How does it work if you have to call 9-1-1?

[underapileofbooks]

My son's seizures have both been short. We took him ourselves to the ER after the 1st one. After that one, they told us not to bring him in except for status, respiratory problems, etc. and for those we should call 9-1-1.

My question is what happens when you call 9-1-1?

The firefighter paramedics come first? Then an ambulance to transport you?

Also, if 9-1-1 is called for a short seizure (which is the policy for my kids' school), do they give that person a chance to get past their post-ictal state and not be transported? Or do they not wait? Just wondering if my child is going to have endless transports to the ER room in their future.

With that in mind, how much does it cost for EMS to treat you on scene? How much is transport? Does health insurance cover any of that?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Belinda5000]

why do schools automatically call 9-1-1 now I'll never understand that.If I live to be a million it wont make any sense to me.

The school system hasn't gotten any better since I left it's got worse, I never went to a school with a school nurse.I never had 911 called on me when I seized either at school.
I would lay down in the office until I fealt better when I seized.

The school system has gone down hill dramatically sending people to the E/R because of a seizure everytime. I wouldn't have gone to the E/R unless I had busted my head open or broken /sprained something.

 

[skyfire322]

Before my response, I'll say that people (employers, schools) who don't really understand what's going on go into a slight panic.


This is my personal experience.

Whenever I have one at work, they immediately call 911 (standard protocol there as well). By the time they get there, I'm *usually* in a postictal state. EMS or fire paramedics will come first since they're the closest to work, but an ambulance will come shortly thereafter to be on the safe side. The 911 dispatcher will ALWAYS ask over the phone before they dispatch is if it was convulsive and if I'm responsive.

When they do come, the paramedics ask me a few simple questions such as what day it is, who the president is, etc. and depending on how I look and respond (dilated pupils, slurred speech) They may send me to the ER or sometimes they'll just tell my employer that I need to go to the nurse and lie down for a little until I'm out of my state. It really all depends on the length of the seizure and how bad it was, especially if I banged my head. If I'm responsive and not slurring words, they'll ask if I want to go or not.

I can't stress enough that different EMT's may react differently however.

One thing I'd highly recommend is to get a seizure action plan stating if your son has a certain type of seizure that lasts a certain amount of time to call 911 and give it to the school. Even if they say it's standard protocol to call, it always helps to have all your bases covered.

As for the cost, it's really all dependent on what your health insurance covers. For example, with my insurance I pay $50 for "travel expenses", then if I go to the ER I have to pay $150 extra.


I hope this helped, and I hope your son gets better!

 

[SlimBlue]

why do schools automatically call 9-1-1 now I'll never understand that.If I live to be a million it wont make any sense to me.

It's all about liability and the insurance protocols forced on them.

Just protection for them if they potentially get a sue-ball afterwards.

They can say they did as much as possible to help..

 

[valeriedl]

Any time we've called 911 for me for something medically, not just epilepsy related, the paramedics have always shown up first. I don't even think that the police or fire department even came.

When I was about 35 I had a grand mal. My mom freaked out because I very rarely have them and wanted to call 911. The rest of the family told her to wait a few minutes because I'd probably be out of it by then. I don't even think they got the whole sentence out before she had the phone in her hand dialing the numbers.

When the paramedics came I was out of the seizure. They were asking me the usual questions - what's your name, birthday, where do you live and so on. I could answer all of them just fine. One of the paramedics asked what my social security number was and I gave it to him with no problem, he was really surprised about that.

With the insurance that I was on then, which was very good, it cost about $200 for the ambulance to come to the house. If I was taken to the hospital it cost around $50. If I was admitted then it was free. I was so mad at my mom for calling 911 for that seizure I had that I made her pay the $200 because it basically didn't need to be called.

It's all about liability and the insurance protocols forced on them.

Just protection for them if they potentially get a sue-ball afterwards.

They can say they did as much as possible to help..

And yes, this is why schools always call 911 when something happens.

 

[Abbie]

why do schools automatically call 9-1-1 now I'll never understand that.If I live to be a million it wont make any sense to me.

The school had a 'duty of care' for the pupils so they have to because if they didn't and something bad happen they would be held responsible for it.

I have the same problem at university with security. If the medical response team are on campus they will treat me and take me back to my halls of residence or to the medical centre if they feel that is necessary but they know I don't need to go to hospital. However if it happens in the evening or at the weekend and only security are on campus they always call an ambulance even though I usually only have complex-partial seizures. I get very frustrated when they insist on calling an ambulance when I tell them I just want to rest and get some sleep. They've called me stubborn for not wanting then to and when people have called security they've been told they have to convince me to let them call an ambulance because they're going to do it anyway whether I agree or not