A man who rescued a family trapped in an overturned car last year received a nearly $150 bill last Sunday.
In September 2015, Derrick Deanda smashed the window of a van in Elk Grove, California and pulled a man and his three children out who were trapped inside. While doing so, he says, he suffered a small cut on his hand.
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Paramedics took Deanda’s pulse and give him a bottle of water. Nearly nine months later, he says he got a bill for $143.
“I pulled up right as it happened. There was a guy standing inside the van, because it was on its side, holding a 2 year-old infant,” he told CBS on Monday. “I mean why would I want to stop to help somebody if I’m going to get a bill for $150?”
On Facebook, Deanda posted a picture of the bill and a photo of the crashed van.
Deputy Chief Mike McLaughlin with Cosumnes Community Services District told CBS that it is standard procedure to bill anyone who gets an assessment by paramedics.
“We’re obligated to provide the same level of service, the same billing the same everything, for every patient we encounter,” he said.
Deanda became a patient when he suffered the cut, McLaughlin explained.
“This is truly a unique situation. In my 28 years, this is the first time I’ve run in a situation similar to this.”
The district started implementing the assessment fee two years ago.
But in this case, McLaughlin said he hopes the fee gets waived.
“There is a mechanism for appealing this, a mechanism for making this right. Our desire it to make it right,” he said.
Deanda said he will continue to stand his ground; he says he doesn’t deserve a bill just for receiving a bottle to clean off his hand. He plans to appeal and hopes to resolve the matter before it goes to collections.
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