When Annette Spinak fell in her home and couldn’t get up, she called 911 for help.
What she didn’t know is that call was going to leave her with a bill for $213.
“I was pissed off,” she said.
“Why would you give me a bill? For what? I didn’t go to the hospital?”
Spinak said she was in her home recently when she fell and medical issues prevented her from being able to stand, so she reached for her phone and called 911.
Paramedics arrived and she was helped up off the ground and given oxygen. She also had her heart and blood pressure checked, she said.
She specifically didn’t go in the ambulance to avoid the fee, she added, saying she didn’t know she would be charged at all and wants others to know about the charges.
“I never thought that they would come in and charge me for anything,” she said. “There’s no way. I got no forewarning.”
The province said ambulance services aren’t covered under the Canada Health Act and just because you didn’t take a trip in the ambulance doesn’t mean you didn’t use its services.
Spinak said that’s unfair when the same level of care would have been free for her in a hospital.
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The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service told Global News there are sometimes fees associated with calling 911.
“Individuals who receive treatment and assessment in their home will still receive a bill for these services,” said spokesperson Erin Madden.
“If individuals have specific concerns about any of the fees they have received, they can forward those concerns to the WFPS for investigation and review.”
A breakdown of some of the costs are available online.
If people don’t pay the fee, the bill will be sent to a collection agency.
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