Did I miss the part where the hospital was billed for the firefighters time? It's would be insanity to let them get away with this for free.
But my point is that if hospitals help firefighters treat patients without charging the firefighters, then why should the firefighters charge the hospital to help the hospital treat patients? That's not reciprocal.
> The guys charging $100 for a box of tissues don't get to become collectivists all of the sudden.
When you say "don't get to be", do you mean shouldn't get to be? Are you sure the firefighters did actually charge the hospital for this?
(Paramedics do _way_ more than just provide a taxi service, but that's the bit that's relevant to the analogy)
Hospitals do consult on EMS calls at times, often without billing for it.
Not all hospitals bill for every little thing, that really depends on the hospital and how they are funded. For example there are a number of children's hospitals that are funded by grants, donations and endowments. And some hospitals like the VA hospital system are funded by the government to serve specific segments of the population.
They don't bill on a per-call basis, but you can be sure that if a hospital is providing medical control services to an EMS agency there is a contract in place and they are being compensated for it (either a flat annual fee, or by some other means)