When it comes to medical transportation, it’s pretty common for patients to get confused between non-emergency transportation and ambulance services. It’s because people can choose any vehicle and ambulance from NEMT service providers. Still, there’s a thin line between non-emergency medical transportation and ambulance services.
While ambulance services are strictly reserved for people with emergencies, NEMT ambulance services can be used for other purposes like long-distance transport, bariatric transport, bedside-to-bedside, and more. To use both these services effectively, it’s important to understand the differences between the two.
Let’s start by learning about the primary differences between non-emergency medical transportation and emergency medical transportation.
What Are NEMT Services?
Since ambulances are strictly used for emergency needs, this leaves a wide range of opportunities for NEMT or non-emergency transportation for patients who have mild injuries but still need proper transportation. This is where non-emergency ambulance service comes into play.
NEMT transportation is designed for individuals or patients who need medically focused transportation but in non-emergency situations. It means the patients may not suffer a heart attack; however, they may have a certain heart condition that restricts them from traveling in public transportation.
Therefore, NEMT can assist them to reach a medical facility or their doctor’s appointments safely with a medically-trained staff onboard. Anytime there are serious health risks for a patient who needs medical transport, going with NEMT services makes perfect sense.
What Are Ambulance Services?
Ambulance services are an important part of emergency medical transportation or EMS. Generally, in the United States, you call 911 in case an emergency occurs and ambulances are dispatched as fast as possible. Since it’s specially designed to handle the emergency needs of a patient, ambulances are always well equipped.
It means you will get all the necessary supplies starting from medical equipment to a team of trained staff to take good care of the patients. Typically, for ambulances, the destination would be a trauma center or hospital where patients will receive further treatment. Ambulances are mostly used in cases of stroke, heart attack, etc.
Although emergency ambulances and non-emergency ambulances may sound similar, you will find differences in terms of booking appointments, comfort, and other factors. Most people widely recognize ambulance services as they see them on the road with loud sirens and moving at high rates of speed.
When Do You Use a NEMT Service?
So, when do you use a NEMT service? This is often a confusing part for most people. However, the name NEMT itself implies that patients don’t need to be in an emergency situation to book a non-emergency ambulance service. It means you can opt for a NEMT service when situations aren’t life-threatening.
There are many reasons why people use NEMT, and it can be used for other situations that do not require medical reasons. For example, a wedding or family reunion can be a good reason to use NEMT services, especially for handicapped people or those living with a range of health conditions such as mental illness or on life support machines.
Here are a few examples of using NEMT services:
For Medical Appointments
If you are unable to reach a medical facility or doctor’s clinic to get your medical appointments done, then a non-emergency ambulance service is ideal for you. It caters to people who may not have transportation to reach the desired destination for their medical checkups.
In fact, even though you have your own transportation, you may not be able to drive efficiently due to a lack of mobility, injuries, or other conditions. In these types of situations, you can choose a NEMT vehicle equipped with a stretcher, wheelchair, and other support system to safely reach the destination.
For Long-Distance Travel
Sometimes, patients may need to travel long-distance but they’re not in a state of condition to take public transport. In such cases, a non-emergency ambulance service would be much more helpful. You may need to travel long-distance to check a doctor from another state or another country but getting reliable transport is important.
Patients with spinal cord injuries, fractures, or any other physical injuries need extreme care and support while traveling a long distance in these conditions. This is the reason why NEMT is designed where you will not only get especially equipped vehicles but also medically trained staff to avoid any unpleasant incidents during the travel.
For Bariatric Transportation
Transporting bariatric patients isn’t an easy task. It takes a lot of knowledge, specially equipped vehicles, and experience to safely take these individuals to a medical facility. Previously, bariatric patients had to deal with a lot of embarrassment in society while traveling on public transport, making their life even more difficult.
As a result, most of these individuals used to refrain from getting their medical checkups done. Nevertheless, this can be completely avoided with a non-emergency transport facility. Not only there are specially equipped vehicles but also there are trained staff to give company to patients while traveling to their destinations.
For Leisure Travel
While NEMT services can be used for medical reasons, there are no hard and fast rules in it. You can book a non-emergency ambulance service for leisure travel. For example, seniors or specially-abled individuals may want to visit their friends and families but are incapable of traveling by public transport. NEMT can be helpful here.
These are a few reasons why NEMT services can be effectively used. However, you must always conduct enough research before hiring a NEMT service provider and discuss all the hidden costs attached to it. It’s because there are so many unprofessional claiming themselves the best while providing poor-quality services.
How Do I Get Professional Non-Emergency Ambulance Service?
CienOne is a top-tier non-emergency ambulance service provider where you can book vehicles for any of your non-emergency requirements. We have specially equipped vehicles that facilitate all the modern amenities along with stretchers, life support systems, and other essentials.
For patients who need to travel long-distance, we offer long-distance ambulance service that ensures the highest level of safety and comfort for the patients. To get more information about our NEMT ambulance services, along with the pricing, contact us today and see how easy and fast it is to book our professional NEMT services.