Canadian Man Saves Stranger’s Life By Giving Him CPR. Then He Gets A Bill For $250: ‘That’s A Slap In The Face’

When you attempt to save a person’s life, you don’t expect to get a bill from the ambulance afterward.

But that’s what one Canadian man says happened after he performed CPR on a man who collapsed during a basketball game.

The TikTok creator, @crazylegodad, shared the story in a recent video on the platform, which got over 79,300 views.

Why Was He Charged By The Canadian Health Authority?

“So today I got a surprise $250 bill from Alberta Health Services for saving someone’s life,” the creator says.

According to him, he was playing basketball when, after about 40 minutes, someone collapsed.

“They stopped breathing, their heart stopped beating,” he explains.

The creator says he and another bystander started CPR. Luckily, there was also an AED nearby. They shocked the man twice and performed CPR for about 10 minutes.

“We had successfully revived him by the time fire and paramedics showed up,” he says.

After playing basketball and doing 10 minutes of CPR, he says he felt faint and lightheaded. So the paramedics checked his blood pressure and attended to him for a little bit.

According to the creator, the paramedics wanted to transport him for further evaluation. He declined because he felt he was just dehydrated and exhausted.

“I know ambulance services are not covered, but I never actually took an ambulance,” he says.

That’s why the bill surprised him.

“You would think that even if they did have to charge for coming to check on someone, they wouldn’t charge a first responder who was just being a good Samaritan,” he says.

There’s An Update

After tagging Alberta Health Services and some media organizations in the video’s caption, the creator shared a follow-up clip. In it, he says the health organization reached out to him to waive the fee.

Not only that, he says AHS told him it would review the current policies that generated the invoice. He says he hopes something good comes out of this and promised to keep his viewers updated.

Why Was He Charged?

In Alberta, ambulance services are not automatically free just because the province has public health care.

According to Alberta’s official government site, the provincial rate for ground ambulance service is $250 if a patient is not transported and $385 if a patient is transported. The government says it funds EMS, and only a small portion of the actual emergency health services cost is charged to the patient.

There are exemptions to the fee, such as seniors, First Nations people, Albertans receiving certain health benefits through Income Support, and more.

So, technically, if EMS checks you out and you are treated as a patient, a bill can be generated even if you’re not the person who called.

However, if you believe you shouldn’t be charged for a bill through AHS, there are ways to ask questions or make a case that you should not be held responsible for the payment. AHS recommends contacting its finance department at 1-855-919-6097 or through [email protected].

Commenters Couldn’t Believe The Bill

In the comments, viewers were shocked that he was charged at all.

“$250?! In Ontario, an ambulance bill is $45,” one commenter wrote. “Also, the fact they charged you for anything AT ALL, is insane.”

Another viewer encouraged him to keep pushing the story publicly.

“Absolutely not,” they wrote. “I noticed you tagged a couple of news outlets. Keep that up. None of this makes sense. I would be furious.”

Someone else wanted to know what the bill was even for.

“Is it an itemized bill?” they asked. “Like what are they charging for – it doesnt even make sense.”

@crazylegodad Got charged $250 for being checked out after doing CPR. Thanks Alberta!! #albertahealthservices #albertalife #edmonton #doctorlife @ctv @Globalnews.ca ♬ original sound – ✨LEGO DAD✨

The Mary Sue has reached out to the creator via TikTok and Instagram and to AHS via media contact.

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