Bill from fire department.

[rpanic]

Wife called 911 because it sounded like our one year old was choking on something. Fire department shows and son starts to breathe normal, they take his vitals all looks good and they tell us they will take him to hospital or that I can. I take him they x-ray his chest, look at him and all is ok.

Two months later I get a bill from the fire department for 345.00 for the 15m that they looked at him. Now since fire departments time and equipment is being paid by taxes why am I getting another bill, isn’t this double dipping? They are already on the clock setting in the fire station so why am I getting charged? Seems like this could cause people not to call 911 even at times they should.

 

[joesmoke]

Hose aint free, homeh

also, very glad to hear your son is alright.

 

[Vette73]

They do that as insurance will cover it. If you contact the city and can prove you do not have insurance they will usually reduce it or may even drop it.

 

[her209]

How else do you think fire fighters make six figures?

 

[dfuze]

I think they started doing that to cut down on frivolous calls (not that yours was)

 

[Wyndru]

I assume your fire dept. is paid not volunteer?

We have all volunteer fd's near me and I'd be pretty pissed if I got a bill.

 

[jpeyton]

Forward it to insurance.

Or just let your son choke next time and save $300 bucks.

 

[UberNeuman]

/not just from the Fire Department; he's the Marshall...

 

[SearchMaster]

That sucks.

I had a blower motor in my furnace burn out last winter, I couldn't figure out exactly where the smoke smell was coming from so just to be safe, I called 911. They sent out 3 trucks and about 10-12 firemen (it must have been a slow day). They stayed for about an hour and checked EVERYTHING very thoroughly, and were very gracious and professional. I half expected a bill to come but it didn't.

My wife did go by the station house with some home cooked goodies a few days later though

 

[Paladin3]

Some departments will send you a "rescue bill" if you are a non-resident of the district that is taxed to pay for their service. Some departments will also bill you if they feel the 911 call was not warranted or frivolous. It's far more common for people to be given a bill if they do something wrong, like cause a fire through negligence, but with the economy and budget tightening I would expect to see more of this.

I'd ask the department to explain the bill, then go to the county or city that the agency reports to. If you did nothing wrong then I would contact all the media outlets you can to see if you can pressure them into doing the right thing. I would not want to live in an area where you had to consider your pocketbook before calling for potentially lifesaving help. Why would a bystander call 911 to help someone in need if they thought they might end up paying the bill for it personally? And, yes, emergency services is something we all pay for with our taxes, and often help provide personally by volunteering as an unpaid first responder.

 

[spidey07]

Umm, send it to your insurance? They should get paid for their services. You new to this real life thing?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

/not just from the Fire Department; he's the Marshall...

lol

 

[rpanic]

They do that as insurance will cover it. If you contact the city and can prove you do not have insurance they will usually reduce it or may even drop it.

Insurance is going to cover 150.00 of it so maybe I can get them to drop the rest.

 

[spidey07]

Insurance is going to cover 150.00 of it so maybe I can get them to drop the rest.

Insurance fraud is GREAT!

 

[rpanic]

Umm, send it to your insurance? They should get paid for their services. You new to this real life thing?

My problem with the bill is that they are already being paid to sit around in the station and that this looks like double dipping from taxpayers, if they want to bill me then don’t tax me.

 

[mizzou]

now you will start to think twice about dialing 911, which is good and bad

 

[Bignate603]

Insurance fraud is GREAT!

How is that insurance fraud? Insurance often pays a fraction of the original bill for things and the group doing the billing agrees to drop the rest of the charges.

 

[dfuze]

curious, do you know if your fire dept is paid or volunteer?

 

[dfuze]

now you will start to think twice about dialing 911, which is good and bad

Hope it really doesn't, but you may also want to learn 1st aid and CPR, very good to know especially if you have kids

 

[rpanic]

now you will start to think twice about dialing 911, which is good and bad

I could see someone thinking I can put that fire out with my hose, or I will just drive to hospital while I might be having a stroke, because if 911 started to tell people were going to get a bill this might start happening.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Last year I called the fire department because I left some toast in the broken toaster and it filled the house with smoke. I really wish I was kidding, but yeah, I called the FD for burnt toast. I was really embarassed, the trucks showed up with sirens blazing and lights flashing and a bunch of fully kitted-out firemen ran in. The neighbours were all staring and it all looked very dramatic. I had already realized by the time they arrived what had caused the smoke and I told one of the fire dept guys but they insisted in checking it over anyway. Boy did I feel like a dick.

No bill though, it's paid for by tax dollars.

 

[KeithTalent]

I've never heard of such a thing. :hmm:

KT

 

[pontifex]

shouldn't they be sending an ambulance instead?

 

[zerocool84]

I've never heard of such a thing. :hmm:

KT

Me either. I've heard of something like that when it's a repeat offender with little things that don't matter but never for a first timer.

 

[rpanic]

Hope it really doesn't, but you may also want to learn 1st aid and CPR, very good to know especially if you have kids

I know CPR and told my wife he was breathing because he was crying, but she had already called 911. In all honesty it sounded like he might have had something in his airway for a little while, it sounded very bizarre.