As It Happens7:44An off-duty Alberta doctor saved a man’s life with CPR. Then he got a $250 ambulance bill
Dr. Ian Sutanto didn’t expect to get a $250 invoice in the mail after he helped save a man’s life during a basketball game.
Sutanto, a family physician in Edmonton, was at a father-son pickup game with his son on June 19 when one of the dads went into cardiac arrest. He and another father leapt into action, performing CPR and using an automated external defibrillator (AED).
When the ambulances arrived, and the patient was stabilized, one of the paramedics checked on Sutanto, who was feeling winded after all the action.
Three weeks later, he was shocked to get a bill.
“If they see anyone, I guess a bill is generated. I wasn’t aware of that,” Sutanto told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
“Totally appreciative for their work, but, you know, I thought this was, after doing CPR … kind of a courtesy, a nice thing to do just to make sure I was okay.”
Alberta Hospital and Surgical Health Services (AHSH) waived Sutanto’s bill when he pushed back, and says it will review its ambulance billing policy.
Sutanto says this incident has opened his eyes to the high costs of ambulance fees, which he worries could keep patients from calling for help when they need it most.
‘It happened really fast’
Sutanto says he’s never performed CPR outside of a hospital setting before, but when the moment came, he didn’t hesitate.
“It happened really fast. We were in the middle of a play and then I turned around and saw one of the dads kind of collapse on the floor,” he said.
He didn’t have a pulse and he wasn’t breathing.
“The parents kind of mobilized very fast. The coach called 911,” Sutanto said. “Me and another father started CPR almost immediately once we realized he needed that. And once the AED was there, we … cut up his shirt and placed the pads on.”
Pretty soon, there were paramedics onsite, and the patient was resuscitated.
But Sutanto was exhausted. CPR, he says, is physically tiring work — especially after 40 minutes of basketball.
“So the solo paramedic, awesome guy, super nice, he saw that I was laying on the ground, breathing hard and he said, ‘Hey, are you doing OK?'” he said.
“I’m like, ‘I’m just feeling a little lightheaded.’ He asked, you know, ‘Do you want me to check you out?'”
The paramedic checked Sutanto’s vitals, and he was doing fine. Sutanto says he holds no ill-will toward the paramedic for the bill.
Ambulance fees vary by province
The Canada Health Act does not require emergency medical services to be funded through provincial health insurance plans, though some provinces do subsidize medical transportation.
Ambulance fees vary from province to province, ranging from a $45 flat fee in Ontario, to as much as $900 in some parts of Nunavut. Fees are generally much higher for non-residents.
According to Alberta’s policy, people can expect an ambulance bill of $385 if they are transported to hospital, and $250 if they are not.
“If a bystander becomes unwell and consents to an assessment by paramedics, that assessment is considered an emergency health service (EHS), regardless of the reason the ambulance was originally dispatched,” AHSA spokesperson Tom McMillan told CBC in an email.
“Any resulting ambulance bill is consistent with Alberta’s established EHS billing practices.”
Still, he says AHSH cancelled Sutanto’s bill to “ensure the policy’s intended application is clear and transparent for Albertans,” and vowed to “work with the Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services to review the policy.”
P.E.I. MLAs unanimously passed a motion to get rid of a $150 ambulance fee when an Islander dies and donates their organs. The woman behind the motion, Jodi Hebert, got a bill in the mail six weeks after her son died and donated his tissue. She spoke with CBC’s Taylor O’Brien about what it means to have the motion passed.
Sutanto, despite working in health care, says this bill has been a wakeup call.
He’s calling on the province to waive fees automatically for Good Samaritans who assist patients, and reconsider ambulance fees altogether.
“The concern is that patients who really need to aren’t going to ask for the appropriate service that they might need if they’re worried about the cost,” he said.
A 2015 survey commissioned by CBC’s Marketplace found ambulance fees had deterred 19 per cent of respondents in Canada from calling an ambulance. The number was even higher in Alberta at 25 per cent.
“We don’t want to let that be a factor for getting appropriate care,” Sutanto said.
Still, he says, this is ultimately a good news story about the benefits of CPR. The man he helped has been discharged from hospital and is recovering well.
“It’s a life-saving skill,” he said. “Quick reaction, quick care and AED access can be life-saving and you never know when you’re gonna use it. It’s not something we expected that day.”
