Woman faked ailment to get ambulance ride

[left-of-center2012]

Police: Jeannette, PA, woman faked ailment to get ambulance ride, assaulted workers at Greensburg hospital

A Jeannette woman faked a medical problem over the weekend in order to get an ambulance ride to the hospital where her husband was being treated, Greensburg police allege.

But after Alysia A. Edwards, 27, arrived at Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg and learned her husband already had been discharged, she became angry and assaulted a nurse and a responding police officer, police wrote in court documents.

Edwards was arraigned on two counts of aggravated assault and single counts of insurance fraud, public drunkenness and assault by a prisoner. District Judge Helen Kistler on Sunday ordered her held in the county prison after she failed to post $25,000 bond.

Patrolman Regina McAtee wrote in an affidavit that she was went to the hospital about 1:30 p.m. Saturday for a reported disturbance.

“When (Edwards) arrived at the hospital, it was discovered that Alysia only wanted transported to the hospital to see her husband, who was admitted earlier. When Alysia found out her husband was released, she began having a fit on the stretcher in the middle of the emergency room,” McAtee wrote.

When a nurse told ambulance medics that Edwards wanted to be released, Edwards tried to assault the nurse, McAtee alleged. Police said the nurse secured Edwards until hospital security officers arrived.

When McAtee arrived and placed Edwards in the patrol car, Edwards began kicking the partition window and screaming, and she spit on the police officer, McAtee wrote.

McAtee said the nurse wasn't injured but wanted a criminal complaint filed against Edwards.

Court documents did not disclose what ailment Edwards claimed she had or why her husband was taken to the hospital earlier Saturday.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 1 before District Judge Chris Flannigan in Greensburg.

[Ohiogal]

1. What a nutter. I hope she doesn't own any guns.

[CatMor]

2. Wonder what this nutcase will do when she gets the bill for the ambulance ride.

[Lee-Lee]

3. Extremely common behavior, sadly

If your hospital is near anything that people want to go to you will have people using the EMS service as a free taxi ride.

Call, complain of a headache or back pain or other ailment that isn’t visible to the paramedics and can’t be tested for, get to the hospital, feel better and check yourself out.

I know of a county where the hospital was less than a mile from Wal-Mart, and they have multiple people wanting rides to get close to Wal-Mart every week. They can’t refuse a call or refuse to transport a person who claims a medical issue, no matter how much they know they are faking.

It got so bad they had to start prosecuting people. Turns out juries don’t like it when you hear an 911 call claiming excruciating back pain, the person denies any problems once the reach the hospital, walk to Wal-Mart and they see them carrying lots of heavy bags out. Then younshow this happening 2-3x a month. Then they get told the cost of each ambulance ride and how many hours that ambulance wasn’t available for real medical emergencies because of those person over the last year.

[Nay]

4. Yep. EMTs used to call these people "frequent flyers." Prosecution of these types is

a good idea.