Is there free or low cost health care from a 23 year old male in Sacramento, Ca?!
Question: My son assisted a victim of a shooting by holding the wound in the victim's abdomen closed until the paramedics arrived. He washed all the blood off his hands, but I am still concerned about the possibility of a disease being transmitted. He said he did have a scabbed over wound on his finger. Is there somewhere that my son can get a free or low cost blood test? He has been laid off work and cannot afford to go to the doctor? Any ideas out there? Thanks!
Answers: My son assisted a victim of a shooting by holding the wound in the victim's abdomen closed until the paramedics arrived. He washed all the blood off his hands, but I am still concerned about the possibility of a disease being transmitted. He said he did have a scabbed over wound on his finger. Is there somewhere that my son can get a free or low cost blood test? He has been laid off work and cannot afford to go to the doctor? Any ideas out there? Thanks!
Good for your son! Too many won't do anything for anyone. (Have you considered calling the media to get a feature story on him. Maybe someone would offer him a job? His character would a huge plus.)
I don't live in California, so I'm not sure if you have this listing, but try as MOST communities do:
Community Information and Referral
It should be in the phone book and they may be aware of special programs. As his main concern is no doubt AIDS, there probably IS free testing out there, maybe even anonymous testing (which is what I'd advise as because later on an insurer can have a hissy as to WHY he had an AIDS test). He should also consider Hep B testing. I doubt that would be totally free, but there MUST be some "free clinics." Probably not totally free as most charge SOMETHING, but they can't charge him much if he's unemployed.
He could also call the local fire department or police department to see if they know of something if you don't have that listing in the book. With so few citizens stepping forward, I'd think they'd know this and want to at least pass the info on.
Thankfully the odds he caught ANYTHING are quite low and actually a delay between exposure and testing is not necessarily bad as if he did catch something it might take some time to show.
He may qualify for Medi-Cal:
http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/individuals/Pages...
If he had insurance at work, did he get COBRA?
If he's basically healthy, he should be able to get something on his own (like an HSA). I understand he's not working now, but he needs to see if he can get coverage as soon as possible.
Also there might be a church that would help him out with testing.
God bless.
If u guys have a community hospital they should do it..or planned parent hood..they take male patients as well just tell them u need an aids test or whatever.