Awful scene on the orange line. A woman’s leg got stuck in the gap between the train and the platform. It was twisted and bloody. Skin came off. She’s in agony and weeping. Just as upsetting she begged no one call an ambulance. “It’s $3000,” she wailed. “I can’t afford that.”
1/ Here is a thread with some background and a link following up on my original tweet about the woman who slipped through the gap on the platform of the MBTA Orange line: bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/07/…
2/ The video shows at least ten passengers pushing on the car to get her out. To see so many people rush to help a person they didn't know was incredibly moving. Afterwards, one woman who helped the injured woman wiped her hands with a napkin. She had woman’s blood on her.
3/ I fired off a tweet about what I saw as I rushed from the train to pick up my daughter at day care. In an hour, it had been retweeted and liked hundreds of time. To say this woman’s plight touched a nerve would be a gross understatement.
4/ People have emailed me and tweeted at me with questions about how to help her pay her medical bills. Others have wanted to know if she was insured. To both, I can only say I’m trying to reach her to find out answers.
5/ Luckily, she apparently suffered no broken bones but the EMTs who responded said she would need surgery. When I saw her sitting on the platform, she was shaking, crying, in terrible pain and very scared about what this injury would do to her financially.
6/ People have asked me if an uber could have been called instead. This morning, someone emailed me a link to a study about how uber can reduce the need for ambulances: news.ku.edu/2017/12/08/ube…
7/ From what I saw on that platform on Friday, the idea of random people picking up this injured woman, carrying her through the crowd then up the elevator and through the station to a waiting car would have been a bad one. A nurse standing by said she needed an ambulance
8/ The injured woman said the ambulance would cost her $3000. EMS tells me the price would have been more like $1200 for someone with her injuries. That's still a hefty price tag.
9/ In Massachusetts, people are required to have health insurance but deductibles can add up to $6,000 for individuals and $12,000 for families, according to Brian Rosman, policy director of Health Care for All - @HCFA
10/ “We’re finding that more and more employers are providing these high deductible plans and that’s an issue in Massachusetts," Rosman said. "The price of medical care continues to skyrocket and we need to address that.”
11/ People with no insurance or bad insurance may qualify for federal or state help, he said. Some news you can use: Anyone struggling with bills should call 800-272-4232 to see if they qualify for assistance.
12/ Rosman urged: "Anyone who is worried about what coverage they can get, please call us. We have counselors in English, Spanish and Portuguese.”
13/ Signing off on this for now. Thanks for bearing with me and I hope the information helps someone out there.
Update to this: if you need info on this today and tomorrow go to the website: mahealthconnector.org/help-center - the helpline is closed today and tomorrow for the holidays.
