What's your Emergncy room experisnce?
By MZKUMA
@MZKUMA (705)
United States
April 10, 2009 3:22am CST
While they are working on health care reform, they need to revamp the ER facilities (at least locally where I live). It's ridiculous! Patient enters ER at 5pm and c/o of excessive bleeding and doesn't get seen until 1:45 am. There has to be a better way than the way it has been operating. I am totally convinced that in a medical emergency...the WORST place to go is to the EMERGENCY ROOM. I've said it before....it should be called the waiting room. Sad part is, you feel so helpless to do something to change it. Next time me or a loved one go, it will be via ambulance. At least you will be on a stretcher.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@MysticTomatoes (1053)
• United States
1 May 09
My husband is an RN. He did a rotation through the ED and trauma before settling on what he does now. The ED is always full and people always have to wait because other people think their hangnail or their cough is an emergency. It's not. Go home. To quote that great philosopher, Gregory House, most of the cases in the ED can be cured by a monkey and a bottle of Motrin. If it's not an emergency, stay home.
Ambulance rides do get special treatment, but if you're not in active labor pushing a baby out, bleeding or dying or on fire, you're still going to wait. People who come in to the ED through an ambulance do get seen faster, but you don't get treated any faster. You get triaged according to your injury. In some cases, you'll be there waiting 30+ hours to see a doctor and then get a bill for $40,000 for a 20 hour visit.
1 person likes this
@MZKUMA (705)
• United States
1 May 09
Mystic thanks for responding. What you say is true. However, the kid who came in late and was put through ,,,,had nothing to do with being high priority injury. His mother cam in with her uniform and badge on. The kid was sitting there playing with his game. No apparent distress. When I confronted them about this they claim he was going down stairs to the first help care...which wasn't true because they close at a certain time. Otherwise, you are correct..the ER os supposed to function as described.
1 person likes this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
10 Apr 09
Actually, if the situation is serious at all you should go by ambulance because they will take you right in that way. I've experienced some waits but have also gotten in pretty quickly...it all depended on the time of day (or night) and the situation.
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
10 Apr 09
I've had many ER visits and they were horrible, but only once for something immediately life threatening. I was in anaphylactic shock, and apparently the epinephrine is kept under lock and key and the nurse who had the key wasn't even in the damned building.... I've also been to the ER where the doctor was in such a hurry to leave that all of the medical information and diagnosis wasn't given to me. She simply said that I had pneumonia which was done by having a nurse hand me discharge papers. As it turns out, they had discovered I had a lung tumor and a blood disorder. Another occassion I had sprained my ankle and torn a ligament and sat for 6 1/2 hours without a bag of ice. And there were no trauma patients. In fact, that hospital so... well, they have a hospice section, no OB/Delivery ward (not even available, you gotta drive at least 45 miles) and we refer to it as "The Band Aid Station".
