Comments on: A Band-Aid and an Ambulance…

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:58:37 +0000

Michael, thanks for your comments. I will say, however, as a longtime customer of LCM, which I gather is now a part of Lifeline, staff in the past have definitely gladly accepted tips, I know this for a fact, as I tend to give tips when service is good. I never FELT pressured into giving a tip, far from it, I voluntarily gave it and it was accepted. I just had a blood test two weeks ago, and my assistant paid the bill so I am pretty sure there was NOT a tip given in the most recent instance, particularly since the nurse called the night before to delay the appointment by half an hour, and I told her to please be on time as I had an important appointment after the blood test, then she proceeded to show up more than 30 minutes late. Before taking my blood, she asked me to confirm the tests I needed, which were quite a lengthy list which we had PREVIOUSLY faxed to your offices to ensure I had all bases covered. It turns out she had an incorrect list of tests to be conducted and it took another 5-10 minutes to sort this out. She took two other blood tests of staff in our home. By the time she left our home, it was nearly 50-55 minutes AFTER the revised and agreed appointment time. Normally, an LCM or Lifeline visit is over and done with in 10-12 minutes, so this was not a typical experience based on at least the dozen times they have been to our home. But it is the MOST RECENT experience.

By: Michael Deakin

Michael Deakin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:31:06 +0000

@Ed, thank you for your diplomacy. As the owner of Lifeline i can assure you that lifeline and it’s crew do not ask, will not ask and will not accept tips. It’s very much against our policy.

Everyone is more than welcome to call lifeline on 16911 or me directly on 8392012 if they have any concerns, questions or need clarifications on our service.

By: ed

ed — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:58:38 +0000

My family had used the Lifeline Arrows services 2x for the last 8 years. Subscribing to them is worth it regardless of the spectacle the flashing lights bring to our small community. Since we are subscribed to their services through a credit card affilliation, the fee is small. In fact I think several neighbors decided to subscribe too after those incidents, even for a higher fee since they are not in a critical mass.

Once, at 1AM for my wife who was in severe abdominal pain, and another when my mother-in-law had a heart attack in the middle of the day while my wife and myself were in Makati working and we live in Paranaque. With the traffic situation when getting to the point of need is crucial and at our confused and untrained state, the presence of a professional who know what they are doing is a life saver, sometimes quite literally. When it happens and saves those whom you care for, it is no laughing matter.

By the way, no one ever spoke to me about tipping or asking for one. We should stop this line of discussion specially if it is speculative as it is unfair to those concerned. If it were true, somebody gave the contacts of Lifeline and take it up with them directly.

I am not a marketing person for this organization. If you find another who has same or better service, please let me know. In the meantime, to these people SALAMAT PO.

By: mikey

mikey — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 10:46:23 +0000

@chito who said people from lifeline don’t have training?

most medics there are emts there are trained by the only emt school in thee philippines. nobody in lifeline claims to be a paramedic, that I assure you. also, they have experienced nurses there who practiced for years in tertiary medical institutions.

I’m with lifeline and I take pride in our institution. I’m guessing either you’re from another ems service or you just don’t know what you’re talking about.

By: chito

chito — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:23:08 +0000

well first they have no training at all….secondly they are happy if you give them first a tip..lastly only in uniforms they say they are paramedics but they are not……….thats life

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:10:51 +0000

Tessa, I have generally heard good things about Lifeline. And having ambulance access seems like a good exchange for their fees. Forget trying to call most local hospitals for an ambulance in a real emergency…

By: Tessa Cruz

Tessa Cruz — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:23:40 +0000

I was just curious – any feedback on the membership with Lifeline Rescue? I’m contemplating enrolling my family. It sounds like an excellent service to have at a reasonable fee. It’s one of the things I’d be willing to pay for and hope that we will never have to use it. I don’t know what the response time and quality is like in an emergency situation in Manila. This would give me some peace of mind.

Thanks for sharing, MM.

By: emsy

emsy — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:47:58 +0000

You know what, I think Kurzhaar’s comments are sort of a reality check for our healthcare system here in the Philippines. Hospitals, at least the ones I go to, treat doctors as if they were gods and most of them come to work late or whatever (and the nurses pooh-pooh over most of them, too!). They also do not want to be “disturbed” when they’re on their mobiles, texting someone and most of the time, they take outrageously long breaks and have you noticed that they don’t call patients in quick succession? It’s like, one patient comes in, gets a check-up, gets blood drawn and is released, then the next patient needs to wait like 7-10 minutes before he/she gets called, because the doctor is relaxing or “freshening up” pa.

And don’t get me started with the blood-drawing process! I can’t for the life of me understand why most diagnostic clinics/labs would have only a couple of med techs to draw blood. That means, if you go there for a blood test and there were like 10 people ahead of you, you’ll have to wait for the better part of an hour before you get called!

By: natie

natie — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:13:03 +0000

all the info will surely come in handy one of these days..

MM, i thought, because of your celebrity status, they all came to see you…and maybe get freebie Zubuchon..

By: Leslie Go

Leslie Go — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:34:10 +0000

Hi! Can you provide contact details of LCM…would like that kind of service….i am so into home service the past few weeks…..home massage….having your dermatologist come over your house…. :) Thanks! Thanks!