Monday 6 April 2015

EMERGENCY ROOM BROUHAHA

The emergency room; dreaded by many, but my favorite room in the entire hospital. The room where the action never ends and adrenaline never stops pumping (guess I’m an adrenaline junky). Today, let’s joke a bit. The ER is the room where you don’t have to follow strictly, the format of history, examination, investigations, diagnosis and treatment. The reason is simple, when I see a patient in a regular clinic, I write out the history as

“Seen”

“C/O (complaints of) -------- and so on.”

In the ER, it is much different. A patient is rarely able to scroll in by themselves. I usually write the history as follows;

“Rushed into the ER bleeding ……..”

“Carried into the ER by relatives in severe painful distress …..”

“Wheeled into the ER gasping ……” and so on



Okay, enough of how the ER works, actually needed to make you understand how we got ourselves into an ER brouhaha at the hospital. So, an emergency is meant for emergencies and accidents only (the reason many also call it A&E). This faithful day, the clinics were packed full and this young lady was in a hurry. She didn’t want to wait in the too long line – (that could take forever). She went about seeking for a way to see the doctor faster. She came upon someone who lent her a ‘great’ advice;

“if you have enough money, just pay for the emergency room and they would see you immediately. There is a doctor in the ER that doesn’t have a lot of patients to see”.

The lady thanks the adviser and did as she was advised. She walks into the emergency room, and is quite happy that the crowd isn’t as much as in the out-patient clinics. She has her vital signs taken by the nurse and her case note is submitted to the doctor (me) to be seen. Just as she was about to be called in, an emergency case is rushed in. I get up, apologize to her and tell her that she is more stable and should kindly wait at the reception. I’m still on the first case and two more and brought. At some point, I forget that I actually asked a lady to wait for me, as I was quite busy with the ones fighting for their dear lives.

An hour or so later, everything is calming down and I hear a noise at the entrance. First thought, another emergency case, however, it turned out it was the lady I asked to wait. She was about to bring down the hospital. How dare we keep her waiting when she has paid the emergency fees? She was told she’d be seen immediately, now she has to wait for some people that came after her to be treated first. Heard that it took the patient advocate to quiet her down and explain to her how the ER really works. She was given the option of either collecting her refund/waiting in the clinics like everyone else, or to be patient for the emergency room to get calm and be seen in the ER. Which option do you think she went for?

Emergency room: expect the unexpected!

12 comments:

  1. Some people are just unreasonable. You handled it well doctor.

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    1. It is the world we live in, we just have to come together to make it a better place

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  2. People can be so rude and selfish. An emergency room is not for petty things.

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    1. Exactly! I hope she learnt something that day.

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  3. I've never been in an emergency room before, and must confess, I have a general dislike of hospitals. I like doctors though, and the amazing work you people do.

    P.S: Thanks for visiting my blog, Keren. And best of luck with the remainder of the #AtoZChallenge

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    1. Thank God for you Michael. Also best of luck with the challenge.

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  4. I've never understood how people expect ER/A&E to be first come first served.

    Although in the UK they'd just sit in the waiting room and whine because there are no fees.

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  5. Interesting and another case study of why people can be so damn narrow-minded and im'patient'! #AtoZChallenge from Carol Cameleon at VirtuallyAllSorts.com @AllSortsHere

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    1. Nice to meet you Carol, thanks for visiting.

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  6. I have heard people give that advice before, and I always laughed. In Hungary, the ER waiting line is usually several hours long for patients that don't need immediate attention...

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
    MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary

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    1. I guess the lady haD to learn the hard way.

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