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Every case is different, it depends on the condition and who is available to help them. I once broke a finger, the pinky and it was pointed to my wrist, and drove myself to the ER at 6:30am. I finally went into surgery at 7pm when the first available finger specialist was free and made it there. I have also been to the ER several times with a temperature of 102-104 when getting chemo treatment for cancer, and I was taken right in every time.
Most hospitals have a code sepsis or something similar where one looks at the temperature, HR (heart rate) and RR (respiration) and blood pressure and the possibility of infection. The triage nurse will contact the doctor for priority push. Every minute is important when it comes to sepsis.
I assume/hope that hospitals do a triage and assess other conditions that someone might not be aware of. "Sniffles" might be fatal to someone w/a blood disease, etc. - don't judge!!
THIS! Detectable sniffles while sitting in the ER waiting room may not be the most critical aspect of that patient's story. Unless they eavesdrop, a bystander wouldn't and shouldn't be privy to any of that information.
I assume/hope that hospitals do a triage and assess other conditions that someone might not be aware of. "Sniffles" might be fatal to someone w/a blood disease, etc. - don't judge!!
The children were sitting there almost as long as we were. I doubt they were triaged with high priority.
Every case is different, it depends on the condition and who is available to help them. I once broke a finger, the pinky and it was pointed to my wrist, and drove myself to the ER at 6:30am. I finally went into surgery at 7pm when the first available finger specialist was free and made it there. I have also been to the ER several times with a temperature of 102-104 when getting chemo treatment for cancer, and I was taken right in every time.
your having a fever/chemo is the perfect example of a past medical history that is not visible to others in the ER
The children were sitting there almost as long as we were. I doubt they were triaged with high priority.
If I might ask did you take them there yourself rather than call paramedics?
Also working in a major trauma center we have what we call a walk-in Trauma which overhead speakers alerts the trauma team to report to the trauma bay. The triage nurse alerts the trauma unit when somebody walks into the ER on their own. That's determined by the triage nurse.
I would suggest that one call the paramedics in order to determine the best place to take someone during emergencies. They know the resources needed for any given patient's symptoms. If the possibility of a stroke or head trauma then I would suggest a stroke center.
We have four basic overhead medical code alerts. We have code trauma, code stroke, code sepsis, and code blue. This alerts the entire hospital as it involves more than just the ER. We start timers in the lab with code stroke and give priority to stroke patient testing. We also give priority to code sepsis and other codes but don't set timers.
That is interesting and thanks for the suggestion.
We were already at the Urgent Care, having driven there ourselves. Therefore, we simply continued on to the ER several miles away. It never occurred to me to call paramedics. At that point, we only thought we had a cut near her eye. We only found out later that her nose was broken, which the triage nurse suggested that it might have happened.
Looking back, the first thing I should have done was call the paramedics. Everything happened so fast, and I may have even suggested calling the paramedics (or my daughter who happened to be there) but we ended up driving my mother to the Urgent Care and then to the ER.
I assume/hope that hospitals do a triage and assess other conditions that someone might not be aware of. "Sniffles" might be fatal to someone w/a blood disease, etc. - don't judge!!
It's true. A kid who's on chemotherapy for leukemia could end up septic from a respiratory illness that wouldn't phase the kids' healthy peers.
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I do believe I stated that in the opening post.