An ER Education
What you can learn about the health-care system in 10 not-so-easy hours.
Having spent a sleepless night with a bit too much pain in my abdomen, I informed my wife I was suffering from another bout with diverticulitis. I was also forced to admit I had consumed a bag of microwave popcorn, a definite no-no for someone with no intestinal fortitude.
She called the local medical clinic for an appointment. I protested because the last time we showed up with the same problem, they merely sent us on to the emergency room, adding an additional $65 to our bill. We got in to the clinic at around 10 a.m. The doctor said: "While it appears to be diverticulitis, we must be sure. Please go straight to an ER."
We arrived at the large midtown hospital here in Kansas City. This facility is known to be well equipped with a staff of good physicians. The ER seemed pretty busy for noon, but we signed in and waited to see the triage nurse.
After a long hour, we were called over to be triaged. During the exam, we asked about the apparent backlog of patients. The nurse admitted that many had been waiting for several hours, and that it would be several more hours before we could be seen. That's when the parade of the ill and dramatically injured began:
A fellow came in who had nearly sliced his finger off and had wrapped it tightly in a now blood-soaked bandage. When I saw him, I told myself I must let him go before me, given his much more serious condition. I hurt just looking at him. A while later, a woman showed up with a blood-soaked towel around her head. She had to be assisted by several other women. They told the admitting clerk that the woman's head had been pinned between a car and a tree when her 3-year-old let the car out of gear. She was miserable and throwing up into a wastebasket. The clerk told her to please take a seat in the waiting room and someone would call her name. The severity of their situations encouraged me to keep my mouth shut and wait my turn.
Five hours went by and we were appalled as case after case of serious issues appeared. We began thinking we would need to wait all night with no viable alternatives.
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Member Comments
Posted By: afboy4000 @ 08/12/2008 4:03:56 PM
Comment: As someone who works for fire department and frequently works on the ambulance, this theory of calling an ambulance and being immediately seen is not true at all. The first thing the charge nurse asks is if the patient is "ambulatory" if they are, they go to triage like everyone else. There have also been times where I have had to wait with a patient for 2 hours on the stretcher until a hospital bed opened up.
Posted By: emergencynurse @ 08/11/2008 8:04:44 AM
Comment: I agree. Proper triage reqiures that non-emergent patients sit in the waitng room if the ED is busy, no matter what their method of arrival. Too many patients come in for stupid things they've had for a month and clog up the system so really sick people have to wait too long.
Posted By: ER RN @ 11/05/2007 7:43:12 PM
Comment: That doctor who told him to take an ambulance next time would be in for a shock at our inner city hospital. Patients who call 911 for less than emergent problems are promptly rolled out to the waiting room and plopped in a wheelchair to wait their turn with everyone else. I can't think of worse advice to give the general public. Save the ambulances for the critically ill... it might be you next time