[robotnixon]

There was a This American Life episode with a story about a woman attacked by a rabid raccoon. She called a few local health departments but since it was the weekend they were all closed so she left voicemails. She then went to the ER and was told that she had 10-14 days to get vaccinated.

Luckily one of the health departments called back and let her know she actually needed to get a rabies vaccination within 72 hours of the attack, which means she needed it today.

She was referred to her county's health department who informed her that they wanted to test the raccoon for rabies first and the closest lab was 2 hours away. After pleading with them they referred her to a hospital in another county, who refused to give it to her because she was from a different county. After pleading with them they finally gave her the shot, but in the wrong place.

She then had to fight with eight separate doctors to give her the 5 follow-up shots.