Seriously? The ER? For that?

[Chicken Lil]

Quote:
Oh this doesnt work very well
let me explain:
I was on the phone with the dr's office many many times in a 4 day period with my oldest GDaughter, they kept telling me that its just the flu no biggie just give her fluids, ok fine did that repeatedly, everytime she took in fluids she would be in the bathroom voiding fluid,.
this went on for 4 days, finlly I got an office worker with this attitude you have, finally I had to get nasty and tell them if they didnt see her asap that I would take her to the er and IF there was any significant issue I would sue her personally then the drs office.
Finally I was given an appointment for 10 am ( I called at 8 am mind you), I headed over right then and there I wasnt waiting.
Dr comes in and OMG there is a huge issue, the 10 year old was diagnosed Diabetic,
They made me wait 4 days to be seen, she could have easily died of dehydration and was very close to being comatose.
In the 4 days she was deathly ill she lost 14 lbs!
Do you think I am ever going to listen to a dr or an office worker or a triage nurse again NOT LIKELY.
2 months ago Noro Virus whacked her, whats the first thing the Dr's office said, " Take her to the ER" 6 hours later she was life flighted to the nearest Major Hospital. Ketoacidosis, all with in a 6 hour window.
The problem is this office does not take serious illnesses seriously. they push it off on the ER.

I'm with you on this one. I kept telling my clinic something was really wrong with my DD, and the doctor & nurses told me it was nothing more than allergies. Less than 48 hours later I rushed her to the ER and it turned out she was in renal failure.

Lil

 

[mekasmom]

I realize you said the people with fear of the flu did have insurance. But in many cases poor people must use the ER as a primary physician. Even if they have medicaid, too many doctors refuse to see them. Their only alternative is the ER. It has gotten to the point in this nation that the Hippocratic oath is only valid if the patient has cash in hand in the eyes of some doctors.

 

[SophieLain127]

Don't be so quick to judge tattoo girl. If she had a new tattoo and it doesn't stop hurting it could be a sign of a staph infection. And because most people don't think of that first your only explination is "my tattoo hurts" However unless you are bleeding out or extreamly serious children should always go first.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
If you don't have the flu virus the ER is a great place to get it.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
Oh this doesnt work very well
let me explain:
I was on the phone with the dr's office many many times in a 4 day period with my oldest GDaughter, they kept telling me that its just the flu no biggie just give her fluids, ok fine did that repeatedly, everytime she took in fluids she would be in the bathroom voiding fluid,.
this went on for 4 days, finlly I got an office worker with this attitude you have, finally I had to get nasty and tell them if they didnt see her asap that I would take her to the er and IF there was any significant issue I would sue her personally then the drs office.
Finally I was given an appointment for 10 am ( I called at 8 am mind you), I headed over right then and there I wasnt waiting.
Dr comes in and OMG there is a huge issue, the 10 year old was diagnosed Diabetic,
They made me wait 4 days to be seen, she could have easily died of dehydration and was very close to being comatose.
In the 4 days she was deathly ill she lost 14 lbs!
Do you think I am ever going to listen to a dr or an office worker or a triage nurse again NOT LIKELY.
2 months ago Noro Virus whacked her, whats the first thing the Dr's office said, " Take her to the ER" 6 hours later she was life flighted to the nearest Major Hospital. Ketoacidosis, all with in a 6 hour window.
The problem is this office does not take serious illnesses seriously. they push it off on the ER.

I'm with you on this one. I kept telling my clinic something was really wrong with my DD, and the doctor & nurses told me it was nothing more than allergies. Less than 48 hours later I rushed her to the ER and it turned out she was in renal failure.

Lil

I am right there with you , I live in constant fear of Renal Failure with this child.
She was diagnosed 2 years ago as diabetic, still to this day they do not have her sugar levels under control.

 

[gabrielle1976]

I think there is a problem with people going in for things they dont need to and there is a problem with hospitals not triageing paients correctly and quickly , But you can never assume unless your child is on deaths door that they dont need to be seen , alot of the tiime my son seemed ok when we went to the ER I was his mom though and I knew when he was ill and when something wasnt right even if he wasnt running a 105 fever or whatever.
Im simply saying you cant judge the world by what you precive is theyr situation , you dont know and if youre there with a loved one thats sick or injured youre gonna be biased no matter how you try to say or think youre not. So all you can do is be the best possible advocete for you friend or faimly member and try not to spend time judgeing why or when or how on someone elses medical issues. In most cases you arnt a dr and you dont know whats going on . How about the little one that was mentioned on here , he had a cut finger , if you would have seen him in the waiting room withhis little bandage on you would have probly thought shoot that little kid is in here for a cut finger while my kid is ........(fill in the blank) but you dont know the whole story , that little boy was deathly ill even though it was just a booboo on his finger.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
There have been a lot of cases of Tattoo's going septic.
One here in NH was shut down because of Meningitis. so maybe her painfull tattoo was something more than a bandaid needed.

 

[HennysMom]

Quote:
While I can understand your frustration....and everyone elses frustration, bottom line is - its not you, or anyone elses choice or decision. Doesnt matter if they have the same insurance as you and their deductible is $100.00 per person; you arent paying their bill and if thats what they were comfortable in doing, then thats their right to do so, right?

Do people abuse the ER's across the country? Absolutely, but there are times when everything is not as it quite appears to be. - Have I been to the ER for migraines? Yes I have... do others sit there and go "For a HEADACHE? Are you KIDDING ME?

Probably.. but do I care? No because until they've had the feeling of a baseball bat upside the back of their head and throwing up for hours upon hours, they'll never understand how I feel. Has my son been taken for a bee sting? Yep.. why - because he's allergic to them and wasnt breathing well...and I had no Epi and benedryl didnt work (didnt know he was allergic then...). Same with DH when he was attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets on a Saturday morning. I just took DD in March to the ER, severe stomach pain for 6 hours straight (and at night after drs office was closed), I thought it was a ovarian cyst but wasnt sure... $8K later (yes, with insurance it was that much) and our copays of nearly $1K.. I'm not happy about it by any means, but she's okay. I sat there through "she doesnt look sick to me" comments... and sideways glances... and ya know what.. thats okay, its not them footing the bill, its me and my DH.

I myself sometimes must go to the ER (rarely, but I do) for Lupus when I have outbreaks because I cannot be on the medications required due to eye disease as well as others, they conflict for me. Others may think I'm fine from looking at me, I mean.. I"m not all screaming in pain, I'm more of a quiet person regardless of how much I hurt, I dont like to make scene - but if you knew I couldnt breathe, had blisters and sores in my mouth and throat, my tongue was swollen, and I was urinating blood... to the point that I needed ER attention..... would you be so quick to judge me then? I myself have a tatoo and given my conditions.. I was forewarned to be EXTREMELY careful and watch for infection and if I felt sick for any reason.. (again, Lupus being main party) I would need to go to the ER immediately for antibiotics thru the IV. Explicit directions.

So.. see - not everything is as it seems sometimes.

 

[agnes_day]

i can relate to the above post!
my husband gets cluster headaches every spring and since his work doesnt provide insurance, we go to the emergency room and he gets oxygen treatments, which is the only thing that helps. of course, they always think we are there for drugs until we ask for oxygen specifically. i hate having to drag my husband who is puking from the pain up there at 4 in the morning but a regular doctor wants 200 to walk in, and never mind the mri's and everything else they want to charge for.
also, emergency rooms have triage nurses and they have to put the more serious cases ahead of the less serious ones.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Dumb people, they'll have to wait for hoooours though. My mom was having trouble breathing one time and we took her to the ER, it was packed, but she was given first priority because... well if you can't breathe you die. lol. But I felt so badly for this one little girl waiting in line. She was maybe 5 and had completely DESTROYED her nose, blood everywhere, bawling her eyes out, and they made her wait in line.

Wasn't lifethreatening, but come on! She's terrified! Help her out!