Mary Mahoney

Review of UMass EMS

On Saturday February 2nd my father had to be taken...

On Saturday February 2nd my father had to be taken to the ED at St. Vincent's twice. The first time the EMTs were very nice, however the 2nd time one of the EMTs was extremely rude and condescending.

My 84 year old father has been very ill since the beginning of January, and I have been very stressed out caring for him, multiple trips to the ER, two hospital stays and two surgeries. When the EMTs arrived for the second call of the day, this particular man was very gruff, wanting to know why we called them, asking my father questions that did not pertain to his transportation. At one point, I muttered under my breath, "just take him." I acknowledge this was rude, and apologized right away when the EMT yelled at me. Three other times before they took my father this man gruffly said to me and my father that they were not a taxi service, they were for sick people. I told him every time that I understood and apologized for my earlier snarky comment.

My father could not walk. I physically could not carry him, and the hospital told me to call the ambulance. This man was so condescending that he made me cry. This took place around 1:30 on Saturday February 2nd. The firefighters who were on the scene tried to make me feel better, acknowledging his behavior was rude. Even the hospital staff was mortified when they heard our story.