South Carolina made the national news again this weekend … and not in a good way.
Several national news outlets have picked up this local story from WCSC TV 5 (Charleston, S.C. – CBS). It’s the tale of 51-year-old Dorchester Country resident Audrey Ferguson, who has been using county ambulances (and the first responders who staff them) as her personal taxi service for the last seven years.
That’s right … seven years.
“She’ll have a vague medical complaint, for instance abdominal pain,” Dorchester County EMS director Doug Warren told the station. “She has medical complaints that are legitimate, and so until she’s been evaluated and determined not to be sick we have to assume she is.”
Of course Ferguson’s modus operandi involved checking herself out of the hospital prior to being evaluated. More than 100 free trips later, somebody finally got suspicious … and she was arrested last week for unlawful use of 9-1-1 and filing a false police report.
The tab for her free rides? More than $400,000 – and that’s not counting the Medicaid portion of the payments.
Amazing isn’t it? And no – we’re not referring to the fact someone would attempt this sort of scam, we’re referring to the fact it took this long for local officials to figure it out. Seriously … way to go, Dorchester County.
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67 comments
And if she’s Denied, she’ll sue…and FITS will be the FIRST Dumb@$$ demanding she has the Right to have anything she wants – taken from those who earn it- and given to her…
Remember FITS, your stupid @$$ told us Romney is the same as Obama…
It’s ignorance like yours, that gives us failure like Obama, and this “entitled” attitude from the Takers of society…
Can you tell us simpleton’s how to post under two different screen names?
excellent observation dwb619!!
I learned to do that at Fork Shoals Elementary.
Mrs Nash, Ms. Ross, Mrs. McKittrick,Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Crawford,Mrs. Kellett
That was what, maybe 2, possibly 3 years ago?
Sadly, more than 45.
One’s a registered name and the other was not…Idiot…
Can you now actually CONTRIBUTE a coherent thought, not based on attacking things bigger and brighter than your punch-drunk, Rachael-Maddow-parroting @$$…
Wow, not bad T
Maybe it’s Big T’s “Doppler- Ganger”?
I’d say yup. Called Tango out as Big T, who’s likely FITS writer, post under Lazenby’s article. Same pattern, same trolling for posts using shallow label attacks.
Big T is a device used by Fitz to drive comments and create controversy. He is no more real than the tooth fairy.
Thanks, you have totally erased any lingering doubts I may have had. Your prose pimped you out.
YOU BETCHA!
YOU BETCHA!
Who’s she?
Sounds like she may have dementia or a psychiatric disorder. The proper venue for that is a mental hospital.
Someone should have told her to read and post here on FitsNews, then she would have known that she was not – ALONE.
LOL!!!!!!
Seriously. Why hasn’t she been evaluated by a psych for this?
Sounds like she may have dementia or a psychiatric disorder. The proper venue for that is a mental hospital.
Someone should have told her to read and post here on FitsNews, then she would have known that she was not – ALONE.
LOL!!!!!!
Seriously. Why hasn’t she been evaluated by a psych for this?
The real amazing thing is that a 20 minute ambulance ride costs 4000 dollars
Wait’ll ObamaCare kicks in, Dumb@$$…you ain’t seen nothing yet…
Exactly.
Remember that it is a round-trip, unless others are picked up along the way.
By the way, where is that most curious persona, SubZero IQ?
She has been filming Myrtle Manor. She’s the old lady who jumped naked into the swimming pool.
Yeah….that’s much better. Only $6000 per hour as opposed to $12,000 per hour. Guess you feel silly now, cuvinny?
The real amazing thing is that a 20 minute ambulance ride costs 4000 dollars
Exactly.
Remember that it is a round-trip, unless others are picked up along the way.
By the way, where is that most curious persona, SubZero IQ?
She has been filming Myrtle Manor. She’s the old lady who jumped naked into the swimming pool.
Yeah….that’s much better. Only $6000 per hour as opposed to $12,000 per hour. Guess you feel silly now, cuvinny?
From Wikipedia: Tango – Health Benefits
(You may come to your own conclusions as to who really is the “GrandTango”)
“Tango from the region of Rio de la Plata was seen in one study to help heal neurological disorders in a manner that was greater than the same amount of regular exercise. Patients given tango classes showed improvements in balance and other measures not seen in another group of patients given regular exercise classes. The researchers said that while dance in general may be beneficial, tango uses several forms of movement including dynamic balance, turning, initiation of movement, moving at a variety of speeds and walking backward. It has also been suggested that tango makes people feel more relaxed, sexier, and less depressed, and to increase testosterone levels.z’
True South Carolinians prefer the “shag”.
From Wikipedia: Tango – Health Benefits
(You may come to your own conclusions as to who really is the “GrandTango”)
“Tango from the region of Rio de la Plata was seen in one study to help heal neurological disorders in a manner that was greater than the same amount of regular exercise. Patients given tango classes showed improvements in balance and other measures not seen in another group of patients given regular exercise classes. The researchers said that while dance in general may be beneficial, tango uses several forms of movement including dynamic balance, turning, initiation of movement, moving at a variety of speeds and walking backward. It has also been suggested that tango makes people feel more relaxed, sexier, and less depressed, and to increase testosterone levels.z’
True South Carolinians prefer the “shag”.
I live in the Charleston area. The reporter who broke this story is Harv Jacobs of channel 5. I grant you that the woman was pretty screwed up in the head but I have to note that this is a typical Harv Jacobs report. He always goes after the “least among us”. You won’t see him applying his investigative skills to crooked car dealerships, law firms, insurance agencies, or any other entities which have substantial advertising budgets. His only focus now, and always has been the weak, the powerless, and the pitiful.
Do you remember Bill Sharpe (also Channel 5) 15 years ago saying on-air that used car dealers are almost as low-ball scum as lawyers? The car dealers damn near had him fired. Harv Jacobs is a little different. He’s got a bald-head problem that keeps him from doing what needs to be done. Bill has lots of hair.
Bill Sharpe is still with Channel 5. I don’t remember that episode…obviously a rare moment of truth.
I live in the Charleston area. The reporter who broke this story is Harv Jacobs of channel 5. I grant you that the woman was pretty screwed up in the head but I have to note that this is a typical Harv Jacobs report. He always goes after the “least among us”. You won’t see him applying his investigative skills to crooked car dealerships, law firms, insurance agencies, or any other entities which have substantial advertising budgets. His only focus now, and always has been the weak, the powerless, and the pitiful.
Do you remember Bill Sharpe (also Channel 5) 15 years ago saying on-air that used car dealers are almost as low-ball scum as lawyers? The car dealers damn near had him fired. Harv Jacobs is a little different. He’s got a bald-head problem that keeps him from doing what needs to be done. Bill has lots of hair.
Bill Sharpe is still with Channel 5. I don’t remember that episode…obviously a rare moment of truth.
Efficient goverment costs money. This is what you get for $ 7.25 per hour.
Efficient goverment costs money. This is what you get for $ 7.25 per hour.
This woman is friends with Judge Goodstein. That’s the only reason she hasn’t been caught until now.
This woman is friends with Judge Goodstein. That’s the only reason she hasn’t been caught until now.
It’s a $400 ride not $4000.
Okay, but still…
Did I miss something? Per FITS blurb $400,000 total cost/100 rides = $4000 per ride. Not saying it’s accurate.
It’s a $400 ride not $4000.
Okay, but still…
Did I miss something? Per FITS blurb $400,000 total cost/100 rides = $4000 per ride. Not saying it’s accurate.
There are some counties where the ambulance service/EMS would have long since reported this woman to DSS Adult Protective Services about a possible mental problem that might mean she is a vulnerable adult and in need of protective services.
Where did this woman go after she left the hospital and how did she get back home? If the ambulance took her, WHY, if she wasn’t evaluated? I would think that would have been a real liability risk for them.
There are some counties where the ambulance service/EMS would have long since reported this woman to DSS Adult Protective Services about a possible mental problem that might mean she is a vulnerable adult and in need of protective services.
Where did this woman go after she left the hospital and how did she get back home? If the ambulance took her, WHY, if she wasn’t evaluated? I would think that would have been a real liability risk for them.