I hate Emergency Rooms!
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive August 2006:
I hate Emergency Rooms!
My husband has had a sore throat for about a week, off and on. Well, Saturday evening, his cheeks were a little puffy. Sunday, his cheeks, right in front of his ears were getting worse and worse, and by late evening, he resembled a chipmunk, and his neck had swollen, too. He was able to swallow still, but not as well as normal.
I decided it would be best to go ahead and take him to the E.R. in case it worsened overnight.
We left about 9:30 took the kids and all of their school stuff up to my parents' house. Left all instructions, reassured the kids, and were at the E.R. before ten. They triaged him, and then sent him back out to the waiting room that was full. We sat there for 2 HOURS and no one came out, and only one person was called in. There were eleven people in front of us!!!
There were two little girls who were in their pajamas, one about 3, was throwing up every little bit, and they didn't even take THEM in. They had to sit there in those chairs and their grandmother had brought a pillow for one to lean on, and a blanket, and held the youngest. There was no reason those two should have been sitting out there.
We finally said enough's enough, and went back into the registration office and told them we were leaving. I said, "We won't be charged for this visit, will we?" and she stated, she didn't know how they did those things. I told her fine, I'd take care of it.
I am calling administration at the hospital today and making a complaint, and also telling them that our insurance had better not be charged for the visit. I am also calling my insurance company and telling them I do not want them paying for this visit.
What really upsets me is that in the last year, they took hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, and revamped the entire Admissions and Emergency Departments and have been showing commercials and billboards that state they have done it so we could have better, quicker service. That is their big campaign right now. Uh-huh.
So, I am waiting for our regular md's office to open so I can call them and get him in. So frustrating!
Houston just passed a new ordinance that turns some people away. The truth of the matter is we have so many people and emergency is just an emergency, but a lot of people use the er as a doc's office. If it can wait till the am, they you should wait. I really think as a society we should encourage "urgent care" places to be more abundant and longer hours. Maybe even just different hours. If you have a baby with an ear infection sat night at 9, what are you to do? I think most urgent care places are open like 9-9, but wouldn't it make more sense for them to be open opposite of the doc offices, like 5-5! At least that could slow down people into the er.
I have only once had to wait in the er, I was strapped to a back board after a wreck and had to wait about an hour to be cleared to get up. It was a busy night. Typically when I have gone it my kids have needed sewn up, so they get seen quickly since they are gushing blood. I have also been with my dad who is a heart attack survivor, so if he goes in they take him pretty seriously too.
Two hours is mild in our town. We've waited that long when I've had family brought in by ambulance.
Two hours sounds like nothing to me. Six to ten hours on a weekend is normal. So many families here use the ER as their only medical care so there are always plenty of earaches and stomachaches to be taken care of, on top of the "real" emergencies. One of our two hospitals is also a Cardiac intensive care so most heart patients get directed there, too. My shortest wait in memory was 45 minutes after my 1 1/2yo dd had grabbed a hot curling iron at my mom's house. Pneumonia, stitches to the head and gall bladder attacks were all 5+ hours.
We wouldn't have minded waiting two hours. Two hours had passed and no one had been called from the waiting room at all. There were still 11 people in front of us to be called. If we had stayed, we probably would have been another 7-8 hours.
I totally agree. We have NO Urgent care facilities and the problem in our area is that too many people are going to the ER to get narcotics. So much of a problem that there is a huge red sign, 4 foot by 4 foot, stating the narcotics policy and such.
We never use the ER. I just felt like it could have been an emergency seeing as how he was having unexplained swelling in his face, neck, and throat.
We just got back from the doctor's office. He has a severe case of strep, even though he had his tonsils and adenoids removed as a young child, and it has gotten into some gland in the face and throat. He hasn't had strep since he was in 2nd or 3rd grade. He's probably had it for a week. Ugh!
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