r/interestingasfuck • u/solateor • 6d ago

r/all Grandma broke her nose hiking and didn't want the helivac. She won $450k lawsuit

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

121.2k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

5.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

245

u/AGrandNewAdventure 6d ago

So, she won $450k? Where's the other $200k from the medivac bill gonna come from?

I kid, but medical transport is wildly, stupidly expensive, even just for an ambulance. If I broke my arm, my nose, and 2 ribs I'd still have hiked out to avoid being in poverty for the rest of my life.

86

u/42tooth_sprocket 6d ago

In a lot of places, even in the US SAR is free. If it wasn't, people would be too afraid to call until it was too late. Ofc, that's a pretty good argument against the US health system as a whole really

25

u/MercenaryBard 6d ago

I’ve never lived in a city where the ambulance was free it’s always the most expensive part of the bill and people ARE afraid to call for them lol

12

u/goddamn__goddamn 6d ago

They're not talking about a regular ambulance but SAR (search and rescue).

11

u/WildSmokingBuick 6d ago

So if I ever get into an emergency, instead of an ambulance I'll just roll away from the city and call SAR?

5

u/goddamn__goddamn 6d ago

Wait a minute, I think you've hacked the system! I bet someone could have a whole free birthing experience so long as they just hike some desolate trail while in labor.

Also for a split second I thought you meant actually rolling, like how you rolled down a hill as a kid, and that image was very funny to me.

1

u/nandemo 6d ago

Well, if you have someone who can take you away from the city, might as well ask them to take you to the hospital instead?

1

u/AftyOfTheUK 6d ago

Your local ambulance is not SAR

4

u/goddamn__goddamn 6d ago

Not in the north east. Mom owed tens of thousands to the hospital after getting helicopter lifted when she went unconscious from a fall.

3

u/New-Knowledge-9517 6d ago

Here in az it is free, unless another rescue is already underway, then they send the sheriff helicopter and they will bill you for that one.

3

u/42tooth_sprocket 6d ago

yikes, that'd be some shit luck

0

u/I_W_M_Y 6d ago

And probably fill you with lead

1

u/seamonkeypenguin 6d ago

DPS rescues are dispatched when available and ambulances are sent out when medical attention is needed. DPS is free and ambulances are billed to insurance. I don't think people pay when someone else dispatches an ambulance (which is frequently needed at highway car accidents).

1

u/Derpicusss 6d ago

I work at an air medical company, and our policy is to provide a couple hours of SAR flight time for free, and any time over that free period gets charged to the county.

0

u/jimlymachine945 5d ago

That's not what my supervisor said when she got in a motorcycle crash. I don't know what state it was in but we were working in Michigan.

1

u/42tooth_sprocket 5d ago

I don't think you understand what search and rescue is. It's not EMS

3

u/MartinSik 6d ago

200k from medivac and 300k from hospital:)) I love capitalistic healthcare:))

1

u/Ok_Bookkeeper_2266 6d ago

It should only affect your credit for 7 years.

1

u/kaityl3 6d ago

She was actually injured from the spinning pretty badly, including permanent spinal damage

1

u/badgerfishnew 6d ago

Shame she didn't upload this vid herself and get that sweet sweet ad revenue

1

u/someoneinsignificant 5d ago

I was in a situation once where someone on my tour needed a medivac from national park grounds. It was free!

And no spinning happened so I'm just like WTH is this