What would you do to get ahead in the Line at the ER?

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Oct 26, 2007

Does anyone here have an issue with the fact he waited for NINE HOURS!
To me...that would drive you crazy...especially if you were in pain.

I actually didn't read the whole article. Good Point Hopefull.

MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN · Oct 26, 2007

9 Hours is a long time to wait.

It doesn't matter what condition he had, obviously it was bad enough to wait 9 Hours.

Why did he put his mother in the car? Maybe he's pyche too! Therefore, needed to be there anyway.

Maybe triage was not re-evaluating patient. In our ER if pain is 8/10 or higher-acuity is 2 on the triage 5 scale. Perhaps they could have eased his pain, or at least his mind by checking on him and listening.

Anyway you slice it-ER waits are becoming more and more ridiculous. Sick people are not seen in a timely manner, and tempers flare more often then naught. We have people complain about 2 hour waits in our suburban ER-this is with an Fast Track area, pedicatrics , acute and medical-and full staffing.

What we have seen thanks to all of this media attention is that cp and sob are now the #1 complaints along with side symptoms(real reason they came) upon triage in ER. Healthy young men and women are c/o gripping, midsternal cp to get immediate entry. We are doing so many EKG's due to cardiac symptoms that we have a tech assigned to our triage area! These are people who use the ER often for chronic problems and have been made to wait, while real sob and cp go ahead of them. They've now solved that waiting problem by claiming cp too!

Get ready for the onslaught-Remember our President stated that every American had access to healthcare in their local Emergency Room!

We ain't seen nothing yet! Winters coming!

Stay safe, keep your cool, remember no one waits for stupid reasons and have empathy-anyone of these patients could be a family member.

Maisy

MNmom3boys · Oct 26, 2007

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why is the assumption that he deliberately crashed the truck? If he is symptomatic for a seizure immediately after the crash, why has that apparently been ruled out as the cause?

Obviously, I was not there, and don't know the full story. And, I have been around enough to know that there are people who do stupid, selfish things in order to get faster "service", but I didn't get that impression from the article. Perhaps my naivete, perhaps poor reading skills, but I don't see where the article indicated it was a deliberate choice in response to a long ER wait.

I think nine hours is a ridulous amount of time, unless they were in the midst of a large disaster in the area. However, as another poster pointed out, chronic pain hardly consitutes an emergency.

Toquay · Oct 26, 2007

There are many reasons for long ER waits... holds in the ER waiting for room assigments, short staffing, no fast track area, a flooding of EMS with mva patients, and many other reasons. I work triage alot and I can honestly say the ER staff does not like when the waits are long either, it makes our jobs alot harder when dealing with the complaints from EVERYONE. In a perfect world, everyone goes back as soon as triage is complete but is very unrealistic in today's ER. Many complaints that should have been and could have been handled by a MD visit or at a walk-in clinic are now flooding the ER. Lets face it we are a fast food society and we want all our service to be on the fast paced scale. We want maximum service and minimum responsibility to ourselves as well. I would venture to say that over half the people that revisit ER's never make a follow-up appt, or don't fill their scripts (exception of narcotics) or complete the medicine prescribed. It is so sad that Health care has become this dog chasing it's tail type cycle.

Toq

babynurselsa, RN · Oct 26, 2007

With the average for nonurgent cases being greater than 24 hours in many places, nine hours seems about normal.

THe system is overwhelmed by many people who use the ER (EMERGENCY room)

as their primary health care.

ER staff can only do what they can do. I know I cannot make available beds, or dispositions magically appear. I also cannot control urgent patients coming in through the ambulance doors, nor can I control people checking in for NONURGENT, NONEMERGENT reasons.

I also noted in the article that the man drove into the hospital at 6:30 pm. If he had been there for 9 hours then that means he arrived mid morning. Do you wonder if he tried to contact a PCP?

HeatherB,CST · Oct 27, 2007

Did anyone else notice that the article first says he crashed a Chevrolet pickup, then later it says he got into his Nissan and drove it into the wall?

Altra, BSN, RN · Oct 27, 2007

Does anyone here have an issue with the fact he waited for NINE HOURS!
To me...that would drive you crazy...especially if you were in pain.

As another poster pointed out, this is not an uncommon wait time in many ERs. ER triage unfortunately depends not only on what your chief complaint is, but the chief complaints of the other x number of patients already in the ER and coming through the doors.

Also, remember the fact of emergency treatment that few patients seem to understand ... you really don't want to be the one we're jumping on immediately, because that means something bad is probably happening to you. A wait time of 9 hours? Let me tell you what this means realistically -- it means you really should have called your PCP.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Oct 27, 2007

OP, I'm going to be blunt. I'm offended at the flip title you gave your thread. What would I do to "get ahead" in line at the ER? Nothing - ER visits are for life-threatening emergencies or after-hours injuries which require medical attention to prevent further complications. Period. ER triage is not a game to be played.

Speak for yourself, I accept pizza or Tim Horton's coffeee and domuts.:balloons:

babynurselsa, RN · Oct 27, 2007

Speak for yourself, I accept pizza or Tim Horton's coffeee and domuts.:balloons:

Or STarbucks works too... :lol2:

babynurselsa, RN · Oct 27, 2007

Speak for yourself, I accept pizza or Tim Horton's coffeee and domuts.:balloons:

Or STarbucks works too... :lol2:

Or of course if you are "a close personal friend of the CEO or ER doc....":uhoh3:

loricatus · Oct 29, 2007

Let's see---chronic back pain from seizure disorder.

75% chance that he's a frequent flyer, drug seeker.

25% chance that he has uncontrolled seizures which really does create a back problem---but, then, he wouldn't be driving if he had uncontolled seizures.

Drug seekers are manipulative, self centered and highly impatient---I think taking your truck into a wall, with your mother along for the ride because you are made to wait 9 hours (but then again, manipulators do tend to embelish things a tad bit) does qualify the 3 conditions.

I think, if it were me, I would have hauled his sorry a** out of the truck and put him back into the waiting room for another 9 hours, while immediately taking mamma into the ED-would have loved to see what he would have done then. I have limited sympathy for someone who purposely endangers another-in my eyes, he committed elder abuse & should be prosecuted for it. Hey, won't the jail provide him with unlimited medical care for his condition(s).

But, still think he waited 9 hours for a reason; &, all of us who work in the ED know a few of his type & make them wait for the 'real' emergencies to be cared for.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Oct 29, 2007

or of course if you are "a close personal friend of the ceo or er doc....":uhoh3:

then you get the business end of the biggest and best iv catheter we can find. especially if you remind me about your friendship more than once.