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The news media is full of stories about Hospital Emergency Rooms and the incredible waits very sick and injured people have in these facilities. It seems like a large number of people using the Emergency Rooms are illegal aliens and others without insurance for routine care.
What has been your experience visiting Hospital Emergency Rooms? was the wait and chaos as advertised?
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Originally Posted by Refugee56
The news media is full of stories about Hospital Emergency Rooms and the incredible waits very sick and injured people have in these facilities. It seems like a large number of people using the Emergency Rooms are illegal aliens and others without insurance for routine care.
What has been your experience visiting Hospital Emergency Rooms? was the wait and chaos as advertised?
I've been to the ER twice. As a 7 year old I took a nasty spill off of my bicycle and needed stitches for a cut above my eye. Lots of people in the waiting room, but I was ushered straight back.
As a 25 year old I mangled my left hand in an accident at work. Again, very crowded waiting room but I was ushered straight back.
If you go to the ER without an emergency (a cut on your finger, a broken toe, a sniffle or you called an ambulance for heartburn) you will probably sit in an uncomfortable chair for several hours listening to people with other non-emergencies complain about the long wait. If you go to the ER with a bona-fide emergency that requires immediate care, the wait will not be terribly long.
If you really have an emergency call an ambulance. If you go to a local ER in CA you will be in line behind a huge amount of Illegal Aliens. The last 2 times I was in one with my kids the wait was 8 and 11 hours.
I went to the ER twice. Once I went at 5 PM and didn't leave until 11 PM. It was very crowded. When I was finally seen, I was seen in the hallway due to lack of space. 10 minutes of talk and the doc said I wouldn't die today, so go see a regular doc on Monday.
The other time I went to a county hospital. Completely packed. Luckily, my brother-in-law was a physician there, so we went straight back. Even then it took 2 hours to be seen.
I went several months ago with chest pain. After checking me in, I was whisked to the back immediately. Embarrassingly, it was acid reflux . BUt the didn't take any chances at all as soon as I said chest pain.
A few years ago on Easter I got very sick. Luckily I lived at home with my parents at the time and my mom is an RN. I experienced vomiting and diarrhea simultaneously for a few hours. I was very thin at the time and could not keep anything -- even water or sprite -- down. After a few hours in the bathroom I started getting delusional. I stripped naked and felt like I could faint and was literally going out of my mind.
I finally told my mom (this was in the middle of the night) that she had to either take me to the ER or call me an ambulance. My parents drove me to the emergency room.
I was rushed in right away......no wait. The admitting people asked my mom if I was anorexic!! Anyway, I was so dehydrated at this point, I couldn't give a urnine sample. They gave me anti-nausea medicine via IV along with 3 bags of fluid and I was finally able to rest.
A few hours later they were going to discharge me when the doctor came in and asked me to sit up. I think he felt my stomach before this.....as soon as I sat up I proceeded to vomit green bile all over his nice shoes!! I was horrified. I felt like the exorcist! More anti-nausea medicine and another nap and then I got to go home. They determined I had the Rota virus (spelling?) and was severely dehydrated. It was not fun!!
But the "funny" part is....my dad also came to the ER with us, and while he was waiting there, he started to feel very sick as well and my mom ended up driving him home while I was napping. When we got home the next day -- my dad was full blown sick too! All in all, we were out of it for a week.
My BF just went to the ER a few weeks ago for a broken foot/sprained ankle and he too, got in right away. No wait at all
A few times....
One heartbreaking time I was pregnant w/cramps and bleeding, and after about 3hrs of withering in pain in a chair in the waiting room, i ended up having a miscarriage in the bathroom...Fortunatly, I was only about 6weeks along...
I dont recall the last time. I passed out and was out cold for close to 30min. I guess i missed all the drama when my husband ran into the ER w/me in his arms yelling "MY WIFE NEEDS HELP!!! NOW!!!" appearently they got me back and being worked on right away...
I won't go to the emergency room unless it's life threatening, here in West Texas. All the low-income people who refuse to make a doctor appointment (even though it's free to them with Medicaid/Medicare) use the emergency room for their convenience. They bring their kids in when they want to, so they don't have to wait to see a pediatrician. This holds true for most other illnesses they have.
It's like they say, "Hey... my son/daughter has the sniffles. I'll call the doctor." Then the staff can't get them seen until the following day or two. So, they pack them up and head to the emergency room. What do they care? It's my tax dollars paying for their visit.
I have been twice this month. Once for each adult kid of mine. The same hospital, once on a Saturday, once on a Sunday, both days the family doc wasn't available. Once for my daughter who severly twisted her ankle, thought it was fracture or break, once for my son who just randomly passed out three times in the space of 20 mins.
The first visit was exceptional, we were in, x-ray'd, and out in 2 hours. The second time not so lucky, 6 hours later, we were out. Hospital was quite busy, lots of kids, my sons tests alone took awhile (labs, EKG, etc).
In short though, there wasn't much chance for us being forgotten, the hospital and staff were quite accomodating.
I hear another patient somewhere sat 34 hours unnoticed in an ER and when they finally checked on him he was dead. It was another patient that got the security because they had seen the patient sitting for so long, it wasn't even the staff who saw him.
So, who knows... I don't go to a doctor unless it's a true emergency, same with an ER.
I went to the ER about 2 years ago with severe abdominal/chest pain and vomitting. It was awful, I had to wait several hours to be seen, and I was in so much pain all I could do was rock back and forth and nothing made me comfortable. When I was finally seen, it turned out I had gall stones that had entered my pancreas and caused pancreatitis. Apparently it is pretty serious. I had to be admitted immediately and have emergency surgery the next day. After that horrible experience, yes, I definitely think our emergency room system is broken.
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. BUt the didn't take any chances at all as soon as I said chest pain.
