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by loceng 2786 days ago
Like I said, we can make assumptions about travel time difference between Lyft and an ambulance - however unless we're in the actual scenario and know the circumstances, and likely times/estimates for each, a private driver can certainly be faster than when an ambulance can arrive (and likewise what is the indirect cost if not using that ambulance means someone else gets an ambulance faster who more reasonably needs it?).
2 comments

Maybe an ambulance is slower than a Lyft. What's definitely faster than a Lyft is: a car that's already on-site, driven by a co-worker tasked to take you to the hospital.

Can we agree that, even if an ambulance isn't the best choice, it's amazingly callous to make a person with a severed finger sit around and wait for a fucking taxi rather than pull someone else off the line?

I don't think anyone was arguing against what is likely the fastest option (someone already on-site driving), it's however possible that once being assessed but before being ready to go, a vehicle could be ready to transport them immediately - whether that is someone from on-site or a Lyft et al that was ordered.
So you continue to make assumptions about a Lyft being faster than an ambulance. Do you also believe that an ambulance lacks trained medical personnel and equipment compared to a Lyft?

I'm sorry, what is this "indirect cost" of using an ambulance, when the purpose of them is to service severe injuries? Maybe you think a severed finger is no big deal, but how common do you think severed fingers are, to think that victims constitute a serious threat to the supply of ambulances on any given day?

> Do you also believe that an ambulance lacks trained medical personnel and equipment compared to a lyft

It depends on the case. The problem is that people has a stereotyped vision of what is an ambulance. One vision that is typically urban and adapted to their country. The truth is that there are at least three types of ambulances and they are very different when in isolated areas or in big cities.

> how common do you think severed fingers are, to think that victims constitute a serious threat to the supply of ambulances on any given day?

Emergencies happen in clusters much more often than you could think.