Letter to the Editor: Ambulance service

Dear Editor,

“Ambulance service strives to cut hospital transports” seems to support Jim Jenson’s letter to the editor. I know the internal debate on whether to ask for help in the middle of the night. For future “should you call” decisions, I will always remember the scolding words, “nearly too late”, from an emergency room doctor during an asthma attack. Will Emergency Response Care consider if the patient lives alone and the distance from medical facilities when making their decisions on how to “cut hospital transports”? I was diagnosed with bronchitis a few hours before my asthma attack and was hoping that medication would take care of the problem. The “nearly too late” was my choice because I had already seen a doctor that day. Luckily I did not live alone and somebody else was frightened by my worsening condition. What are the Community Paramedic Project’s criteria for when to call for transport and when have a home visit? Will decisions be based on saving money or on helping the patient, because the article read “care of sick people”, but the big bold title read,“cut”? Will cut mean care that comes too late?

Beverly Adam

Dalton

Editor’s note: Again, as the Sun-Telegraph responded to James Jensen’s letter, Emergency Response Care’s effort to reduce patient transports to the hospital is not an effort to reduce emergency calls. The article never mentioned an effort to reduce emergency calls. If you have an emergency, call 911.