# Summoning Ewber to get to a hospital?



## Contuber (Jan 31, 2016)

I got a ping 10 min away via freeway. Called the pax, telling her it's quite a ride for me and it will take some time. She said it's too long, she needs to get to a hospital, and asked if she can cancel it and get another driver. Yes, please.

I regularly have pax going to hospitals or drug stores, but this is 8:30 PM, so there is a sense of emergency.
I wonder how common is it to call Lyft or Ewber instead of an ambulance?


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## grayspinner (Sep 8, 2015)

There are plenty of situations where you need to get to the hospital, but it is not an emergency & an ambulance is not needed. 

The time I took an ambulance from my house to the nearest hospital (20 minutes away) - my bill was $600.


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## steel108 (Dec 19, 2015)

Some people are just very cheap. An ambulance costs a lot, an Uber doesn't. 

I had someone try to get a ride with me to the ER with a badly cut hand. 2 cars in their driveway and both the husband and wife were there. Why didn't they just drive? They didn't want to get blood in their car so they called an Uber. I said "No thanks" and drove off.


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## kingdog (Nov 30, 2015)

steel108 said:


> Some people are just very cheap. An ambulance costs a lot, an Uber doesn't.
> 
> I had someone try to get a ride with me to the ER with a badly cut hand. 2 cars in their driveway and both the husband and wife were there. Why didn't they just drive? They didn't want to get blood in their car so they called an Uber. I said "No thanks" and drove off.


they said that to your face? what was their reaction when you said no thanks?


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## Contuber (Jan 31, 2016)

I would care about my car, not their reaction.


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## steel108 (Dec 19, 2015)

kingdog said:


> they said that to your face? what was their reaction when you said no thanks?


I didn't need to ask why they weren't taking their own... 1+1=2, I politely declined the ride and drove off.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

Contuber said:


> I wonder how common is it to call Lyft or Ewber instead of an ambulance?


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/



grayspinner said:


> The time I took an ambulance from my house to the nearest hospital (20 minutes away) - my bill was $600.





steel108 said:


> Some people are just very cheap. An ambulance costs a lot, an Uber doesn't.


People have used taxicabs as discount ambulances for years. Since Uber and Lyft _*ain't nothin' but no discount taxi nohow*_, people can get a deep discount ambulance.

The thing that is sad/funny about this is that the use of taxis as discount ambulances historically has been most frequent in lower income areas. In many cities, if your income is insufficient to the point that you can not pay for the ambulance, the municipality will not charge you or will waive the bill.


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

I used an ambulance to get to the hospital last year and the bill was $1400. Fortunately I didn't have to pay it.


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## MikesUber (Oct 23, 2015)

steel108 said:


> Some people are just very cheap. An ambulance costs a lot, an Uber doesn't.
> 
> I had someone try to get a ride with me to the ER with a badly cut hand. 2 cars in their driveway and both the husband and wife were there. Why didn't they just drive? They didn't want to get blood in their car so they called an Uber. I said "No thanks" and drove off.


 Wrap it in a crappy kitchen towel, place hand in plastic bag, tie around wrist. Done lol


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## SilverSpring (Feb 16, 2016)

Contuber said:


> I got a ping 10 min away via freeway. Called the pax, telling her it's quite a ride for me and it will take some time. She said it's too long, she needs to get to a hospital, and asked if she can cancel it and get another driver. Yes, please.
> 
> I regularly have pax going to hospitals or drug stores, but this is 8:30 PM, so there is a sense of emergency.
> I wonder how common is it to call Lyft or Ewber instead of an ambulance?


Once I picked up a PAX in a very affluent area of D.C. When I got the ping, I was about 20 minutes away; yet, a minute after I accepted, the gentlemen called me, asking where I was and why it was taking so long. I explained to him that I was on my way and was driving carefully, for it had snowed the night before and some of the roads were still not cleared completely. When I got there, to my (then) dismay, I see him literally dragging himself towards my car, hand on his chest, stating he was having chest pains and was getting dizzy. I offered to call 911, as the hospital he wanted to go to was over 15 minutes away but he insisted for me to take him. Fortunately, I was able to get him to the hospital and he was admitted, but it made me wonder why someone in that situation would prefer an Uber over an ambulance - the only rationale I can come up with is money.


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

SilverSpring said:


> Once I picked up a PAX in a very affluent area of D.C. When I got the ping, I was about 20 minutes away; yet, a minute after I accepted, the gentlemen called me, asking where I was and why it was taking so long. I explained to him that I was on my way and was driving carefully, for it had snowed the night before and some of the roads were still not cleared completely. When I got there, to my (then) dismay, I see him literally dragging himself towards my car, hand on his chest, stating he was having chest pains and was getting dizzy. I offered to call 911, as the hospital he wanted to go to was over 15 minutes away but he insisted for me to take him. Fortunately, I was able to get him to the hospital and he was admitted, but it made me wonder why someone in that situation would prefer an Uber over an ambulance - the only rationale I can come up with is money.


POST # 10/Silver Spring: B I N G O !
We have a WINNAH, 
folks ! Give that #[F]Uberer a Prize.


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## 5 Star Guy (Nov 7, 2015)

A drunk pax is one thing, not too keen on taking them especially after one left their phone behind. I do know I'm not definitely not taking a dead pax to the hospital, no tip and I'm not getting 5 stars.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

MikesUber said:


> Wrap it in a crappy kitchen towel, place hand in plastic bag, tie around wrist. Done lol


I did exactly this when my D.A. brother in law sheared off the tip of my pointing finger. Clean rag and plastic bag, then drive to the hospital. Unfortunately the piece was too shredded to reattach.

Ughhh that was painful....


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## Uberchampion (Oct 17, 2015)

steel108 said:


> Some people are just very cheap. An ambulance costs a lot, an Uber doesn't.
> 
> I had someone try to get a ride with me to the ER with a badly cut hand. 2 cars in their driveway and both the husband and wife were there. Why didn't they just drive? They didn't want to get blood in their car so they called an Uber. I said "No thanks" and drove off.


What would you do if you weren't driving for Uber and someone needed a ride to the hospital?

I'd take them...I need all the good karma I can get☺


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## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

I took a few people to the hospital during my days driving a cab.

The only guy who puked inside the taxi was going to the ER- fortunately his wife was with him and brought a bucket, so it worked out smooth as silk.

I picked up a couple of guys who got into an altercation at 3 rivers during a Steeler game. I don't know who they got in a fight with, but they insisted on going cross town to Presby instead of just 10 blocks to AGH I guess to avoid any legal problems.


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## OrlandoUberX (Feb 15, 2016)

I_Like_Spam said:


> I took a few people to the hospital during my days driving a cab.
> 
> The only guy who puked inside the taxi was going to the ER- fortunately his wife was with him and brought a bucket, so it worked out smooth as silk.
> 
> I picked up a couple of guys who got into an altercation at 3 rivers during a Steeler game. I don't know who they got in a fight with, but they insisted on going cross town to Presby instead of just 10 blocks to AGH I guess to avoid any legal problems.


A bucket! Thats what I need for my late night bar runs, or the largest zip lock bags so they can take it as an Uber souvenir.


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## Tim In Cleveland (Jul 28, 2014)

There was a story in the news section about a lawyer who called an Uber to take his wife, who was in labor, to the hospital. The driver refused and he had to cancel and re-summon. The next driver said yes. Apparently, that state has a law against refusing taxi service to a pregnant woman and the lawyer attempted to sue. Uber was initially refusing to give out the driver's name but I don't know what came of it. That's such a b.s. law. Obviously someone in labor or other medical emergency should be in an ambulance.


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## 5 Star Guy (Nov 7, 2015)

Like to see a follow-up on that. First the driver is an independent contractor and is not a taxi. They are not a transportation company either. Seems like an ambulance or taxi was the right call, that lawyer made the wrong call, literally.


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## grayspinner (Sep 8, 2015)

NY ubers are highly regulated & that rule applies to them as well. 

And pregnant women don't travel to the hospital via ambulance unless there is some additional thing going on. Normal labor is not an emergency situation. In that story - it was a normal labor & their birthing coach (basically a doula) was with them.


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## SumGuy (Jul 29, 2015)

grayspinner said:


> There are plenty of situations where you need to get to the hospital, but it is not an emergency & an ambulance is not needed.
> 
> The time I took an ambulance from my house to the nearest hospital (20 minutes away) - my bill was $600.


600 is cheap.


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## OrlandoUberX (Feb 15, 2016)

I positive if im dying I want to be in an ambulance with trained medical staff not in an uber who has to use GPS to find the hospital.


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## grayspinner (Sep 8, 2015)

OrlandoUberX said:


> I positive if im dying I want to be in an ambulance with trained medical staff not in an uber who has to use GPS to find the hospital.


Well sure - but not all ER visits are life or death emergencies. I've had to go to the ER when my son broke his collar bone on a weekend & when my other son needed stitches late one night cause he cut his chin on the coffee table - neither were life or death and didn't justify an ambulance, they just couldn't wait til normal dr's office hours.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

grayspinner said:


> The time I took an ambulance from my house to the nearest hospital (20 minutes away) - my bill was $600.


That's not uncommon ... most EMS ambulances have a flat fee of $400+ ... to give you a ride to the ER with an EMT or paramedic. And significantly more if they have to use any of their supplies to keep you alive 'til you get to the ER.

I had 2 pax in the past year call for Select to take them to the ER ... 1st guy was bleeding, needless to say, I cancelled on him and called 911 since he didn't have a phone ... and the 2nd person thought she had a kidney stone; and since it didn't appear to be life-threatening ... I gave her a ride to the nearest ER. *FYI, I was a certified EMT in both CA & TX ... albeit it was 20+ years ago since I took my last recertification test. So while I'm not certified any more, I probably still know enough to determine whether or not a pax has a life-threatening condition ... and if I wasn't 100% certain that they didn't need an ambulance ... then I wouldn't hesitate to cancel the pax and call 911. It's always better to play it safe ...


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## everythingsuber (Sep 29, 2015)

Tim In Cleveland said:


> There was a story in the news section about a lawyer who called an Uber to take his wife, who was in labor, to the hospital. The driver refused and he had to cancel and re-summon. The next driver said yes. Apparently, that state has a law against refusing taxi service to a pregnant woman and the lawyer attempted to sue. Uber was initially refusing to give out the driver's name but I don't know what came of it. That's such a b.s. law. Obviously someone in labor or other medical emergency should be in an ambulance.


Über is not a taxi service can't see that law suit getting very far.


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## 5 Star Guy (Nov 7, 2015)

everythingsuber said:


> Über is not a taxi service can't see that law suit getting very far.


Definitely getting dropped. If you do cancel it is your job to call 911 or see that they do, in an emergency. If you find someone on the ground they need to get up by themselves. If they are not able to get up on their own you call 911.


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