A few weeks ago, I was seriously ill and needed to go to the emergency room. I couldn't make it to the train, so I tried to hail a cab, but was so depleted that my city hustle failed me and another person grabbed it. I decided to Uber. The fact that it was under three minutes away from where I was standing, doing my best not to die in midtown, was its most alluring feature. When the car arrived, I was as calm as possible so as not to panic the driver.

I spent the ride remembering a piece I'd read in which the writer took an Uber in the midst of a life-threatening heart condition. I wondered how many others, against their better judgment, had done the same and why?

Costly Decision

Surge pricing or not, Uber is drastically cheaper than an ambulance. If an ambulance ride is not covered by insurance, it can cost several hundred dollars for a life support ambulance; an advanced life support one costs even more. Mileage and supplies also factor into the price. Whether any of that is covered depends on many things, including municipality (some use tax dollars to cover costs), the patient's insurance provider, and if the emergency is deemed to be life-threatening.

In my case I spent $100 (thanks, Obama, who was in town that day). Steep for a cab ride, but hundreds of dollars less than I could have paid and certainly worth the comfort and convenience. What's more, Uber provides an estimate of how much you'll pay before you ride, which is a considerable advantage over waiting a few weeks for a potentially sky-high ambulance bill.

Time Is of the Essence

The lights and sirens of an ambulance are a reassurance that help is on the way. But there is no accounting for how long it will take from the moment one is called until it arrives. Anyone who lives in a city and has seen emergency vehicles trapped in traffic knows they are in for a very uncertain wait. Dispatchers have real-time maps for ambulances, but there is no patient-facing display.

Uber, however, displays a map of a car's location. As actress Jaime King said on The Tonight Show, she opted for an Uber when she was in labor because "I know [Uber says] three minutes away and an ambulance you don't know."

Define Emergency

Honestly, one of the top reasons why I called an Uber instead of an ambulance was that while I felt awful, I wasn't sure if my condition required the resources of an ambulance. I did not want to waste time trying to get a receptionist to reach my doctor to have her assess how much care I needed and how fast.

Sometimes, the Uber versus ambulance decision is the call of a medical professional, though it can be just as questionable a choice as if a patient makes it themselves. One man in London who broke his leg in an altercation in which his bike was stolen, called an ambulance only to be told that he was not injured seriously enough to receive care. He took an Uber to a hospital.

EMS systems face so much volume that they may actually look to Uber for help. Washington D.C. is now considering hiring nurses to evaluate EMS calls and, in some cases, recommending that callers seek transportation by Uber.

Driver Surprise Me

In all of this, though, there is one major person who has not been consulted: the driver. Uber drivers have to put up with all sorts of things, but playing ambulance driver is one of the most extreme.

Driver forums are filled with talk about passengers taking the service in emergencies. Driver reaction varies from willing to worried to fed up. One driver in D.C. had a particularly hairy ride. As he recounted in a post: "When I got there, to my (then) dismay, I see him literally dragging himself towards my car, hand on his chest, stating he was having chest pains and was getting dizzy. I offered to call 911, as the hospital he wanted to go to was over 15 minutes away but he insisted for me to take him."

An Uber spokesperson told PCMag that the company is proud to have helped with public emergencies. It stayed active following the Boston Marathon bombing, while public transportation was on lockdown, so family members could visit those injured in the hospital. Uber also has a national partnership with the American Red Cross to give rides and donations during community emergencies. But the Uber spokesperson stressed that in individual situations, "Uber isn't designed to be a substitute for emergency authorities."

Medical Intervention

Uber has taken initiative to expand into the medical space, though. Last year, it retained Dr. John Brownstein, professor at Harvard Medical and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital as its health adviser.

"I think there's anecdotal evidence of people in emergency situations finding the use of an Uber to be the quickest path when they need help," Brownstein said, acknowledging but not necessarily agreeing with how patients use Uber. But "I think that there's overuse of certain types of transportation that could potentially be diverted to less costly forms of transportation," he said.

Toward that end, Uber formed partnerships with health systems, including MedStar Health and Hackensack University Medical Center, to transport patients to non-emergency medical appointments, something with which rival Lyft is also experimenting. Sometimes the facility will pay some or all of the cost of the ride, as it's less expensive than a canceled appointment, Brownstein said.

As Uber ramps up its own efforts, there are services that are looking to fully blend Uber and ambulance services, but it's slow-going so far. Stat came on to the scene three years ago, promising on-demand emergency services in Philadelphia, but it seems to have quietly flatlined.

The real emergency is the need for services that can handle transportation for patients in a convenient and affordable manner. So far, there is no help to be found and patients are left writing prescriptions for Uber for themselves.

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