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Topic: Hmmmmmmm.... (Read 636 times) |
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jonny
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ER patient calls 911 for ambulance to next hospital
By Dave Wedge
Friday, June 4, 2004South Shore Hospital officials yesterday called a frustrated asthma patient's accusations of shoddy treatment ``puzzling,'' saying there was no need for the Braintree woman to call for an ambulance to another facility.
Christine Howard has accused the Weymouth hospital of ignoring her asthma attack, forcing her to call 911 for help.
``It is puzzling that Ms. Howard would request an ambulance transfer from our emergency department to another since she was in the process of being treated here,'' South Shore Hospital director of emergency medicine Dr. John Benanti said. ``We are confident that we took appropriate steps to address her medical condition until she chose to leave before treatment was concluded.''
Howard, 39, says she was forced to wait an hour in the ER on April 27 before nurses told her the wait would be even longer. She called 911 and was taken by ambulance to Quincy Medical Center where she was admitted and released two days later.
Benanti said Howard ``was not at medical risk . . . despite her allegations to the contrary.''
Howard was greeted by a nurse upon arrival at the ER reception desk, seen by a triage nurse within five minutes and had her first treatment within minutes after that, said Peg Holda, vice president of marketing and public affairs.
Peter Dreyer, head of the state Division of Health Care Quality, said the agency may investigate.
Probably would not work for us but at least someone is sticking it back to the fucking ER 
....................................jonny
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Lizzie2
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #1 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 3:55pm » |
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As an ER employee...this story kind of makes me laugh a little. Is that an inner city ER? We had someone come in by cab from another ER once and the person expected our hospital to pay for her cab ride. Let me tell you how pissed off that person was when we told them that we wouldn't pay and how pissed off the cabbie was when he didn't get his money. Oy... haha
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Jeepgun
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You know, if she was in the middle of a severe asthma attack and her airway was being compromised, she would have been seen immediately. Having worked in an Army ER, I've seen all kinds of patients.
One Sunday, we were working our asses off. Our ER only had two beds in it, and we had one extra exam room. Our staff consisted of one doctor, two medics, and one nurse. We had a severe car accident patient we were treating, and then the ambulance brought in a man who had had a mild heart attack and was still having chest pains, and in the exam room, we had a guy who had to have the end of his finger sewn back on. Meanwhile, a family who had just come from church, came in complaining of having a cold for the past week, and because they didn't want to go to the outpatient clinic during normal business hours. I had the nurse take their vital signs. (The mother and two children) And then I had them sit and wait until things settled down, so that they could be seen.
Time went by, naturally. After waiting for half an hour, the woman started getting pissy with me about having to wait, and started making snide comments. I stopped and said, "Ma'am, we have a heart attack, a car accident, and a guy who's missing most of the end of his finger. We will see you for your cold when we are able to do so, but until then, sit down and be quiet, or else leave and come back tomorrow for sick call!" She looked at me like this  opened and closed her mouth, and then sat her ass down.
Goddamn selfish, impatient people... 
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jonny
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So I guess that means all ER's should tell every clusterhead that walks in with a KIP 10 "Its just a headache we will see you when we can"?
Thats what happens now, is it right?
..........................jonny
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Jeepgun
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No. It's just triage, Jonny. Patients with life-threatening conditions are treated ahead of patients who have other illnesses and problems. While cluster headaches and migraines ARE excruciating, and yes, they definitely need to be seen, and will be seen before someone with a case of the sniffles, people who are having severe bleeding, heart attacks, anaphylactic reactions, etc., will (and should) take priority.
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UN_SOLVED
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #5 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 4:30pm » |
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I've been to the ER and waited an hour before even being triaged more than once.
I hate going to the ER. I always try to set up my hospital stays in advanced if at all possible.
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I'm STILL alive ?
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Peppermint
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #6 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 4:31pm » |
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Mmm.. Jonny, I agree with you...
Lizzie, you may be right on the inner city thing....and yes sometimes people are impatient.. but I have seen some gruesome things in the ER, (gashes bleeding profusely, held together by a towel and rope, a woman with chest pain holding her arm, a child wheezing and in serious distress... I could go on... they wait much longer than 1 hour, some leave for another hospital) and no sign of movement from behind the doors. People tell eachother life stories in this ER, they're there that long. If you get there when shift change or lunch time comes and you have a life-threatening injury or somesuch... you're really SCReweD.
I guess you're up the creek no matter how you look at it when its not a plush or nice neighborhood. Some people are unreasonable, yes, but for the most part.. its just a bad situation.
Overworked staff? Maybe. In this hospital.. doesn't look likely. Its getting better lately, but baby its got a long way to go.
Imagine cluster patients in this hospital...What do you think would happen to 'em? Give ya one guess...
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You like apples? How ya like them apples?
When playing in the gym, beware of steel beams. - M. Amyx
Carve your name on hearts, and not on marble. - Charles H. Spurgeon
FYI - I am NOT a clusterhead.
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jonny
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This hospital is a state of the art hospital 10 miles south of Boston where the cheap houses sell for $500,000.
I carried my wife in that ER 11 years ago as she was having a miscarrige, blood was seeping through her pants onto the floor and they told me to have a seat. There was only four people in there and my wife was the only one bleeding.....You can probably guess what happen next.
...................................jonny
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Peppermint
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #8 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 4:49pm » |
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BAstards Jonny!! I am sure they got their just dessert.
Its not as uncommon as people might be led to think.
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You like apples? How ya like them apples?
When playing in the gym, beware of steel beams. - M. Amyx
Carve your name on hearts, and not on marble. - Charles H. Spurgeon
FYI - I am NOT a clusterhead.
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Jeepgun
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In a case like that, I would have raised absolute Hell. I fully understand, Jonny. Inexcusable....
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Lizzie2
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #10 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 4:50pm » |
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The one book that I have on various headache types states that cluster headaches are a medical emergency that need to be treated as soon as possible. The longest I have ever had to wait at the ER is about 20 minutes I think? Maybe I'm just lucky!
In the ER here, registration is the first line of triage. We put patients into the system with their name, DOB, SSN, and chief complaint. If someone comes in with chest pains, stroke symptoms, visible bleeding, pregnant with bleeding or pregnant with contractions (and under a certain time period), and various other emergent conditions, we call triage to get them in right away. They are then given a severity rating between 1 and 5. 1 is most critical and 5 is least. Unfortunately here this is the only major trauma center in Center City as Hahnemann had to close their trauma center. Many nights the wait in the ER is over 3 hours. There are a ton of beds in ours, but they fill up fast. We have patients in the hallway all over the place on stretchers.
My advice to people is be selective about when you use the ER. Either that or if you go and it is not an immediate emergency, be prepared to wait. Everyone is moving as fast as they can. The biggest problem in inner cities is that for medicaid it is cheaper to go to the ER (free) than to go to the regular physician, so a lot of people use it for primary care.
In no way would I want a CH'er to have to wait for ER treatment, and I do think they should be seen as fast as possible. However, the situation in the ER is not always optimal. It is just a real mess sometimes. 
Lizzie
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Gator
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #11 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 5:07pm » |
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I tell you now, if this country keeps moving towards socialized medicine, that is how they will all be. When the doctor gets paid the same amount whether he sees 2 or 20 patients, the give-a-shit meter dips real low. Yes there are the new doctors that are in the biz to help people, but that idealism will wane over time after seeing their collegues get the same pay for treating half the patients. And yes there will be a small percentage that stay idealistic, but by and large, it will become a job like any other. When a doctor or anyone looses that passion they have for their profession, their performance drops. Not to mention that there will be fewer people seeking to enter the medical profession.
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kimh
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #12 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 5:48pm » |
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Yep Jonny. I agree. Hmmmmm. Butttttt............ 
That's how it is in any hospital. ER is acute care - unfortunately it is also part of a larger "institution" infrastructure. That means that it is doomed to contain serious flaws. Each of us who enters the ER in a hospital is in a state of "acute" trauma. Unfortunately, we must each be humbled by the "infrastructure" of reality. I laid in the ER wigging out one time with acute cluster. At the time i was cursing out the entire ER staff. But who is to say that the bleeding out tree guy who fumbled the chain saw and hit artery in thigh should lay around and wait.....and who is to say the little girl who overdosed on cold medicine and won't wake up, and who is to say the enormous amount of patients from nursing homes who constantly need immediate life saving care should wait longer than me. It seems like such a simple thing, really. But in reality, life is trauma after trauma and many traumas die. Choosing/prioritizing is no simple matter. I take my hat off to the folks from the ER.
I'd be the first in line to point out the flaws. But i'd also be the first in line to point out all the hard-working folks who put in gawd forsaken lawng hours to save lives every day - they really deserve our admiration and thanks in the lawng run***
Okay. Is it happy hour yet
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| « Last Edit: Jun 4th, 2004, 5:51pm by kimh » |
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jonny
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on Jun 4th, 2004, 4:44pm, jonny wrote:I carried my wife in that ER 11 years ago as she was having a miscarrige, blood was seeping through her pants onto the floor and they told me to have a seat. There was only four people in there and my wife was the only one bleeding
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Im sorry Kim, maybe you didnt read my post.......There was no chainsaw guy or anyone else bleeding.......just my kid running out of my wife!
...................................jonny
Edit: Maybe I should have taken a number as not to bother these hard working folks
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| « Last Edit: Jun 4th, 2004, 5:55pm by jonny » |
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Tiannia
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #14 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 6:00pm » |
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Actually Jonny, I am surprised that there where not dead people by the time you where done.
I have been to the ER twice in the past year with CH. At UMC here, you sign in, go to Triage and get seen by a doc (but you are not treated at this time), then they send you out to the waiting room to get registered and while they decide treatement and who gets treated when. I was seen by the doc and spent almost an hour in the waiting room while, at this point they called me back and I had the doctor yell at me that I could not have CH because "It is extremely rare and I am a woman and can not have it. That I was wasting his time and his rooms that where needed for people who had REAL injurines and reasons for being there. " My husband started yelling that that doctor was an incompotent fuck and that if I was not treated he would have a mal practise lawsuit filed in the am. That is about all I actually heard and understood. At that point the doc had the nurse give me an Imitrex shot, which either stopped the attack or it finally ended on its own as it had been 90 mins and mine dont normally hit 2 hours. And we left. I promised I would never go back to an ER. I will wait an attack out and I dont care how bad it is.
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| « Last Edit: Jun 4th, 2004, 6:04pm by Tiannia » |
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Jimmy_B
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Went to an E.R. once for a Cluster. Waited over an hour & when I went back the nurse shut out the light. By that time...the cluster's over so I take a nap.
The 1st & last $2,500.00 nap, I'ver ever taken.
My point is...unless you have extra long Clusters...there is no hope in going to an ER. It would be over by the time you get in & they always treat as a MIGRAINE.
For something else, other then cluster...it depends on the hospital & staff. I've had great experiences some of the time at some hospitals & bad experiences some of the time at all hospitals.
Jimmy
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Prense
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #16 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 6:21pm » |
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Every ER visit I have had so far I have been seen immediately...well, at least taken to an exam room where I waited not more than 5 minutes. I would guess that the scene I create when I enter the ER has alot to do with my waiting times. I have no idea what I look like, but I can only imagine. Pacing, swearing, headbanging, uncontrollable tearing and nostril running like a faucet. Something has gotten the attention.
Unfortunately, the ER has never been able to help me.
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purpleydog
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #17 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 6:33pm » |
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on Jun 4th, 2004, 4:44pm, jonny wrote:
I carried my wife in that ER 11 years ago as she was having a miscarrige, blood was seeping through her pants onto the floor and they told me to have a seat. There was only four people in there and my wife was the only one bleeding.....You can probably guess what happen next.
...................................jonny |
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Jonny I am so sorry to hear this.
There are 3 hospitals here and it all depends on your insurance which one you go to. I have been to all of them at one point or another for my clusters and migraines. I try to give them my info without screaming too loud. Then I wait... and wait...and wait some more... usually about 3-4 hours. If you don't arrive in an ambulance, you wait... They take you in turn as you arrive. It doesn't matter what your problem is. I've gone in there looking for a shot of imitrex, and have had to be practically knocked unconscious with shots of demerol because they waited so long. (those fuckers!!)
Lizzie, you are correct about people going to the er for care they should be receiving from their doc, because medicaid pays for the er. And it will just get worse, with people losing their insurance, losing their jobs and no way to pay for medical care.
I can't see why hospitals aren't staffed enough. Around here, they are laying off nurses because they can't afford to pay them!!? Then you look in the help wanted section and there are full page ads looking for nurses, will give signing bonuses, extra time off, etc. What's up with that? Health care prices are rising faster than steel prices, WTF?
purpleydog
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Lizzie2
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #18 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 6:45pm » |
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Just a comment on the shortage thing. It is cheaper to hire support staff to do some of the work for the nurses, which is why nurses get laid off. They now have CNAs, PT, OT, phlebotomists, etc....nurses originally did all of that work, but not anymore. However, there are many critical things nurses do that nobody else can. It's a long complicated issue, but what it comes down to is that patient care should not be compromised for saving money.
I'm learning a lot of interesting policy that I never knew about before by being in nursing school. I don't believe all of it is correctly implemented in many cases, but it is interesting nonetheless. We'll see how I feel about this by next May.
Lizzie 
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kimh
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #19 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 6:58pm » |
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i read your post jonny. and i stand by my fucking statements.
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pubgirl
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Have never had anything but what was required and necessary to prevent death in our Accident and Emergency Departments (i.e. help when it was an emergency with the kid) but could write for several hours about the shit treatment when the person concerned isn't going to die imminently. For me that's the difference, if you aren't going to die, it depends on how busy it is/ what the staff are like/how well staffed they are that day/what kind of mood they are in what service you get.
W
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| « Last Edit: Jun 4th, 2004, 7:33pm by pubgirl » |
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jonny
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on Jun 4th, 2004, 6:58pm, kimh wrote:| i read your post jonny. and i stand by my fucking statements. |
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So I guess if your working that ER the dude holding his wife in his arms with a kid running out of her should take a seat to someone with a sprained ankle?
Man!!!, I hope you aint working an ER if you even do when I need help.
..........................................jonny
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Kevin_M
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #22 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 8:53pm » |
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on Jun 4th, 2004, 6:45pm, Lizzie2 wrote:
I'm learning a lot of interesting policy that I never knew about before by being in nursing school. I don't believe all of it is correctly implemented in many cases
Lizzie |
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With all due respect to the policies which are perhaps very correct normal procedure...
I think herein lies the problem (bold print). Anyone who would feel slighted by being incorrectly prioritized by the circumstances besetting the ER at the time they enter, would feel a need to get attention faster. If there are NO apparent circumstances for being slighted, and not being prioritized correctly, yes a high stress factor now comes into play, and what that can do for an already dire situation, well...
As for treating pain, such as clusters. This should be as attended to the same as ANY of the four other vital signs which could be seriously abnormal, as being the fifth vital sign now.
Kevin M
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| « Last Edit: Jun 4th, 2004, 8:56pm by Kevin_M » |
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Cerberus
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #23 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 9:00pm » |
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I went to the ER for a cluster once....I repeat, ONCE. Never again....I waited about an hour, and after the one I was having went away got hit with another....the ER's response?
You guessed it folks....give me a shot of demerol and send me home labeled as a drug seeker....not nice, even less nice that the attending physician had no idea what clusters were.
Gator has a big point....socialized health care will only serve to make things worse, My grandparents live in Canada and had to wait 3 freakin months before my grandpa could get his cataracts fixed. Life threatening it wasn't but save for the fact that gramps couldnt see, I imagine it was quite the wait.
I find it terribly ironic that the nursing situation is as dire as it is 40000 nurses will be needed every year for 20 years to fill the void....yet it is hard and impossible for some, to get into nursing school.
Something needs to be done methinks....but what?
Ramon
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kimh
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Re: Hmmmmmmm....
« Reply #24 on: Jun 4th, 2004, 9:06pm » |
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jonny, ...............if ya wanna argue we can, but i think it's moot.
i know it sucked for you to see a loved one in danger, and i don't dispute all you are saying one bit. sometimes it sheds a new lite to flip the coin....not necessarily always charming but i keep tryin anyhow
my first child was born in trauma circumstances - the ER saved me from dying after they almost caused me to die.....
i know what your saying, and agree with much. butchaknow me, gotta flip the coin. keeps me honest.
hoohaw meanie 
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