I went to the emergency room with my aunt - she got there at 6:30pm, and we were seen by a doctor at 1am. (She had fractured fumeral neck).
I was appalled on how many people have not been seen yet and were crying and screaming while the staff stood around discussing adjustable rate mortgages and joking around with each other.
It is an emergency room! These people are not there waiting for haircuts!
I was able to get a doctor to see my aunt only by chance - when I heard one of the black doctors speak Chinese to a nurse, I came over and talked to him in Chinese also (and I am not Asian). They started to talk to me - where I'm from, how come I speak it, where do I work... etc. At that point of establishing human contact I was able to get them to look at my aunt. At that point it turned out she was not in the computer and they did not even know she was there! (she was in the computer in the waiting room).
Also recently a friends mother, who has cancer that was blocking the intestant or something like that had trouble passing stool. When it got really bad (her not able to go for few days) her doctor sent her to the emergency room. While she was waiting (for about 9 hours also) it ruptured, and waste went into her blood. She begged and begged for help, yet was ignored by the staff. After they finally got to her, she was rushed from the exam room to the surgery immediately, and they did not expect her to survive. She spend hours in this condition with no help. If they saw her in time, this would not have happened.
I want to know what I can do if me or someone I love is in a situation where emergency care is necessary???
What should we do to get it before condition deteriorates? I need a contingency plan!
Horrible emergency room experience
December 10th, 2007 at 04:27 pm
December 10th, 2007 at 04:31 pm 1197304303
December 10th, 2007 at 04:36 pm 1197304584
December 10th, 2007 at 08:21 pm 1197318074
The resulting media hoo-ha could really shake things up over there.
December 10th, 2007 at 10:01 pm 1197324082
December 10th, 2007 at 10:27 pm 1197325659
In the case of the friend's mother, I think maybe a call to her own doctor after waiting so long might have helped. The doctor could have contacted the ER to tell them the urgency he perceived, I suppose. Or the doctor might have met her in the ER. Do doctor's never do that any more? Meet their regular patients at ER?
December 10th, 2007 at 10:46 pm 1197326813
I went in once and it was about 6:30pm and was seen about 11:45pm and the MD who saw me was so annoyed with staff he chewed them out right in front of me and I wasn't even complaining
He thought maybe my appendix had burst thank God that wasn't the case but he let those nurses have it
December 11th, 2007 at 12:52 am 1197334344
December 11th, 2007 at 03:09 pm 1197385771
You have every right to complain and they need to hear it. I imagine things do take time in the emergency room but to hear the staff talking about random non-medical issues and basically ignoring patients is something that should not be stood for. Speak up!
May 28th, 2010 at 07:37 am 1275032269