I agree with your husband and daughter!

Yes, I think you did the right thing, too. I'm a champion for the police, but there are a few of them who need attitude adjustments, and this sounds like you met one of them. Their job is to protect and serve I'm not talking about them giving a ride to someone who wants to go shopping, but this was a medical need, and he should have "served" you. Dottie

I think you did the right thing too!
What a jerk of a policeman. He does need an attitude ajustment.

Deb

They are not a taxi service.

Dilly Dally, if you read the first thread Jannie posted, you would see that she tried to get several different taxi services to pick her up. They refused. She had been told by the hospital to call the fire dept if that was her only option, which she did. The police showed up in response to dispatch notifing both police and fire. If a dyalisis patient doesn't get treatment when it's needed, they will die. This did warrent calling public service to help.

Tami

Well said, Tami! There are exceptions!

Good for you Jannie. I look forward to hearing what he has to say after checking it out.

Yes, well said Tami! In this case Jannie 'was' indeed an emergency.

Sue

Way to go jannie. I can't believe that police officer could be so cold hearted.
Dee in Michigan

Good for you, Jannie.....there are some times when public officials can be a bit human and go beyond their usual duties, and I certainly think this was one of them.

OK. I did not see another thread about this. I don't read every single thread in every forum. I was only going by the info in the post. If the hospital said to call the FD like you say, then she did the right thing.

You DID do the right thing!
Up here in a major storm like that, or even in a storm where there is less snow the police will give you a ride. To work or someplace important. Not shopping like someone said. The FD does lend a hand to our PD also.
Don't doubt yourself. You did the right thing.

Well...I expected a nasty reply from "that person" .....it didn't take long.

Does she/he know how to say anything nice????

I'm glad you did make the call.

pattico, I think you missed "that person's" 2nd post, in which indicated that she hadn't seen the original. It is very hard to keep up with all of the messages and threads, and I don't blame someone for only responding to the information provided in one thread without trying to recall other threads. Perhaps you can keep them all straight, but I sure can't.

thank you suzieque...no I didn't see that...

Thanks for the nice reply, pattico. All is well.

*sigh*

Is there a way to hook ourselves up for dialysis geeze ,people.. except most of you peeps here at KT.just have no compassion for others they act like we go there for a party,were trying to survive here..Lets you and I invent something..

Having known many who have been there I have nothing but compassion a d admiration for those of you fighting this battle to stay well.

Bulldinkie - Home dialylis has been around for decades. I am not sure why it isn't used more. Probably the costs but I really don't know. Here's a link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Dialysis

What was the final outcome? How did you get there?

My brother in law had home dialysis (7) years ago, but he also had the advantage of two daughters who were RNs.

I dont do home dialysis for many reasons.
1.Id have to get rid of my dr dont want to do that,I was told my dr is the best in East coast by a dr at Johns Hopkins.
2..You have to put needles in yourself ,no can do.
3.Someone has to be with you the whole time,I have no one.
4.I like someone there that knows what to do when say I pass out,you could bleed to death,if it got out of hand.
5.You have to have a storage area for all the supplies.You get a lot.
If your daughter is a nurse youre considered very lucky in dialysis.

Hi, Jannie

Please tell us you got to the hospital in time. I'm sorry the police were so rude. I agree with or DH and DD that you did the right thing. Sounds like the policeman who came did not have good common sense.

I don't advocate doing this, but thought you could use a little humor. This is supposedly a true story, sent to me by a woman who is in her 60s.

HOW TO CALL THE POLICE WHEN YOU'RE OLD AND DON'T MOVE FAST ANYMORE:

George Phillips, an elderly man from Meridian, Mississippi, was going up to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back
door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?"
He said "No, but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me."

Then the police dispatcher said, "All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available."

George said, "Okay."

He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.

"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I just shot and killed them both. The dogs are eating them right now." And he hung up.

Within five minutes, six police cars, a SWAT Team, a helicopter, two fire trucks, a paramedic, and an ambulance showed up at the Phillips' residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the policemen said to George, "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"

George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

After reading your other posting, I got to wondering. How did you get home? Will that transportation means be able to take you back next time?

peonies... I believe she found a taxi company willing to
take her home

Where is the other post? Background is essential here.

About five minutes after the cop left, the ambulance came and drove me straight to the hospital. They took a medical history from mme while I was sitting in the ambulance. I left dialysis around ten am, and I had $20 with me. I called two taxi companies, one didn't answer, the second one said there was a 45 minute wait. That's how I got home. The fare was #12 but I gave him the $20 bill.

The original story was that, after a heavy snowfall and plough having covered the end of her driveway, she'd needed to go to the hosp. for dialysis ... at about 4 a.m., called three taxis, they refused to come, called hosp., they said to call FD/emergency ... but not, I think, 911, and she did not.

Which she did.

I agree that officials at the police dept. should be called in to evaluate the situation.

Maybe call the city licensing bureau that deals with taxis to check how heavy a requirement there may be that taxis, which are somewhat of a public service, lacking extenuating circumstance, may have limited leeway to refuse to serve the public on request.

Possibly rattle their chain a bit.

And on the trip home, I might have given the driver a couple of dollars in addition to the $12.00 fare ... but he wouldn't have gotten a 66% tip from me!

ole joyful

Got a letter from the police, they want me to write down everything that happened.Now I feel a little sheepish. I mean, the Police Officer is probably a good family man, he would take a bullet for me, and I'm complaining because he was brusque in talking to me.

I don't think you should feel guilty at all. The officer needs to know that dialysis is an emergency and that most people on dialysis can't shovel themselves out to get to dialysis on their own. This is a learning experience for the police department and hopefully it won't happen to anyone else.

Here's something that I saw in my area the other week when we had bad snows...

The local news stations were advertising calls for 4WD drivers who could take Dr.s and Nurses to their jobs, but also for those who could transport dialysis and other time critical care patients.

Can you check with your local kidney foundation or the ombudsman's office at the hospital to see if there is anything like that that you could use?

Jannie, I agree completely with georgysmom. You should not feel sheepish at all. It's entirely possible that this officer just needs enlightenment on what exactly service and protect entails, otherwise the next person who calls for help may not be as fortunate as you.

Or, if he is a jerk, then an attitude adjustment is definitely in order. Either way you are doing the right thing. Bravo

My SO is a driver for a company that transports people to Dr appointments, any kind of medical appts. They have been instructed that if a person is scheduled for dialysis and the roads are so bad that they can't get there they are to call the local police, if they can't go, then they are instructed to call the national guard and someone from there will take them. During our ice storm last year the national guard did have to take a few people. It wasn't like they send the whole troop, just a couple of guardsman. Don't feel a bit guilty, obviously the police officer did not understand the importance of your appt. next time he will know and all of the other officers will too. It is a learning experience for them.
I'm sorry this happened to you. If I had lived close I would have got you there somehow.

Well, let's see... where to start. First, this is a perfect example on why it's clumsy to not continue in the same thread without at least posting pertinent information. Continuing in the same thread is a courtesy I really appreciate. I don't understand all the new threads on old topics but that's the way it goes I guess. Sure beats trying to search for the other threads involved. And look at the hard feelings caused and unnecessarily so. I have to admit, it sounded a bit tacky to me without knowing more of the story so I'm glad the other info arrived.

Around here, and I assume it's pretty much standard practice in a lot of places, if a rescue squad call goes out, a police squad is dispatched with it. Often a squad can arrive before an ambulance and the officer can see what the situation is and begin some things if needed until the ambulance arrives. I'm not sure it's totally appropriate to get too upset with the officer for not loading you into the squad and transporting you. Seems to me that given the situation described it was more proper to wait for the medical people to arrive, assess and handle it, which from the sound of things is what he did. If you were to pass out en route I think it'd be better to be in an ambulance with paramedics at your side than with a lone officer driving by himself, especially in inclement weather.

Now for the lesson to the cop. If you've reconsidered the severity of the situation and it sounds like you have, you may want to reconsider what you do. I'm not suggesting letting it go. I do think some action is appropriate. However, do you think that it's something so bad that it should haunt his career from now on? Once that complaint is filed, it will go into his permanent records and be considered for any promotion, or otherwise and it doesn't matter the outcome. If you're looking for vengeance, as some appear to desire, then fill out the complaint, file it and they'll have an investigation. I highly doubt there'll be much repercussion though, but again, I'm only going with what I've read so far. One side of the story at most. Most likely, the Union will become involved (assuming they're unionized) and it could end there or move on. I find it difficult to believe there'd be any criminal charges, termination, suspension or anything like that from what I've read and I'd be shocked if a written reprimand were issued. There could be a possibility that an investigating board could conclude that he could have been more tactful. And it sounds like he could have been more tactful and a little more helpful. I don't know what his situation was either, whether he had other calls or not. Again, only a part of the story.

A lot could depend on his record. If he's had trouble in the past that would weigh in. If he has a clean record, I doubt that it could go too far.

Another alternative is to talk to the Chief or a supervisor. Personally, with what's been said, I think I would go talk to the Chief and possibly ask that the officer be in there too. Maybe a one on one with the officer. Explain the situation. Explain your frustration. I have a suspicion that an apology would follow, and that the lesson so many reference would be there too. There seems to be a feeling by some that filing a complaint will "teach him a lesson" and be dropped. Around here, it wouldn't work that way. The complaint probably will first go to the Chief, he'll ask for the officer's version of what happened and unless there's reason to go on, most likely it'll be dropped. Nevertheless in most cases, the complaint would be put in the personnel records with a finding of no action needed. That's my guess, again, based on what I have seen.

I guess a lot depends on what you're looking to get.

Whatever you do, I am sorry you had to go through the ordeal, including the physical issues and the hassle with the weather, transportation issues and the police incident on top of it. I'm sure it was very frustrating and stressful at the time. Hope you're feeling better and hope all goes well with your treatment.

And for the record, now knowing more, I too think you did the right thing.

If I'm reading this right, it seems like the policeman could have told you that paramedics were on the way......Would have alleviated this whole mess. There's so much taken for granted these days that he may have just assumed you knew that, and we know what assuming does!!

My retired RN friend/neighbor's husband tried the home dialysis for a year. The Dr. had an interest in the "study" being done and suckered the husband into doing it for a better "quality of life". HA, was a nightmare for both of them. Worst year of their 50+ lives.

Well, I guess I have to be the voice of dissent. You knew the snow and ice were on the way, right? You go to dialysis 3 times a week, so the appointment was set long ago, before the snow storm. You should have been calling around the day before to get a ride in order, since the snow and ice didn't arrive over a 30-minute period, it arrived over hours and hours and with advance notice and snow plows always plow over the end of your driveway. It doesn't make it correct to call the police for a ride just because somebody at the hospital told you so, the hospital doesn't run the police department. Your husband and your daughter agreed with you that calling the police for a ride was a good idea, so your daughter must be old enough to use a snow shovel. I'd hate to be the one in a situation that required police only to find out that the officer I needed was giving somebody a ride to an appointment. You are in charge of your life and you need to plan better instead of blaming the police for something you could have planned better for. You need to call the officer and his superior back and tell him you were caught in a bad situation and didn't know how to get out of it and you're sorry for causing a ruckus and you'll plan better next time. The entire situation would have been prevented if you had planned better, knowing it's winter and you need to be at your appointments 3 times a week. This is a harsh response, but I think most of the posters here are patting you on the back and saying what a poor victim you are, but you need to take responsibility for your self. Don't let your mess become a blot on the officer's work history!

It might help here if the original post describing what happened, and when. I'm quoting Jannie's post from her thread on Feb 11th.

Posted by jannie (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 11, 10 at 10:46

I have kidney failure and get dialysis thee mornings a week at 5 am. . We had 14 inches of snow yesterday, and I last shovelled about 3 pm yesterday. I woke at four am to find my car covered with snow in the driveway and my driveway plowed in by the very kind snowplow driver. I tried to warm it up but time was passing. Went inside, phoned three taxi companies, plus an ambulette service. All closed or refused to come out in the bad weather. So I remembered someone at the hospital telling me to call the Fire Dept. I did not call 911. I called a direct line to my local volunteer FD. He took my info and said he'd send an ambulance to transport me to the hospital. A police car showed up first, when he saw I could move around and walk, he told me, go shovel your car out, I'm not taking you. Five minutes later the ambulance came, the two EMTs also told me "This is not an emergency. Don't call us again". But they grudgingly game me a ride. They left me at the Emergency Entrance of the hospital, not anywhere near the Dialysis Unit. I found my way to Dialysis, they told me I did the right thing, this is an emergency in their opinion. So I had my treatment. Time to go home, at 9 am I called 2 taxi companies, the second said he would send a car in 45 minutes. Went to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee, then waited and the cab finally showed up. Gratefiul for the ride home, I gave the driver $20 for a $12 fare. Now I'm home and I still have to dig out that silly car in my driveway. I'm gonna take it easy and start to dig out at noon. Hope your morning is better than mine!

Before you go critizing Jannie for her lack of responsibility for not planning ahead, try walking a mile in her shoes. See how you would feel with the poisons in your body that the kidneys automatically excrete. I don't know her circumstances but her husband may be handicapped, her daughter may not live near her....we don't know. How many neighbours would be up in the middle of the night and would be willing to shovel her out when she has to be at dialysis so early? Are there even neighbour's around her?
Now how does one know in advance that there is going to be a snow storm so severe that you can't get out of your driveway because the snowplow has totally blocked you in? You may go to bed at night knowing it will snow during the night but it is anyone's guess how accurate weather forecasters are, how much snow there will be. Areas in the States that aren't used to snow have been bombarded with snow this year. Would Jannie even be well enough to shovel the snow feeling poorly needing dialysis?

Where I live, police don't automatically come for rescue calls. You explain the circumstances to the 911 operator and they decide who is the best people to dispatch. If it is not an emergency you just call the police station/fire station which Jannie did. How was she to know in advance that the three taxi cabs she tried and the ambulette service wouldn't take her? She exhausted all of her options first.

The police man could have been more help. If he wasn't called out on an emergency it wouldn't have killed him to offer some assistance. It would have been better helping Jannie, than spending time in a coffee shop or just sitting in his car waiting for a call. There are lots of times on a policeman's shift where they aren't doing anything. Yes policemen work hard, when they work, but they do have down times on their shifts as well. Since there are three taxi services where Jannie lives there would be a fair number of policemen as well. Jannie pays taxes and this was a one time emergency and not one that is a habit. Talking to the police chief at least sets a standard in case such a situation should arise with anyone in the future. It does not mean that it will go down on anyone's record. It would be interesting to know what was actually decided by the police chief, if a policy is now in place to help out in situations like this.

You need to call the officer and his superior back and tell him you were caught in a bad situation

I have to disagree. Where I live, they ask private cars to stay off the streets, so that plows and emergency vehicles can get through. One stuck car on a residential street or intersection could impede an ambulance to a critically ill caller.

The police officer owes HER an apology.

I recall when DH took a minor fall, but I felt he had to go to the hospital because his eye was very bloodshot ...feeling that I could get him there myself, we tried and he slipped on the door step and I had to call 911 - the local police responded first, and the policeman gently chided me for not calling 911 in the first place. His words were "That's why we are here, to help you when you need it - next time, call us first".
This is not a rural area, it's a very built up suburban town.

The OP had every right to call for help.

In feeling doubts about calling, she said "I know he would take a bullet for me"....well, in refusing transport to someone who has to get to a medical facility, he was really firing a bullet at her - thankfully, it "missed".

jannie - you have done exactly what you should have done, from start to finish. Don't doubt that.

Thanks for all rhe responses, I would like to consider this matter closed and done. I don't think the cop will be fired over this. When I saw the police report they mailed me, it was marked "low priority". It's not a big deal to them, so I'm putting it all behind me. I've gotten to the hospital evety treatment day since, and hopefully the winter won't last much longer. For the record, ny daughter wasn't home at the time. She was sleeping over a a friends house. And my husband is bedridden, he has MS Multiple Sclerosis. So I was literally on my own that day. Walk a mile in my shoes.

I'm glad to hear you made it to all of your subsequent appointments. Now you can plan ahead by checking a United Way website at http://www.211.org/ and finding the local United Way phone number in your area. Call them and ask for information on who you can call when you need help. If you don't have a computer, call a library and have them look it up for you. No one needs to walk in your shoes to see that your heath and well being are your own responsibility. Self-righteous indignation will not get you to the hospital in a snowstorm.

OBM-I don't recall seeing any past posts from you so I am "assuming" (there I go,assuming) that you are new to this site.If so,it's a shame you started out here on such a bad note.But,it is so wonderful to know that we can come to you for the answers to all of our problems!
Jannie-I'm sorry you had the experience you did with the policeman and dissapointed in some of the negative responses you got here.I wish you well and also think you did the right thing by calling the police station and reporting the incident.

I do believe that this was an emergency and that Jannie did the best she could do. I think it's better that she called the police rather miss her dialysis. Yet I can also see that in certain situations it would be helpful to have the name and number of a local landscaper or a business that would come and plow your driveway out whenever there are so many inches of snow. Had there been a multi-vehicle accident somewhere or a fire there might have been a very long wait until someone was available. My next door neighbor is in poor health and in a wheelchair and he has an agreement with a landscaper to come and check his driveway whenever it snows to make sure he can get out in case he needs to go to the hospital. He said that it gives him some peace of mind to know that he won't be stuck.

Jannie: When you got to your appointment, were there other patients there? With the snow, how did they get there? I think it would be good for you to get to know others there--patients and nurses--and find out if any of them live in your general area. That might help you one day. As another poster wrote, frequently during storms, hospitals put out calls for 4-wheel-drive vehicle owners to get their nurses and doctors together. Maybe there's a phone tree they will add you to so that in dire circumstances, like this one was, there's another possible avenue open to you. I have to say that I'm surprised that the hospital person you spoke to didn't offer you any better help.

I also wonder about something else: The volunteer fire dept told you they'd send an ambulance, but the EMTs were rude to you. Clearly the fire dept person knew what he/she could do for you and what he/she couldn't. I think you needed to follow up with the EMTs more so than the police about why they thought you shouldn't have called, and why they didn't want you to call again. Because you may very well need their help again and you need to make sure everybody's on the same page about what you are (or are not) entitled to as a taxpayer and as a health-compromised person in need.

Also, I don't know how old your daughter is, but during bad weather, why is she staying somewhere else (regardless of her reasons) and not home making sure you and your disabled husband are OK? I do not have children, but that is something I would lay down the law on. Is this something you would consider doing? What if you got to your appt but the weather turned even worse and you could not get home? Who would be with your husband? I know you don't really want to think about that!

I have to say that with my D.C. area being hit by a big snowstorm and a blizzard-- 3 feet of snow, more in other regions here-- I don't know how I would've fared if I were in your situation. Well into the blizzard, an ambulance was called to a home around the corner in my subdivision, and it could not get through the snow to the house. They called in two firetrucks instead.

I'm glad you're past this stressful situation, and I hope that's the end of the bad snowstorms for both of us!

I too think it was an emergency, but with that said---The police dept. should train their officers in what is an emergency in that type of situation. A doctors appointment is not an emergency nor will it be, but a patient in need of dialysis may not be at that moment but will be shortly.

I am sorry the officer attitude was bad but if you are not trained then you don't know. The chief is as responsible as the officer for the lack of knowledge.