Emergency Room Medicine ??

Just wondered if people across the nation are having a similar experience.

Oh, I got sick yesterday--thought I was gonna die from chest pain.

Called the hospital Advice Line. Nurse asked me what I had done for my discomfort. I told her, and I gave her my blood pressure reading, which was off the chart [I have my own cuff].

She said: "You better head on over to Emergency," -- some 50 miles away.

Okay, so I drive for an hour and a half and I find the hospital ER, stand in line for an hour to check in with my insurance info and computer data. And then I sit up in the ER waiting room until nine o'clock this morning--watching four helicopters, assorted ambulances etc cut in in front of me.

So, what did I do? What else? Made friends. It was like a disaster scene. We all just began talking and sharing and spent the whole night prompting each other for coffee or potty breaks or whatever--until 9am this morning.

But--what kind of "Health Care" is this? My local doctor's answering machine was inoperative before 5pm on Friday. Nobody was in his office. I had no other option but to drive the fifty miles. The place was a madhouse; but after all, it was Friday night, right?

But the kicker is this: when I left at nine am this morning, I had never seen a doctor. They were all still busy; and my dogs hadn't been let out nor attended to for more than twelve hours. Besides, the pain subsided.

What kind of Health Care system is this? Does your town or city have anything better?

I'm not saying where I went. I don't want to embarrass those poor people.
So, I'm going to bed and get some sleep. Seeya tomorrow.

: ) Em

I am sorry for the time you spent on the Emergency Room.

When my niece was sick and dehydrated about a year ago, my brother and his wife spent almost 12 hours in the lobby waiting for the doctor. They were finally admitted in and stayed inside the emergency room for two days. The doctor only saw them once during the whole time they were they.

We heard later that there was some people who had been in the emergency room for a day before they were even seen.

So what are we the American people going to do about THIS--

--this travesty?

--this professional incompetence?

--this bureaucratic nightmare?

--this profiteering opportunity for industrialists?

--this infinite WASTE of human time, money and potential?

Or, are we going to REMAIN STUPEFIED, DUMBED-DOWN ANIMALS?

If we found out the answer to those questions, we could solve the medical crisis that exists. Found out that a couple of the emergency rooms here are closing due to excessive malpractice costs. Cause more people to go to the only one open.