The story where the woman had to dial 911 from the ER to receive care seems to be getting a lot of play here. The ensuing forum is bringing out more “complaints” against this hospital – it seems that people do not understand that the reason why ERs are so overcrowded is beyond the physicians’ control. There are many reasons for this (too many uninsured, poor access to primary care, misuse of the ER etc.) – not one of which is the hospital’s fault.
Related posts:
- ER waits: The NY Times is half-right
- My take: Diagnosis, Big Dig, ED waits
- A financial motive for long ED waits?
- ED overcrowding by the insured
- Variance of care and race
- Massachusetts and emergency overcrowding
- Emergency department overcrowding
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{ 1 comment }
I had to go to the emergency room because I was having an anaphylactic reaction to what we now suspect was a bug bite. I was barely breathing (and I was getting worse), but staff at the front desk insisted I fill out a form and wait, ignoring my gasps that not being able to breathe is usually pretty dangerous. Luckily for me, my mother is a doctor and managed to find someone on staff who treated me right away.
The emergency room was not busy at this time.
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