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ekjdm14 
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Joined: 20 Aug 2024
Location: Alsager UK
Points: 982
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 Topic: Torn patellar tendon...
Posted: 27 Jul 2025 at 4:33pm |
Well that'll be me out of action for a while. Managed to trip on a piece of wire embedded in the ground & fell awkwardly, net result being my Patellar tendon has been torn clear off the bone of my tibia & the quad tendon has sucked the patella up above the ball of my femur... 
Few hours spent in A&E (ER for you guys on the sane side of the Atlantic) and to my surprise have been released home in a splint for the moment awaiting a 'phone call with a date for surgery.
Not the way I'd planned spending my Sunday afternoon but could be worse I suppose, at least it happened with the rest of the family around so we managed to get the land locked up and me loaded in the car in a half hour or so. Out of interest, how long do you guys in the US expect to wait on an ambulance generally? Here, roughly a 20 minute drive from the hospital, on a Sunday afternoon my ambulance ETA was 1hr40-2hrs. about 15 years ago when I was taken out off my motorcycle & badly fractured my right tib/fib I was sat on the road probably 45minutes before ambulance came. Just curious how your guy's wait times compare (also interested what a 20minute ambo ride would cost you/your insurance)
Cheers, better luck to you all!  |
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Stuck Farmer
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dr p
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Joined: 24 Feb 2019
Location: new york
Points: 1389
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Posted: 27 Jul 2025 at 7:45pm |
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Easy grand for just the transport. Then there are the nickel and dime charges. Could be 2500 easy
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Coke-in-MN
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Afton MN
Points: 41957
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Posted: 27 Jul 2025 at 8:35pm |
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Here if you call for emergency (911 call) you get the full load = Police first in about 3 to 5 minutes , then the fire dept a few minutes later with truck and coupe cars of extra people . then Ambulance and 2 or 3 EMT manning it .So within 15 minutes its like grand central with no room left to park .
Had to call once for wife , and next time she said I'll walk next time rather then being invaded like that again . So I had to haul her to ER myself or she refused to go .
Last trip I had to call 911 again as was fall and low respiration - clown show again but she spent 6 days in hospital and 30 days in transition care before coming home .
Ambulance cost was $1700 but insurance paid all but $100 my cost .
Is a volunteer ambulance and fire unit paid for by City / County tax - why they all show up is each call they respond to they get about $40 put into their pension fund savings .
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Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something.
"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."
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Dirt Farmer
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Joined: 15 Sep 2020
Location: Illinois
Points: 422
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Posted: 27 Jul 2025 at 11:45pm |
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Wish for a quick recovery, we'll keep you and your doctors in our prayers. In my neck of the woods the ambulance comes and gets the victim er patient takes them to Litchfield, there they can't do schit and put you on an expensive helicopter ride to Springfield where they sort you out from rthere. Thats what I've been told, fortunately no first hand experience.
Edited by Dirt Farmer - 27 Jul 2025 at 11:47pm
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DMiller
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Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Location: Hermann, Mo
Points: 33742
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Posted: Yesterday at 2:49am |
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Agree with Dirt Farmer, prayers for speedy recovery from this where get to return to try it again.
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ekjdm14
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Joined: 20 Aug 2024
Location: Alsager UK
Points: 982
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Posted: Yesterday at 6:43am |
 DMiller wrote:
Agree with Dirt Farmer, prayers for speedy recovery from this where get to return to try it again. |
Thanks all, for the well wishes. Certainly won't be aiming for a do over of this performance though Dave!  First job when I get back to the land is rooting out that damned wire at either end & chopping it (and it's conduit) into tiny harmless pieces! and Dirt Farmer, everything crossed it stays that way with the lack of experience for you.
Shocked at the cost of ambulance for you guys, and already quite some variance in service depending on area. Hate to think what the actual surgery would run me too! How much does decent health/accident insurance cost there? Can't fault the treatment I received yesterday but have a sneaking feeling it'd be somewhat less than a week's wait for the actual operation had I had some sort of private coverage.
Edited by ekjdm14 - Yesterday at 6:45am
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Stuck Farmer
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ACinSC
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Joined: 16 Dec 2015
Location: South Carolina
Points: 2940
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Posted: Yesterday at 7:45am |
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Hope you're better soon Dan
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tadams(OH)
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Joined: 17 Sep 2009
Location: Jeromesville, O
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Posted: 22 hours 52 minutes ago at 1:19pm |
Prayers for surgery going well and a speedy recovery.
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DaveKamp
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Joined: 12 Apr 2010
Location: LeClaire, Ia
Points: 6055
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Posted: 16 hours 15 minutes ago at 7:56pm |
Yikes- sorry to hear that, Dan... but I've been there.
About 5 years ago, I was working on a site in Saint Charles, Mn... found the ONLY patch of black ice on the whole parking lot. Right foot slipped about 2", then found solid ground and stopped, and BANG! Tore that quad right out.
Repair of the tendon wasn't the bad part. The fact that there was a chunk of cartilage folded over under my kneecap, and that doctors wouldn't do anything about it for just shy of 2 years, was the bad part. Long story, bad story, did not end well. If they'd been willing to spend $1200 to MRI it when I first reported the problem, it would have saved them a significant amount of money in the settlement... and my knee wouldn't now be in the lead-up a replacement. 
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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.
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Tracy Martin TN
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Gallatin,TN
Points: 10747
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Posted: 14 hours 46 minutes ago at 9:25pm |
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Prayers for a speedy recovery ! Listen to the physical therapist!
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No greater gift than healthy grandkids!
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Hubert (Ga)engine7
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Jackson Cnty,GA
Points: 6453
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Posted: 5 hours 9 minutes ago at 7:02am |
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Prayers for a quick appointment and successful surgery. In my area the ambulance service is county operated vs private in some nearby areas and our service is great but I may be biased. Less than 10 minutes on scene after calling 911. Fire/rescue is volunteer/part time paid and usually arrive first. No charge if the med unit doesn’t transport, $1500+ for transport which Medicare and supplemental insurance covers. Dispatch only sends what is needed not the whole cavalry.
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Just an old country boy saved by the grace of God.
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WF owner
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Joined: 12 May 2013
Location: Bombay NY
Points: 4982
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Posted: 4 hours 46 minutes ago at 7:25am |
Coke-in-MN wrote:
Here if you call for emergency (911 call) you get the full load = Police first in about 3 to 5 minutes , then the fire dept a few minutes later with truck and coupe cars of extra people . then Ambulance and 2 or 3 EMT manning it .So within 15 minutes its like grand central with no room left to park .
Had to call once for wife , and next time she said I'll walk next time rather then being invaded like that again . So I had to haul her to ER myself or she refused to go .
Last trip I had to call 911 again as was fall and low respiration - clown show again but she spent 6 days in hospital and 30 days in transition care before coming home .
Ambulance cost was $1700 but insurance paid all but $100 my cost .
Is a volunteer ambulance and fire unit paid for by City / County tax - why they all show up is each call they respond to they get about $40 put into their pension fund savings . |
As someone who was a volunteer firefighter and EMT for many years, I take real offense with your post.
I have left Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas morning present opening when my kids were small and many, many middle of the night calls to help people in distress. I have sat through hundreds of hours of training, so I could do a better job helping out in emergencies. I have done hundreds of hours of fundraising, so we could afford decent equipment. This was all done without one penny of compensation and many times actually cost me money out of my pocket, not to mention time away from family.
Also, we don't get one penny of pension.
... and then people like you call our emergency response "a clown show"???
I sincerely hope none of the volunteers in your area know your feelings about the service they provide, especially if you have a real emergency that you need police/fire/EMS! The reality is they would respond anyway and do their best to assist in any way they could, despite your attitude.
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