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The hospital emergency room.

MJ5150

MJ5150

Moderator
Staff member
Gold Supporting Member
Apr 12, 2001
17,407
35,726
Edinburg, Texas
#1
I had the privilege of spending five or so hours in my local hospital Monday night into Tuesday morning. My father complained of chest pain, slurred speech, and difficulty walking, so I drove him in. My father is old school, and absolutely, positively, demanded no 911 or ambulance ride.

Upon arrival, I found it so very interesting how people define a medical emergency in 2013. We sat around people who didn't "feel good". A young lady near us thought she might have the flu. One lady was there with her four kids, and she was having knee pain. Another man hurt his finger in the car door when he closed it. I overheard a woman talking to her daughter about a vaginal infection. In came a woman who had a sore back. Later in the evening a couple came in who wanted someone to clean their ears out since it was hard for them to hear. One guy thought he had gall bladder problems and wanted an operation to fix them. Maybe it's just me, and I don't get what a medical emergency is. Maybe I was just hyper sensitive because of the condition of my father.

-Mike
 
#3
I hope your dad's OK.


I drove a guy I work with to the Emergency room after he ran his fingers through a chain/sprocket assembly. His fingertips were flattened, punctured and bleeding. I think it took 3 or 4 hours before anyone saw him. I would have considered that an Emergency, but there was no real sense of urgency on the behalf of the people working there. (They did take the guy who came in as the result of a chainsaw accident right away)



How many posts is it going to take before this thread turns political and is put down by a moderator?
 
#4
I took my wife the ER in early November. That was the first time I have been in an ER in 15 years. There were at least 50 people there waiting to see a doctor. My wife had kidney stones, (lots of pain) so they put her to the head of the line and took her back to a bed right away. We were there about 8 hours so I started to listen to what was going on around me. I too was amazed how many people there were using the ER for their primary care. One person even had a hang nail and was there to have his nail cut back by a doctor. Just a sign of the times.
 
#5
As someone who experienced a lot of gallbladder problems. Rest assured that is an emercency situation. You well likely might think you are having a heart attack.

Im afraid I have no way of judging the vaginal infection. But if she was my date....
 
#6
People that don't have much, if any, money and no insurance go to the state hospital ER for all medical needs because it doesn't cost a fortune like paying out of pocket to a GP for each visit and test.

At least that's why they do it around here.

Phalex said:
How many posts is it going to take before this thread turns political and is put down by a moderator?
Click to expand...

Yeah... :hmm: I should probably delete the above post before someone takes it the wrong way and laments the fall of society... I'm not being political, though. I'm just explaining what I've observed.
 
#7
I got into a fistfight once. My nose was broken and my glasses were shattered and I had shards of lens in my eyes. (Not a violent guy...it was the first and last major fight in my life) Took 7 hours for someone to see me.

You'd think my blood soaked face and clothes and temporary blindness would have been enough to get me to the front of the line, but apparently not.

I have no idea what the guidelines for emergency room order of urgency protocols are, but they could probably use some rethinking.
 
#8
I hope your dad's ok. My medically unprofessional opinion of what is an emergency in an ER is anything that's either life threatening or disfiguring. Anyone who's there for any other reason are impeding the staff's ability to treat the people that the ward is put there for.
 
#9
Hope your old mans okay!

I spent about 4 hours waiting in an emergency room after I blew my knee out. They wouldnt even get me another bag of ice... Whatever, I'm over that now. But I saw a couple of stories like you explained. One mans daughter had a tummy ache (not even crying about it, so seriously doubt a serious thing) and a couple of people walked in with no bandages or anything other smiles on their faces. In my opinion, people are getting way soft in what is considered an emergency and need to quit clogging up the ER for no reason. I went two weeks with a broken foot, one night with a broken arm, and have dealt with many long, deep cuts without stitches. Only been to the ER for myself that one time, and I never want to do it again. Popped my kneecap out 3 times since then, just pop it back in and keep on trucking.

But seriously, I hope your dad is all good!
 
#10
First off, I hope you father's okay.

I'm guessing the place you went didn't have walk-in appointments. At the place I used to go, I could wait six weeks for an appointment or a few hours for a walk in appointment. I almost always chose the walk-in option. I've since discovered that it's MUCH easier to get an appointment with a private practice doc.
 
#11
My pop was admitted early this morning, and is still there for monitoring. He had a heart attack in 2006, a stroke a few years before that, and three stents. So extra precautions for people like him.

I was more concerned for my fathers welfare, but the people sitting around us with their little ailments were really pissing me off.

-Mike
 
#12
Also I think the reason we see so many non emergency cases in the er is because many people have no where else to turn being uninsured

If my wife gets the flu and ends up bad enough to need medicine. The er is her only choice. No doctor will see her here unless we can afford to pay in advance.

Edit. This is only to illustrate a fact in my families case. This is not a political endorsement of anything. Please don't reply with intent to go there.
 
#13
Using emergency facilities for non-emergency general practitioner patient care is a well-established resource suck, time-consuming, inefficient, and expensive for hospitals, and something that should have been addressed long ago.

I'll say it---our medical care system definitely needed some oversight, and I don't think anyone of any affiliation denied that reality. The question is: Did we do it the right way? Only time will tell.

I hope your dad's okay Mike.
 
#15
many doctors offices instruct patients to go to the ER outside of normal hours of operation.

gallbladder most certainly is an emergency. actual flu can be life threatening and still kills many people every year. shutting your finger in a car door can be a broken bone. sore back and sore knees could be signs of many serious things, depending on severity. any infection is serious.

4-5 hours seems to be the norm for ER visits i spend a lot of time there with my wife.

of course you also have the hypochondriacs, attention seekers, and drug addicts.
 
#17
DwaynieAD said:
many doctors offices instruct patients to go to the ER outside of normal hours of operation.

gallbladder most certainly is an emergency. actual flu can be life threatening and still kills many people every year. shutting your finger in a car door can be a broken bone. sore back and sore knees could be signs of many serious things, depending on severity. any infection is serious.
Click to expand...

This.

My one trip to a US ER was due to an infection (ear), waking up one morning and not being able to walk (the ground swung up and hit me, body not reacting to gravity was certainly an interesting one!).

Granted, in many cases it may not be. Over here they are listed as A&E, Accident and Emergency, so it's a slightly broader spectrum.

Yes, people abuse it, but I'm certainly of the better safe than sorry ilk. I'd also try and put faith in the medical staff to have a reasonable judgment when it comes to how high up the list you get to go.

I don't know how far you are from a hospital, nor what the response times are like, but if that happens again Mike, you should slap your old man over the head for being stubborn. The symptoms you described could be many things, including heart attack or stroke (even if the symptoms don't seem severe). Both require urgent treatment, minutes count and treatment can start when the paramedics get there.
 
#19
Nev375 said:
As someone who experienced a lot of gallbladder problems. Rest assured that is an emercency situation. You well likely might think you are having a heart attack.

Im afraid I have no way of judging the vaginal infection. But if she was my date....
Click to expand...

I definitely agree about the gall bladder. I've had problems several times. The worst pain I've ever had in my life. Several years ago, I was in Ireland and had one of those attacks. I ended up at a Dublin emergency room which they call A & E or something like that. I stayed there all night and saw three doctors, all females.
 
#20
MJ5150 said:
My father is old school, and absolutely, positively, demanded no 911 or ambulance ride.

Upon arrival, I found it so very interesting how people define a medical emergency in 2013. We sat around people who didn't "feel good".
Click to expand...


I will say, any time I have gone to the hospital in an ambulance, I haven't had to wait behind any of those "I don't feel good" folks; priority service, every time.

I've never been in any condition to gloat while there, but in hindsight it makes me feel like the 911 call was worth it.
 

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