Are you afraid to go to the ER?

Soooo...I believe in Karma, but sometimes making fun of people who come to the ER is just too flippin' funny. We had a rare (brief) downtime the other day and the consensus was that NONE of us would dare show our faces in the ER for anything less then an amputation. We had a new nurse (new grad, in her early 40's) present with "chest pain" the other day. She ended up with a dx of acid reflux. I think she about died of shame, poor thing.

What would bring you to your own ER for tx???

(don't include your children. I have brought my kiddo's in for a few different things that probably could have waited. The doc's I work with are super nice about taking a look at staff's kids and I really let them know how much I appreciated them!)

Fortunately we live in an area with about 4 other hospitals in town. I've only had three ER visits and they were all for legit reasons. Twice I was in the ER for PSVT (rate of 160, ejection fraction in the 30's, got adenosine and the whole works with an eventual ablation). The one time I was in my own hospital was because of ambulance divert from my hospital of choice.

The other ER visit was in the middle of the night for persistent vomiting. I swear I would never go to the ER for a regular tummy bug, but this was RELENTLESS and had been going on for 12 + hours. I ended up being admitted.

Everything else can wait though........I'm with you on that one !

I really dont know what would cause ME to go to the ER. I guess id have to see on a case by case basis and im not that sick usually so i dont know.

When I read the title of the thread I thought it was going to be another thread about ER violence, etc. ...

Reminds me of a recent conversation with co-workers on a day when we were bombarded w/gyne complaints. None of us could imagine circumstances under which we would decide that having a pelvic exam in an ER would be a good idea, short of *massive* hemmorhaging, and I mean massive ... not "I guess this is my regular period but it's heavier than normal and there's clots in it ... and the pain is so much worse than usual, too."

I've had one migraine in my life. Any past "headache" was nothing compared to this one! The whole day I tried everything I knew to do...hydration, food, caffeine, sugar, OTC meds, dark room, bag o' frozen veggies on my head, and even Vicodin leftover from knee surgery. Still I hurt and was dizzy/nauseated. My husband (nurse/medic) even did neuro checks!

We ended up in the ED (my ED!) around 2100 on a Saturday night. My complaints bought a CT but the doc said I didn't give the right answers to warrant an LP. (Yes, doctor, I know!) So I got a liter of fluid, some Toradol/Reglan/Benadryl and a little bit of Morphine. Man, it worked for me!

I now have a new respect for migraine folks!

have been treated in the er (as adult)aprrox 5 times got admitted 3 out 5 visits.i have asthma and have gotten bronchitis bad several times after staying at home seeing my dr meds nebs etc finally so bad i couldn't breathe or talk that did it .other 2 times doebled over n/v abd pain fever form diverticulitis both times admitted .i have to be feeling real bad to go to any er .once i called an ambulance i was so scared (very bad asthma attack)

I don't know what would cause me to go to our ER...especially since I know that ours like to weigh patients right out in the lobby. Darn...if they just didn't insist on that visible public scale, maybe I wouldn't hesitate to go there if I accidentally sawed off my leg...

(I always tell my family: don't worry...you'll know when its time to pull the plug on me: when I either can't do my own makeup- horror of horrors!- or when they tell you they are taking me up by the nurse's station for a weigh-in.)

As a child (my mom was a nurse and my dad a fire/chief-EMT) I was in the ER 3 times at:

Age 2, I ate a bottle of baby aspirin (hey they were good)

Age 8, I was found "floating" in a pond of water, not breathing - thank God my dad had taken one of the first CPR classes ever taught - still taken by POV (my airway was cleared and with a few rescue breaths and a bath - they thought I should be "checked out")

Age 15, partially ejected through windshield, with a 10 minute LOC - someone had seen the accident and called my mom. She took me home, where after an hour my dad finally just demanded to my mom that "we are going to the hospital, she is just not acting right" - I was admitted for 4 days (fairly severe CHI, pulmonary/chest contusions/some facial & dental injuries)

Oh, and my sister had abdominal pain (but she always complained of tummy aches to get her way, out of whatever or just because..) so my mom gave her a little pepto, donnatal, paregoric in water or something... anyway after 3 days of off and on complaining (as usual) they finally took her to the ED where her appy had ruptured. She did fine, but..

The moral of the story is as the child of a nurse it had to be pretty impressive to get an ED visit.

As an adult I was in the ED twice. First, HR of 180 - woke up SOB with CP at 3 am, no history - no relief with vagal maneuvers and I drove myself. (My husband hates hospitals and I didn't need the anxiety). I admitted and treated by cardio. My second visit was a flare of uveitis and was referred by my optho who would meet me there. :heartbeat

Oh, and by the way ... I had fell while running and knocked the wind out of myself and had hit on my shoulder. I went on to work that night, but I could not abduct my left arm - so I managed the desk. Wasn't scheduled to work for 3 more days, so I slithered into x-ray the next night for an unofficial film of my humerus (I thought I'd broke my arm, at this point) - took the films to my ED doc - where he pronounced no fracture and "quit being a baby" (he was just being a joker - as always) So off I go. I though I'd get better, just all bummed up and sore. I developed a cough the next day. By the next day, I was so short of breath I couldn't hardly walk 10 feet without having to stop - the cough was getting worse and I felt like I was being hit with a machete with every cough, breath or movement. So I called my family doc and insisted that I be seen right then. MY O2 sats were 91 - 92% on room air (don't smoke, healthy) - he took some xrays and then sent me to ortho - I had a scapular fracture and a 10% pneumo. BUT NO ED VISIT for ME! Ha...

So, yeah --- I do love it when all these "emergencies" get all crazy with me. Most of the time I laugh it off, but sometimes....

i'd rather chew nails than go to the er but maybe cp/sob/etc would get me there but please not in an ambulance!

They took me twice in the ambulance from fire scenes. No I didn't set the fire. I was dehydrated, to the point of silliness.

And twice for the afore mentioned "stomach ache from hell". 12+ hours, nausea, diarrhea...vomiting? No, no vomiting for me, I gagged myself all day and just could NOT get my socks to come up. It would have been a wonderful relief to have vomited. I'm not one that takes vomiting lightly either. I'm what is called a "full body" vomiter. Have you seen this before? Stomping the floor, hitting the wall, waking up the neighbors with the "BLAAAHHHH, WAAAAAHHHHHH, UUUUUHHHHHHH" and you puke like 2 teaspoons....it is horrible.

Anyways...my story.

There's been times when some of our staff are worse off than the patients! (me included) :monkeydance: We're there working while they are demanding an excuse for 2-4 days off. :uhoh21:

Your ER patients have JOBS!!??

ha ha

I went to the ER a month or so ago... because my toe hurt.

Actually I change into my flipflops when I'm getting into my car after work, and I caught my bare foot in the car door after work on a Friday night- BLINDING, nauseating 10/10 pain. Had a 1 hour commute home after that and I cried for most of it. Iced it, soaked it, rested it... hobbled around a bit Saturday then iced it some more, soaked it, took a leftover Vicodin, tried to sleep then finally agreed to let hubby take me in in the morning- I wasn't about to go to the ER on a Saturday night with a booboo toe!

A wonderful NP Bovie'd a hole in my toenail and the relief was instant once all the built-up blood drained out. I was so embarrassed to go in for a booboo toe, but it was a BAD booboo toe!