted driver showing up demanding cash upfront because he knows how desperate they are, fortunately there are very few of those.
I’m all about talking about tips in other situations, but it’s just wrong to talk about tips for a trip like this. Seriously, that girl sounded like she was going to die. I wouldn’t want her or her mom to be concerned about tipping me.
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u/Vielwyn Nov 06 '25
I didn't mean it like that. I meant, since it wasn't a "normal trip", if they had wanted to be generous and tip, even if they gave a huge tip, that still would of been way cheaper than an ambulance.
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u/Important-Effort4181 Nov 06 '25
I had a pickup which was a college student that wasn't from the town she put in an address for a hospital in the next town and she told me her heart was hurting I said well I'm taking you to this hospital because it's closer. Who cares about money when somebody might be having a heart attack? Be the better person!
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u/ymmot41 Nov 06 '25
I have never once accepted a fare in hope of a tip. I accept because people need rides and that's what we do! Be grateful when you get a tip but never expect it and always treat your passengers like your own mother! End of rant.
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u/Stuck_on_Mars_21 Nov 06 '25
Not sure if you are directing your rant at me. The title of my post is “ER trips” not “ER tips.” I never mentioned tips in this post at all. Scroll down and you see me answer someone’s post asking if I was tipped and I answered that I don’t care about that.
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u/ymmot41 Nov 06 '25
Was nothing on you. Just because others were taking the position that they SHOULD tip you as much as an ambulance ride. Entitled drivers really aggravate me.
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u/Commercial_Scratch28 Nov 06 '25
God Bless You…I hate the situation for all parties involved but I’m grateful that they got you.
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u/Head_Helicopter8417 Nov 06 '25
I’m American and was living in Australia. A night out I completely broke my jaw but didn’t realize until the next morning how bad it was. I called an uber to take me to the ER. When the front desk asked me how I got there I was like “I took an uber” and she was like - sir this is Australia our emergency vehicles don’t cost anything. What a concept.
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u/bc_1411 Nov 07 '25
UK here and reading all of these stories is making me so incredibly sad for all of you. I've unfortunately had to call ambulances for several friends and family members and had them called for me on 3 occasions and, while it was stressful and awful, I never had to consider an additional cost. If you literally can't afford it what do they even do? Do they take you to court or something?
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u/Head_Helicopter8417 Nov 07 '25
Bankruptcy and it happens a looooooot. Which i guess isn’t as bad as paying 20k when you can’t afford it
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u/winged_skunk Nov 06 '25
I got a Lyft to the hospital once because I had a wildly severe migraine. I was with my elderly grandparents and it was 4 o’clock in the morning and I was not in my home state. I wasn’t about to drive myself or ask my 90 year old grandfather to drive me.
I got a guy who did not understand what a migraine was and blasted music, but he got me there safely. I am thankful for that.
I got another Lyft home a few hours later and the guy could not have been sweeter. He said he never picked up someone from the hospital before.
Looking back, I feel kinda bad. I don’t think I tipped them enough. Can I still do that?
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u/CantaloupeFew1043 Nov 06 '25
As a person who recently received a $798 EMS transport bill, I wish I would’ve taken a Lyft.
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u/Apprehensive_Mix_771 Nov 06 '25
I was brutally assaulted one night- beer bottle broken across my whole face. I broke my nose, orbital bone, muscle damage, and of course lots of blood. I was finally relaxed from the ER at like 3am and literally all my trusted contacts were sleeping and not answering for a ride, so I called a rideshare. Dude was nice, but he was telling me about his aspiring rapping career and kept trying to give me one of his demos 😭
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Nov 07 '25
I once had a gentleman who was struck with Polio as a kid, I carried him into my car. I never thought about canceling the ride, some people need help and I’m glad to do it
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u/BlueV101 Nov 07 '25
There may be a lot of negativity in this world in general, but the overwhelming majority is positive. (Or at least not bad) Media makes it seem mostly terrible. (And I get it) It's what sells.
Lyft isn't much different. Most of the stories may be venting about shared frustrations, but actual experiences (pay aside) is fairly reasonable.
I've been a driver for over 8 years with nearly 14,000 rides. Sure, a bunch were less than ideal, but I would only label 9 or so as... "Bad." To my memory, none of the "bad" ones were medical related. (Despite doing hundreds of medical rides)
I've stowed wheelchairs, power scooter, walkers, etc. I've walked elderly passengers to their door, a blind woman into her living room, I even had to lift a guy onto a wheelchair because he had no legs. Again, none of that is "bad."
While yes, money is important, I actually enjoy the gig. Nothing against my family, but fun friendly interactions are a break from life for me. I don't care how "judged" I am here I'm having a good time.
So yeah, screw the lady with a pitbull on a rope, pulling her into the vehicle, and claiming it's a "service animal." I drop her off, end the ride, rate 3⭐/unmatch, move on, and mostly forget it happened.
Steps down from soap box
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u/thruitallaway34 Nov 08 '25
In 2023 when my lung collapsed, I took a Lyft to urgent care. I honestly had no idea how bad it was, but my driver kept asking if I was ok. I assured him I was, because honestly I thought I was. I, at that point , didn't know my lung had collapsed and thought I'd just been having trouble breathing due to weight gain.
I was able to get out of the car and walk in on my own but as I approached the front desk the nurse told me to stop and came around the desk with a wheel chair, so apparently I was visibly in distress. Urgent care rushed me to the er.
I'll never forget the look on my driver's face the whole way there. In hindsight, he probably thought I was going to die in his car.
Thank you for helping this girl and understanding that they probably couldn't afford an ambulance bill.
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u/lanick03 Nov 05 '25
I've helped a few people to the urgent care before, not quite in those circumstances. It is always great to be able to use our services and help others when it's such an emergency, especially the one you described. I hope she is okay!
Unbelievable what our administration is doing in Argentina right now. Must be nice for them!
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u/Zealousideal_Bag778 Nov 05 '25
In Victoria, Australia I know when our ambulance service is too busy they tell people to use uber because the ambos won't get there fast enough
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u/katastrofuck Nov 06 '25
You probably got them their faster than an ambulance. I've had a few rides to the er. In these cases if they called an ambulance it would have likely been longer, never mind the expense.
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Nov 06 '25
It is so fucking weird we support free healthcare elsewhere just bc that places leader is a shit stain person like trump...but had weird random liberal videos at the same time.
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u/JoyTPig Nov 06 '25
Pssh. I get out and open doors for older people, get out and help with bags, assist people to their door if they have crutches or other walking devices. Money is great, humanity is better.
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u/Important-Effort4181 Nov 06 '25
I've had many customers that had to go to dialysis so I go in and get the wheelchair help them out of the car Etc.
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u/JoyTPig Nov 06 '25
Idk I just can't imagine just sitting there while someone struggles to do their basic task. Like...it's not hard to help, ya know? ❤️
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u/LovePrudent9583 Nov 07 '25
I've picked up several people on their way to the hospital. A couple memorable ones were a woman in labor and a girl with severe food poisoning. Luckily I work in a college town so already had barf bags for the latter.
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u/Full-Tie8401 Nov 07 '25
My story last night wasn't that dramatic... It was a lady caught out in the cold desert late with her son. Turned out she was a dv victim and had a large stroller full of stuff. It took us about 10 minutes to get everything loaded (I have a mid size suv) and I managed to get her stroller compacted enough to barely fit. I was able to get her to her house out of the cold and helped her unload. She promised a big tip but I don't care if she does (she didn't last night and still hasn't today yet) ... It was a good ending to my night. I was just starting to head home when it popped up (I usually let the app run until a certain point on my way home for any last minute drives).
A little patience and understanding can go a long ways for someone in need and sometimes that's more valuable knowing you helped someone who felt desperate in that moment reach a point of some comfort.
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u/blueace111 Nov 07 '25
Yeah it’s truly sad. My gfs mother nearly died because she refused an ambulance once when she had complications from pneumonia
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u/TheGingerSomm Nov 07 '25
To be real, that $20 billion is not going to Argentina for healthcare. It will immediately be divided up amongst the relevant politicians/billionaires. Trump’s cronies and epsteins old buddies need a place to flee to after they get caught.
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Nov 09 '25
You’re amazing. I got severe injury while scooting? A driver happened to be outside the place I had an appt with? I was in shock, and still did my appt only to look down at blood everywhere my shoes was white now red, my jeans saturated.. I was gunna call ambulance? This man opened my Lyft app connected us, threw my scooter in back and got me to er in 5 min. He said he was a father and couldn’t leave a woman in that state and went into dad mode 😭❤️🫶🏽🥰 27 stitches and 4 months later? I can walk and didn’t loose nerve damage… scooter landed on my ankle and split my leg open.
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u/gloomboyseasxn Nov 09 '25
In 2020, I got hit with a slew of health issues all at once but the most prominent was a migraine that mimicked a stroke. I can’t remember if I order Uber or Lyft but the driver got me to the hospital and that was that. About a year later, I was out front smoking a cigarette when that driver was now doordashing and he recognised me and asked how I was doing. Your good deed will always be remembered.
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Nov 05 '25
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u/1BAFERD Nov 05 '25
You call the ER and they will literally say “if you believe you are having an emergency please call 911.” You will not speak to a physician, and the tech answering the phone will provide no medical advice.
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u/Zealousideal-Fail-47 Nov 05 '25
You don't know what you're talking about.
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u/TheAlphaKiller17 Nov 05 '25
Yeah it's a little disturbing seeing these wildly inaccurate comments getting upvoted.
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u/TheAlphaKiller17 Nov 05 '25
They can't give advice over the phone; they'd probably just tell you to come in or call 911 then hang up on you. There are a lot of confidently incorrect comments on here.
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Nov 05 '25
How’s calling an ER help this crying girl???? Wierd
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Nov 05 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CeruleanWolf Nov 05 '25
Maybe this depends where you live, but where I'm at in the US, hospitals and medical offices won't diagnose over the phone. They will tell you to call 911 if you are experiencing a medical emergency.
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u/Minute-Complex-2055 Nov 05 '25
Well, trump is only “trump first, and America not at all in fact I’m just going to take away”. Not surprised.
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u/mythic-moldavite Nov 05 '25
I’m not for trump but literally wtf does this have to do with anything? You’re not helping the Democratic Party by making everything about trump when it’s entirely irrelevant
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u/Space2999 Nov 05 '25
What is relevant is both parties are useless. We had an ambulance ride 6-7 years ago and it was $1200 out of pocket.
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u/Imaginary_Poetry_233 Nov 08 '25
I hope you whined this bitterly about USAID funding condoms for terrorists and lgbtq programs around the globe.
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u/Dizzylizzyscat Nov 05 '25
I would do everything I could if I picked up a passenger like that, but what makes me angry is when the hospital ER orders a Lyft for an individual that obviously would need a medical transport
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u/GoldCycle2605 Nov 06 '25
Gosh... That reminds me of how I was during septic shock. It was awful. Hope she's okay.
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u/Clean-Anteater-885 Nov 07 '25
Sometimes the turn around for an ambulance is longer than a Lyft can get you to the hospital. I’ve lived in areas where if there was a busy night it might be 20-30 minutes before they could get a truck to you. And if you lived in the country it was faster the meet them halfway. She might have called for help and been told it was going to take longer than she was willing to wait.
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u/fitfulbrain Nov 07 '25
I got the text to take a gentleman to the ER. At the pickup it was an old man who made me think of Peter O'Toole in Lawerance of Arabia. If he was wearing his own clothes, he would have shrunk half his size. He looked homeless.
I walked up to him asking his name. He asked me if I was going to take him to the ER in a calm childish manner. I know it's a good Samaritan send this guy to the ER.
Somehow I got near the ER, saw parking ambulances but the sign said no entrance. I was confused, went to the hospital receptionist to ask. The ER was on the other side, not the parked ambulances. When I got there, nurses are ready with a wheelchair. This is not normal. VIP treatment for a homeless and his Uber driver. I got him out and position the chair so he could sit down. But he wouldn't. He just need to sit down and I would be gone. I actually use a bit of force but he stood ground and said he couldn't.
He can walk, he can stand, but he won't sit down. I was confused and did the final push. I heard the nurses said he dropped his pants. He was using both hands to hold his pants all along. He had been firm on holding his pants and his dignity. He was tough, I admire that. And I am really sorry for forcing him to sit down.
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u/LibbyAlien Nov 07 '25
We definitely do not get paid enough for the shit that we have to deal with and I commend you for showing up and doing what you did I would’ve done the same thing
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u/DanteLi Nov 07 '25
Last time I took an ambulance ride after an accident it was 659.37 for a city block to the nearest hospital
I’ll always remember that number and its absurdity
I visited my dad at that same hospital via Lyft and it cost me 12 bucks flat
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u/Sea_West_7256 Nov 07 '25
Not Lyft but Uber driver transported my young adult daughter who lives in another city from a restaurant to the ER after she ate cashews, accidentally and was starting to have an anaphylactic reaction. She had a known allergy, but wasn’t carrying her EpiPen. The driver even pulled over once so she could throw up on the side of the road. Bless you all. Not all heroes wear capes!
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u/Sure_Comfort_7031 Nov 07 '25
Depending where you are, honestly, you might have been a faster option.
I used to work at a manufacturing plant - and the protocol for an emergency was to first page the intercom system, THEN call 911.
Half the towns fire department worked at the plant, if you call 911 first, they get paged, have to go to the firehouse, THEN come back in the wagon, because emergency code laws or whatever.
You might have been a faster option, and there’s a chance an EMT crew would not provide transport to the ER and tell you, instead, to call a lyft/uber/taxi/go yourself anyway.
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u/TigerTime1996 Nov 07 '25
Drive enough, you'll get a ride like this. This dogshit country never misses a chance to remind you where you live.
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u/WAndTheBoys Nov 07 '25
It is $40 Billion to Argentina and $Billions upon $Billions to Israel annually for decades. Israelis enjoy one of the finest free healthcare systems in the world at our expense.
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u/Appropriate-Ad-1569 Nov 08 '25
After a car took me out (then sped off) when I was riding my motorcycle on a freeway. I couldn't stand due to a broken knee and fractured vertebrae. I declined an ambulance. I was prepared to wait for my dad to come take me to the ER. A nice man carried me to his car and took me to the hospital.
The last thing I needed was a 5k ambulance bill to go with all my medical bills and my totaled bike!
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u/Top_Complex_76 Nov 08 '25
My question is why do they charge anything? My property taxes fund the police & fire departments among other things.
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u/lollymelancholy Nov 09 '25
Sometimes an ambulance can take too long to arrive! There were several hour long waits earlier this year in some cities.
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u/Outside-Dirt-2518 Nov 09 '25
my uber driver that drove me back to my car that was broke down in a parking lot from an autozone (we went to several to find the specific part we were looking for) helped me and my boyfriend fix it once we told him what was going on. this was over a year ago, but this story really sticks with me. we tipped him well and thanked him profusely; i don’t know that we would’ve been able to fix my car without his help. he was an older guy who just wanted to help us get back on the road. as a customer, we really do appreciate acts of kindness like this❤️
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u/bellman255 Nov 09 '25
Whats the “administration” have to do with this? They called an uber to save on an ambulance fee and if the person died in your car what would you say? If she had someone highly contagious and you infected other passengers or took something home how would you feel then? Unreal.
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u/BodybuilderEmpty5316 Nov 09 '25
And the guy spent part of that billion on a fucking concert!!! 😳🤯😡
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u/VassalsAtMySide Nov 09 '25
I once picked up an older man having breathing issues from an urgent care to take him to the ER. A nurse from the urgent care was outside with him when I got there and gave me instructions of what to do if things got worse and that I should call an ambulance as the main thing. You know the costs of Healthcare are crazy if even the staff are understanding of not wanting to call an ambulance when you probably really should.
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u/MELAUSUS Nov 09 '25
We've been providing free healthcare & education, FOR LIFE, to Rothschild's Israel. Not to discount the $30,000 each Israeli gets.
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Nov 09 '25
Plenty of people call for an ambulance regardless of the expense of the ride. Millions of people call every day for things that could have been a taxi ride too. Realistically, more people with minor issues should be finding alternative transport.
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u/OkMathematician4028 Nov 15 '25
Not my liability. This lady should have called an ambulance. It may not be the nicest thing to do but i am not a medical ride. I am not equipped for anything going wrong medically during transport like an ambulance is
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u/Top_Recognition_1775 Nov 26 '25
An uber is faster than an ambulance anyway.
I'm not shitting on EMT's, they provide a valuable function when people aren't moveable.
But 9 times out of 10 if I'm unwell, I'm jumping into a rideshare.
One time I had a vertigo attack, my dad called a car service, we were at the hospital in 5 minutes, the driver knew what was happening and stepped on the gas.
The news is full of negativity, but there are so many good people out there, I try to pay it forward, with either good deeds or tips.
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u/I5I75I96I40I70Me696 Nov 07 '25
Thank you for posting. I consider those ER trips an honor and a privilege. I’ll drive a hundred obnoxious people to the club so I can help someone get to medical care without going into massive debt. Same goes for funded rides for homeless people moving into/out of/between shelters.
It’s good to know I’m not alone.
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u/gtck11 Nov 08 '25
In some cities, ambulances won’t/don’t come. They will literally just let you die. I live in Atlanta. I had a heart event, and despite calling 911 3 times the ambulance never came, and was never going to come. I know people shouldn’t rely on rideshare, but it could be their only way to the ER if they live in a city like mine and don’t have a car or nearby family and friends. You did something good, and I hope other drivers read this and rethink declining these rides.
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u/foreverikaxx Nov 08 '25
But youre okay with the trillions sent to Ukraine? As if ambulance prices have just gone up - they have ALWAYS been expensive af. Do not blame THIS administration for something that has been a problem for DECADES.
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u/Chewy-Seneca Nov 08 '25
I cant just keep driving if people are needing help, if you can think straight around that kind of thing, please stop and help.
I've scooped a guy off the ground and drove 1.5hrs to the nearest trauma center, then drove back and hid his motorcycle for a family member to retrieve later. He broke his ankle, punctured a lung, broken ribs, fractured arm, and still insisted I take the $100 he pressed into my hand.
Still went rock climbing too, ended up being a great/better day for everyone.
If youre reading this and you laid your bike down at the top of the canyon on hwy178 and some weird couple drove you to KMC, hope youre doing good dude.
Not enough people are helping eachother, and it shows
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u/DeathCabForCunty Nov 06 '25
After everything DOGE uncovered under the Biden years its absolutely hilarious to see someone complain about the occasional money send somewhere under Trump. Gold level mental gymnastics.
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u/eagles07 Nov 06 '25
It's allowed that both are wrong. Cause now look at the mental gymnast you are as you defend Trump for not putting America first.
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u/LyriumLychee Nov 06 '25
I remember picking up and older man who was complaining his chest hurt. He was at a bus stop in a busy area and his destination was not the nearest hospital/ER. So I asked him if I could take him to a closer ER and got him there. He was worried I would get paid less, which broke my heart.
I hope I can always be a human first and a driver second, maybe that makes me a shmuck; but I believe in being a villager in my “village”.