Can an Ambulance take someone that doesn't want to go?

Post » Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:53 am

Hopefully this isn't considered "medical" advice, if it is, I apologize and just close the thread.

Right now my dad is having massive trouble breathing, and neither me nor my mom can convince him to go to the doctors or the hospital. He just walked into his house a few minutes ago, and I could literally hear him wheezing worse then a person with emphysema and pneumonia put together from the moment he walked in the door. This has been going on for over a week and he just keeps saying "That's life" when I or my mom tell him he's killing himself.

So, my question is, if I called 911, and explained the situation to them, could they send an ambulance and take him to the hospital without his permission? My wife says no because he's fully cognizant and aware of himself, but I think they might because even if he is fully in control of his faculties he is making decisions that are obviously seriously affecting his health in a negative way(by refusing to go to the hospital/doctors and letting his breathing get worse). But I don't want to waste their time if they can't force him to go.

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cutiecute
 
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Post » Wed Apr 15, 2015 11:15 am

Keep 911 on speeddial in case the event occurs, because unless he's deemed mentally incompetent beforehand, the ambulance cannot legally take him if he refuses to go.

That said, depending on his stubbornness and general personality, he could decide to go ahead to get his breathing checked out because you've already called the ambulance, yadda yadda yadda. Just know that you'll end up footing an ambulance bill if the EMTs decide that it's not an emergency and/or your dad refuses service. I wouldn't call for an ambulance unless I was pretty damn sure he was the kind to accept help only when the help is already there right in front of him, though.

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josh evans
 
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Post » Wed Apr 15, 2015 5:03 pm

Unless your father is deemed incapable of making decisions for himself (something that is often decided by a probate court and mental health professionals), then there is nothing you can do, aside from trying to convince him to go. The ambulance will most definitely not transport him against his will, nor will doctors treat him against his will. People have a right to refuse medical treatment.

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Hilm Music
 
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Post » Wed Apr 15, 2015 2:24 pm

Yup was able to refuse norco at the hospital I went to a few weeks back still wish I refused the Valium as well.

I remember the ambulance being called for my brother for his congestive heart failure a few years ago, the ambulance was here for awhile though.
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Danial Zachery
 
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