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Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:25 PM

TomClash (10,948 posts)

Lifeguard gets $2,600 bill after rescuing boy from surf

Seventeen-year-old John Clark of Vancouver, Wash., knew what to do when he saw a boy struggling to stay afloat in the surf off the Oregon coast.

The trained pool lifeguard jumped through the breakers and heavy swells to reach the boy in the ocean, reports KOIN-TV. Clark then calmed the boy and kept him afloat until watercraft arrived to take them to shore.

. . .
An ambulance came and took the 12-year-old boy, wrapped in a towel, and Clark—who complained of a headache—to the hospital.

Clark thought it was standard procedure until a few weeks later when he was shocked at the bill from the hospital.

The emergency room bill came to $449. The physician's bill was $227. The 15-mile ride in the ambulance was $1,907. The total bill for saving a young man's life was nearly $2,600.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/lifeguard-gets-2-600-bill-rescuing-boy-surf-130832240.html

20 replies, 1754 views

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20 replies	Author	Time	Post
Lifeguard gets $2,600 bill after rescuing boy from surf (Original post)	TomClash	Aug 2012	OP
unlike our military, which gets free medical care, REAL heros have to pay their own way nt	msongs	Aug 2012	#1
Do you want free healthcare for yourself?	Nuclear Unicorn	Aug 2012	#3
Why should the lifeguard pay	Politicalboi	Aug 2012	#2
What about the company he works for??	RockaFowler	Aug 2012	#4
He wasn't on the job. n/t	tammywammy	Aug 2012	#7
Exactly.. The PATIENT was the 12 yr old...not the lifeguard	SoCalDem	Aug 2012	#8
He went to the hospital too, complaining of a headache.	ryan_cats	Aug 2012	#9
"He and his family are making arrangements to pay the bill."	MicaelS	Aug 2012	#5
Don't you just love the 'for profit' health care system?	Lint Head	Aug 2012	#6
Save a life	Smilo	Aug 2012	#10
this is the "Freedom" that the libs want to take away from us	Enrique	Aug 2012	#11
I hope he doesn't try to spend it	hfojvt	Aug 2012	#12
Sounds like the ambulance comapny is trying to double dip.	whistler162	Aug 2012	#13
I wonder if the ambulance split the cost between the two patients or charged both full price.	Liberal_in_LA	Aug 2012	#14
This 'journalism' is ATROCIOUS. Was the lifeguard treated for the headache in the	Nay	Aug 2012	#15
The "Journalist" probably went to the Sarah Palin School of Journalism.	madinmaryland	Aug 2012	#19
One of the many ways capitalism shreds the ties between human beings and instinctual reactions	HiPointDem	Aug 2012	#16
No good deed goes unfisted.	HughBeaumont	Aug 2012	#17
The rescue'd boy's parents	Sgent	Aug 2012	#18
That is so ridiculous.	RebelOne	Aug 2012	#20

Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:28 PM

msongs (30,517 posts)

1. unlike our military, which gets free medical care, REAL heros have to pay their own way nt

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Response to msongs (Reply #1)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:33 PM

Nuclear Unicorn (6,963 posts)

3. Do you want free healthcare for yourself?

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:32 PM

Politicalboi (9,485 posts)

2. Why should the lifeguard pay

Doesn't this 12 year old have parents?

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Response to Politicalboi (Reply #2)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:34 PM

RockaFowler (4,859 posts)

4. What about the company he works for??

Don't they have worker's comp?? Isn't this a form of getting hurt on the job??

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Response to RockaFowler (Reply #4)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:37 PM

tammywammy (18,437 posts)

7. He wasn't on the job. n/t

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Response to Politicalboi (Reply #2)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:40 PM

SoCalDem (99,744 posts)

8. Exactly.. The PATIENT was the 12 yr old...not the lifeguard

Last edited Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:40 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

So.. you call 911 when you see someone having a heart attack.. do YOU get the bill?

This story is "off" a bit..

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Response to SoCalDem (Reply #8)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:44 PM

ryan_cats (911 posts)

9. He went to the hospital too, complaining of a headache.

He went to the hospital too, complaining of a headache:

An ambulance came and took the 12-year-old boy, wrapped in a towel, and Clark—who complained of a headache—to the hospital.

Clark thought it was standard procedure until a few weeks later when he was shocked at the bill from the hospital.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:34 PM

MicaelS (4,386 posts)

5. "He and his family are making arrangements to pay the bill."

WTF is this? That is bullshit.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:35 PM

Lint Head (10,442 posts)

6. Don't you just love the 'for profit' health care system?

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:48 PM

Smilo (1,886 posts)

10. Save a life

and then give your life-savings to for profit healthcare.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:48 PM

Enrique (22,635 posts)

11. this is the "Freedom" that the libs want to take away from us

we won't let them!!!!!!

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:49 PM

hfojvt (31,316 posts)

12. I hope he doesn't try to spend it

a $2,600 bill is probably fake. Pretty sure the Treasury does not make that denomination.

But why would he expect to get a free ambulance ride and medical services.

Better to refuse medical care when all you have done is gone swimming in the ocean and all you have is a headache.

Because medical care is not cheap and they don't tell you what things will cost before they do them.

I just got a crown, thinking I have good dental insurance and that it would pay 78-80%. Imagine my surprise when it only paid 10% leaving me with another $675 to pay. I could have gotten an extraction for less than $200 and that would probably have been covered. Ah well, live and learn. Some lessons are expensive.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:53 PM

whistler162 (5,625 posts)

13. Sounds like the ambulance comapny is trying to double dip.

The emergency room bill is in line with the two I had for emergency room visits with physicians.

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Response to whistler162 (Reply #13)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 01:56 PM

Liberal_in_LA (28,680 posts)

14. I wonder if the ambulance split the cost between the two patients or charged both full price.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 05:33 PM

Nay (5,716 posts)

15. This 'journalism' is ATROCIOUS. Was the lifeguard treated for the headache in the

ambulance and/or the hospital? What was the boy treated for? Did the boy incur the same exact ambulance ride bill, or did the whole bill go to the lifeguard? Was the ER bill and doc bill just for the headache of the lifeguard, or did that include the boy, too? Or did the boy get a separate set of bills? Or were they combined? What did the parents say about all this?

If I wrote an a pathetic, jumbled, inarticulate incident report like this at my workplace, I'd be fired.

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Response to Nay (Reply #15)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 05:58 PM

madinmaryland (52,929 posts)

19. The "Journalist" probably went to the Sarah Palin School of Journalism.

Hence the word salad.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 05:36 PM

HiPointDem (17,070 posts)

16. One of the many ways capitalism shreds the ties between human beings and instinctual reactions

to others' need.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 05:40 PM

HughBeaumont (20,451 posts)

17. No good deed goes unfisted.

Utterly amazing.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 05:54 PM

Sgent (3,772 posts)

18. The rescue'd boy's parents

owe the lifeguard for his expenses related to the rescue.

If the parents of the rescued boy have a homeowners or renter's policy, it will pay the bill.

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Response to TomClash (Original post)

Thu Aug 2, 2012, 07:28 PM

RebelOne (26,835 posts)

20. That is so ridiculous.

Last edited Thu Aug 2, 2012, 07:29 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

Many years ago, my cousin and I were swimming in Miami Beach and we were caught in an undertow. She had her 3-year-old daughter on her back. They were hanging onto me and dragging me under. Fortunately, the lifeguards came to our rescue. I was OK, but when the lifeguards got her to shore, her lips were blue. But no medics or ambulance were called. She recovered shortly thereafter..

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