submitter is obviously not a medical person. If you are having a true emergency (Trauma, Heart Attack, Impending Death), they usually take you straight back. It's the asshats that come to the ER because they cant get into their family physician to be seen for that cold they have, or want the antibiotics for their flu that force wait times up for noncritical people.

submitter: If there's one thing a person has time do when they have a medical emergency, it's logging on to the internet.

I've had TotalFark long enough to confirm this statement.

ZAZ: submitter: If there's one thing a person has time do when they have a medical emergency, it's logging on to the internet.

I've had TotalFark long enough to confirm this statement.

TF: I fell off a ladder and my leg is bent at a 90˚ angle. What should I do?

hardinparamedic: submitter is obviously not a medical person. If you are having a true emergency (Trauma, Heart Attack, Impending Death), they usually take you straight back. It's the asshats that come to the ER because they cant get into their family physician to be seen for that cold they have don't have medical insurance, or want the antibiotics for their flu that force wait times up for noncritical people.

fixed

real shaman: ZAZ: submitter: If there's one thing a person has time do when they have a medical emergency, it's logging on to the internet.

I've had TotalFark long enough to confirm this statement.

TF: I fell off a ladder and my leg is bent at a 90˚ angle. What should I do?

Indeed.

The abundance of that crap makes me not miss when my gift TFs ended.

/under different alts.
//HAHA! Suckers!

I was throwing up blood and went to the ER and waited for five hours. I could have used some internet time.

real shaman

TF: I fell off a ladder and my leg is bent at a 90˚ angle. What should I do?


That's called your 'knee', dumbass; it's supposed to do that.


(Just emulating the quality medical advice to be found on Fark.)

Or maybe some people have medical conditions that can't be treated by their family doctor and the specialty clinics haven't accepted them as a patient. My wife and I have been to the ER over a dozen times in the last 2 years because she gets migraines severe enough to make her throw up uncontrollably and go blind in one eye and the only thing that seems to break them is mag-sulfate delivered via IV. The ER is pretty much the only place in town that will do that.

If you have a cold or flue or crap like that and have no insurance you go to the ER.

If you have chest pain or life threatening injuries you go to Urgent Care.

hardinparamedic: submitter is obviously not a medical person. If you are having a true emergency (Trauma, Heart Attack, Impending Death), they usually take you straight back. It's the asshats that come to the ER because they cant get into their family physician to be seen for that cold they have, or want the antibiotics for their flu that force wait times up for noncritical people.

Annnnndddd done in 1. I have sympathy for people who come into the ED due to lack of insurance. None for people who come in for the flu or whatever minor issue that could be taken care of by their primary care or even going to an urgent care.

hardinparamedic: submitter is obviously not a medical person. If you are having a true emergency (Trauma, Heart Attack, Impending Death), they usually take you straight back. It's the asshats that come to the ER because they cant get into their family physician to be seen for that cold they have, or want the antibiotics for their flu that force wait times up for noncritical people.

That pretty much sums it up.

I recently went to our local emergency department for chest pains. The waiting room was packed. Went straight to actual triage (not the dipshiat receptionist), ECG within 5 minutes, sent back to the waiting room when it was revealed that I wasn't having a heart attack.

Of course as I was going to triage, all of the dipshiat, mouth breathings assholes were yelling and screaming that I'd just gotten there and that I shouldn't go "first." The nurse ripped into a few of them about chest pains, critical window, and dropping dead in the waiting room, pretty much to no avail. Apparently if you're too stupid to go to your regular doctor during business hours for that sniffle, flu shot, or sprained ankle, you're too stupid to understand prioritizing care to those conditions that might actually be a real emergency.

Yeah, Smitty, it's too bad there isn't some kind of ubiquitous handheld device that allows people to browse the net.

I once got into an argument with somebody who claimed hospitals should be reserved for life-and-death cases only. I countered that since most hospitals in my area now have "fast-track" care for non-critical cases, there is no extra burden on the system that would delay treatment to serious cases.

For example, I dislocated my left little finger, such that the middle joint was bent backwards at a 90 degree angle. I didn't call around to make an appointment with a doctor's office, I went to a hospital. She was arguing that I was wasting the hospital's time.

Anyway, in a case like a broken bone, wait times on the internet would help me choose which hospital to go to. When I broke my collar bone, for example, it was 6 hours before they even gave me pain medication. If they said on their website "6 hour wait," I would have gone somewhere else.

Also, subby, who "logs on" to the internet anymore?

I'm having chest pains so I'm getting a big kick out of these replies.....

who "logs on" to the internet anymore?

Local radio stations keep asking people to "log on" to the station's web site when they mean visit it.

ZAZ: who "logs on" to the internet anymore?

Local radio stations keep asking people to "log on" to the station's web site when they mean visit it.

"Local" what now?

jack21221: Also, subby, who "logs on" to the internet anymore?

I used tethered 3G internet from my Windows Mobile phone, which requires me to log on to a dial up connection. Even broadband users need to "log in" to "dial-up" in certain cases, even if that "dial-up" happens to run at 1.5mbps.

My account name and password are in my DSL modem, which does the "log in" part for me.

char_boy

Local pre-internet wireless media.

I also suspect that submitter is not a parent. If my 14-month-old child has a 102 fever that does not respond to tylenol, I'm going to the emergency room. That is not an "emergency" like a sucking chest wound is an emergency, but at 11:00 at night it's the only option to see a doctor. We may very well get sent home and told to keep an eye on it, but on the other hand they may administer other medication or an IV that we couldn't do at home.

I didn't know this before I had kids, and I don't expect anyone else to either.

I dunno. I got smacked in the eye by a rogue twig whilst trimming hedges on a Sunday afternoon once. Doctor's office isn't open and you're dealing with potential eyesight issue, so I called two hospitals in proximity to find out the wait times in the ER. One was better than the other, so I went to the one that wasn't dealing with critical patients at the time.

Turned out I scratched my cornea and had to be patched (ARRRR, Matey!) with antibiotics for a few days.

Then there was the Sunday my kid ate a softball and broke her front teeth up in the gum and cut her lip. Again, not bleeding to death or choking on tooth fragments, but seriously...wait until Monday to go the doctor? Can you say 'medical negligence' and 'visit from CPS'?

Or the night when the hamster bit my other kid...

Not all emergencies are necessarily life or death, ambulance screaming situations. Sometimes you need immediate attention just for an evaluation (because I'm not a doctor, I just play one on Fark), or some meds to prevent infection. In those situations, yeah, you have a minute to call around and it's nice to have a choice of not displacing someone in more distress than yourself.

And then there's the in-network insurance angle coupled with the availability of 24-hour clinics and prompt care facilities, but that's a rant unto itself.

Smitty, why do you hate technology?

No, no one EVER shows up with a friend or relative with a phone capable of browsing the internet. That's NEVER happened.

And as long as you're browsing, no one would EVER read off what they found to the rest of the waiting room because all people everywhere are selfish bastards.

There is just no point in doing this, you're right. I'll bring this up at the next board meeting, save the company millions in implementation and maintenance costs, and roll it all into this year's bonus. Score!!!!

I think what's frustrating to me is that hospitals aren't doing more to head this off via flat fee-for-service visitation centers. I realize that, if your child has a fever in the middle of the night, you're going to the ER, but I cannot tell you how many people I've seen come through the ED with toothaches and snotty noses; it's approximately 10%, and much of it is drug-seeking behavior. And, though 90% of people in the ER are legit, approximately 1 in 6 have no insurance and may or may not ever pay their bill, driving up the cost for everyone else (especially when they see they've been charged, by way of example, $1,000 for what amounts to little more than dehydration).

Instead of having wait times on the intarwebs, hospitals should establish and advertise services that aren't quite urgent care, but better than going to the equivalent of the school nurse. In areas where I've seen it done, something as simple as a $50 flat fee makes money for the doctor, money for the hospital, unclogs ER waiting rooms and improves community health. Or, we could just put a bandaid on a gunshot wound. Whichever.

UGH! That is quite possibly worse than anything even the DMV has done. And c'mon.....the DMV?! Seriously? What were they thinking?

Byno

What do you think of the CVS nurse-staffed clinics?

This is why so many people call 911 now...they think riding the ambulance to the hospital gets them seen quicker.

\just gets them a more expensive ride to the lobby for their stumped toe or hangnail

scratchee: I also suspect that submitter is not a parent. If my 14-month-old child has a 102 fever that does not respond to tylenol, I'm going to the emergency room. That is not an "emergency" like a sucking chest wound is an emergency, but at 11:00 at night it's the only option to see a doctor. We may very well get sent home and told to keep an eye on it, but on the other hand they may administer other medication or an IV that we couldn't do at home.

I didn't know this before I had kids, and I don't expect anyone else to either.

I don't mean to sound like a prick (I have two kids, and I know how it feels to have a sick kid at 11 pm), and I know you're just offering an example of something troubling but not critical that might warrant a visit to an emergency department, but a 102 fever in a 14 month old is barely worth a call to your pediatrician. 103 is definitely worth a call, and 104, sustained, is worth a trip to the ER, but kids that age will throw a 102 simply from a cold.

Obvious iPhone App ...

Distance from Emergency Room
- Emergency Room Wait
= Emergency Room I go to

/Will call it Golden Gate, with a little Golden Gate logo.

I won't go to the ER unless I am dying. I had a minor medical emergency and made the hubby take me to urgent care instead. The doc was a bit annoyed he actually had to do something more than write scrips for antibiotics but I was fine within an hour of them patching me up. I figured my odds of being seen quickly were higher at urgent care and it wasn't going to cost me thousands of dollars.

Hospital ER would be better off if they had some sort of urgent care level clinic within the ER that they can pawn the no insurance and non emergency cases off to.

logging onto the internet

Does the subby still have AOL?

eddyatwork: I was throwing up blood and went to the ER and waited for five hours. I could have used some internet time.

Yeah, same here. I went to an urgent care center because I was having horrible abdominal cramps, and they sent me to the ER (which was a 40 minute drive away) because they thought I had appendicitis. They called the ER in advance to let them know I was coming. I got there and it was 3 hours until I was seen. Fortunately, it turned out to only be an ovarian cyst, but still. You'd think they'd take someone with possible appendicitis right back.

One thing that would help overcrowded ERs was if urgent care centers were open 24 hours and actually accepted peoples' insurance plans. There's only three urgent care places within about a 50 mile radius of where I live, and only one of them accepts my insurance. Hell, I never even heard of urgent care until earlier this year, and I'm 27 years old. You'd think they'd be a little more commonplace, especially since I live outside of a major city.

Do people still "log on" to the Internet anymore?

Maybe it could be used for ambulance drivers trying to avoid an overcrowded hospital?

/not the person driving it obviously, but there's more than one person in an ambulance.

Crackers Are a Family Food: Yeah, same here. I went to an urgent care center because I was having horrible abdominal cramps, and they sent me to the ER (which was a 40 minute drive away) because they thought I had appendicitis. They called the ER in advance to let them know I was coming. I got there and it was 3 hours until I was seen. Fortunately, it turned out to only be an ovarian cyst, but still. You'd think they'd take someone with possible appendicitis right back.

The problem is that "abdominal pain" is probably 40% of the cases we see at my ER. Depending on your symptoms, it was probably clear that it wasn't near your appendix. Or they may have had people dying at the time, in which case unless you're showing explicit signs of acute appendicitis, you're going down the waiting list.

scratchee: I also suspect that submitter is not a parent. If my 14-month-old child has a 102 fever that does not respond to tylenol, I'm going to the emergency room.

You are much better off calling your pediatrician's advise line to determine if your child needs to be seen that night. The majority of times it can wait until office hours or the urgent care are open. You don't want to subject your child to all the nastiness that's in an ED unless you really have no other choice.

/fever is defined as 100.8F or higher
//fever is a symptom, not a disease

Crackers Are a Family Food: One thing that would help overcrowded ERs was if urgent care centers were open 24 hours and actually accepted peoples' insurance plans.

The one urgent care center we have here accepts all major insurance plans, but closes at 8pm during the week and at 6 pm on the weekends. It's also closed on all major holidays.

I don't know if anyone has ever done a detailed study on it, but there's probably a vast number of non-emergency ER visits from underinsured, uninsured, and medicaid patients. When you have health insurance and you know that it is going to cost you major cash to go in, you tend to think a little harder before going.

From experience, if you are bleeding profusely and your blood pressure is 80/40 you don't wait to be seen.

lstywnch: I don't know if anyone has ever done a detailed study on it, but there's probably a vast number of non-emergency ER visits from underinsured, uninsured, and medicaid patients. When you have health insurance and you know that it is going to cost you major cash to go in, you tend to think a little harder before going.

When people are bringing in their 2 year old for a fever to 102F by ambulance at 7am because they don't have a car, you know they aren't paying for the ambulance or the visit. My ED co-pay is $100 (waved if I get admitted), which is good incentive to use urgent care or pmd visits as needed.

Everyone's definition of "Emergency" is different.

The status of the majority of patients at the ER on any given day:

> No insurance (or don't want to pay)

> No legal status/citizenship

> Too drunk to function

> Nothing else to do (yes, really)

> Drug seeker


It makes me feel extra sorry for the true emergencies that come in and have to actually wait to get in. Especially when an idiot drug seeker uses the "I'm having chest pains" trick to move to the top of the list.



/work in a hospital

I think this is a farking fantastic idea and should be rolled out nation wide.

Imagine texting to an emergency number (119) and getting a text back with local wait times.

lstywnch: I don't know if anyone has ever done a detailed study on it, but there's probably a vast number of non-emergency ER visits from underinsured, uninsured, and medicaid patients. When you have health insurance and you know that it is going to cost you major cash to go in, you tend to think a little harder before going.

It's why I am in favor of those Wal-Mart style walk in clinics. Set a price for the consult at between $25-$50 dollars. One of the single largest problems is that you cannot price shop. You get charged what you get charged.

No insurance accepted. Just walk in and pay.

Our ER rooms get clogged with people who have no business being there. The day I actually need an ER doctor, they'll be clogged up with new moms who rush their newborn to the ER every two weeks.

I can't say i remember the last time I actually "loggod onto" the internet. It's just like..on.

tukatz: Everyone's definition of "Emergency" is different.

The status of the majority of patients at the ER on any given day:

> No insurance (or don't want to pay)

> No legal status/citizenship

> Too drunk to function

> Nothing else to do (yes, really)

> Drug seeker


It makes me feel extra sorry for the true emergencies that come in and have to actually wait to get in. Especially when an idiot drug seeker uses the "I'm having chest pains" trick to move to the top of the list.



/work in a hospital

I so agree.
95% of ER patients are not Emergency based.
/works in a medical center
//knows all the 'frequent fliers' by name and their drug 'allergies'.

I live in Canada and my family doctor works 4.5 days per week. If I have a problem on a Friday afternoon, am I supposed to wait until Monday morning at 9am to call her office and wait another week for an appointment or do I go to the emergency room and wait 6-8 hours?

We have after hours clinics that people go to rather than to the emergency room but even thouse close at 10pm on week nights and have limited hours on Saturdays. I do use the after hours clinics more often than my family doctor since I know I only have to wait a few hours to get a prescription refill instead of a few weeks plus having to pay for parking and not being on HER schedule where I have to take time off work. The after hours clinic doctors are also more far more competent than her. For example, I'm still waiting for blood test results from February 11 - she can't find them and refuses to look up the results in the centralized computer system (hospital told me they're in there) because they must be in her unopened mail (that she takes home) somewhere.

One local hospital posts the wait time on a white board and does something even better - takes attendance every so often so that if someone has left (for a few hours to come back later) they're removed from the list :)

Our hospitals have Quick Care spots in local stores. For about $30.00, you can talk with a nurse, get a diagnosis, and maybe even a prescription if needed. They also accept insurance. My brother is self-employed and uses this option for the flu, minor pains, etc.

My choice: I would go to my family doctor if possible.... or go to a walk-in clinic.

If it's not life threatening, getting progressively worse, or causing too much pain to bear, THEN it's Emergency Room worthy.

If you can take an aspirin or a nap and wait until the next day, then do so. The list in my last post is very accurate. We have people getting admitted to the ER for minor problems while our walk-in clinic is still open because the walk-in clinic will want a $20.00 co-pay in advance. They know the ER will only ask for a payment, but not require it. These same people almost always neglect to pay their bill after the fact.

This is why Emergency Rooms are losing serious amounts of money, charging more, and ultimately shutting down.



Forgot two on the list:

> "Sunday nighters" - they want an excuse to skip work on Monday

> Family events - one person is sick, but the whole family comes with to fill up the Waiting area, drink the free coffee, take anything that's not nailed down, let their kids run through the building, etc.

tukatz: Our hospitals have Quick Care spots in local stores. For about $30.00, you can talk with a nurse, get a diagnosis, and maybe even a prescription if needed. They also accept insurance. My brother is self-employed and uses this option for the flu, minor pains, etc.

That's an awesome idea. The urgent care center here charges almost as much as the ER.

Actually I just took an unresponsive patient to the hospital who took the time to look up the symptoms of a heart attack......

Around here the ER's are the clinics. If you have no insurance, you go to the ER, sit around for 12 hours and infect everyone else in the room, finally get seen, then don't pay the bill.

Its probably the main reason why a lot of counties in California no longer have hospitals ran by the county. They have to take everyone, no questions asked. The local one here may have to go private in another year or so because they are running around a 20 billion dollar deficit now, and the county is having problems affording to keep them running.

/Probably why a lot of counties want medical coverage for everyone.
//Oh, and only about 30% of the people who don't pay are illegals, by the way....

Something to do while updating twitter right?

As a peds ER nurse, we tell everyone that fever should be treated at 102 or higher, with Tylenol and Motrin (alternated every 3 hours) - unless it's a child under 3 months of age or an immunocompromised child. Fever is otherwise not an emergency - as long as the child keeps drinking well (at least 2/3 to 3/4 of normal liquid intake) and the fever drops at least 1 degree with said Tylenol and Motrin.

/Fever is the body's natural antiviral/antibiotic.
//First time using slashies :)

I had to wait when I went to the ER in labor. Granted, I did not know that I was in labor at the time, but when a pregnant woman comes into the ER for serious back pain, she should not be told to wait in the waiting room until the triage nurse comes to get her. I was in agony for 45 minutes before they saw me. After checking my vitals, they sent me back to wait an additional half-hour. To top it all off, 4 hours after delivering my son, I discovered they towed my car which was parked in "no overnight parking". It was 12:08am. WTF?!?!?!?

You would be surprised how many people call in to the Emergency Room and ask how long the wait is. Sometimes when the lobby is packed it's nice seeing these people decide to see their family doctor for the 'emergency'. I can imagine this helping ease those departures along.

tatemplet: As a peds ER nurse, we tell everyone that fever should be treated at 102 or higher, with Tylenol and Motrin (alternated every 3 hours) - unless it's a child under 3 months of age or an immunocompromised child. Fever is otherwise not an emergency - as long as the child keeps drinking well (at least 2/3 to 3/4 of normal liquid intake) and the fever drops at least 1 degree with said Tylenol and Motrin.

/Fever is the body's natural antiviral/antibiotic.
//First time using slashies :)

Don't forget a fever with a rash actually is an emergency.