Saturday, November 09, 2013

Dialing 911

In many cities there are a few people who call 911 often. In Washington, DC, Martha Rigsby holds the record for the number of times she has called.  In the past year she has called 911 226 times and been taken to the hospital 117 times. Over the past thirty years, she has made thousands of emergency calls and trips to the hospital after falling down.

These trips are costly; the average ambulance trip has costs $478.  Plus, the EMTs can only serve one person at a time; so, it's possible that they may not get to another, sicker person in enough time.  While she refuses to be transported in an ambulance 55% of the time, sending the EMTs out does cost money.

The city has decided to take Rigsby to court in an attempt to have her get help.  Whether they succeed or not is up to the court.

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