Why YSK: If you’re injured or ill but it’s not life or limb threatening and you decide to call an ambulance thinking it’ll be faster and you’ll be seen first… WRONG. Ambulance crews very frequently will advise the hospital staff that you “can wait”. Then we’ll plop you into a wheel chair and push you into the waiting room with everyone else.
And it will either be free or cost almost nothing.
Why it’s important to know? There was a question from American student in Germany on r/germany. They had an abdomen pain and roommate called an ambulance without asking. Student was terrified as they thought it won’t be able to pay the bill afterwards. American health system sucks :(
ye it will cost you in worst case 40 euro for the ambulance and 10 € per day for max 24 days per year if you need to stay in hospital. thats it.
10€ per day for a hospital stay just absolutely blows my mind. A quick google says the average cost in the U.S. is around $2800 per day. So 28,000% higher. This is why two thirds of bankruptcies in the US are from medical debt. U.S. #1!
And you know what 10 per day is any station doesn’t matter if normal ems or intensive care, surgery’s or whatever and for max 24 days per year. I just was at the hospital with my mother she had a grade 1 burn that was close to 2 and no doctors had open so yeah she didn’t pay a cent and got enough stuff for the weekend to go on Monday to a normal doctor.