http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080820/ap_on_re_us/patient_death

I have several friends who have come to visit from abroad and have experienced first-hand what goes on in our Emergency Room system.

They are shocked that Americans have this kind of system.

You'd better not go to an ER alone. A family member needs to be with the patient at all times.

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
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I agree that this is a sad occurence. We as a people can do better. I don't believe that our government can do better though.

I thought that in the third world, they didnt even have ER's to get to (few hospitals, no cars, tough roads...)

"Improving" ER's through legislation will only increase costs and tax burden. this argument has been well played here at Mercedesshop.


-John

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Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

When my mother was in the hospital a few years ago, my sister and I kept a vigil at her bedside to keep her from getting (1) neglected, (2) the wrong meds, (3) accidentally dismembered, (4) otherwise hurt and in worse condition than she was before going to the hospital. We did catch a nurse who was about to gove her somebody else's medicine.

Hospitals scare me to death!

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Don't insult the 3rd world. Unless you're talking about some war-ravaged African country, the 3rd world that I know (Indonesia) has much better ER than this country. Ditto for Europe where my family is from. Once when my parents visited me here my mom dislocated her shoulder and had to wait about 2 hours in the ER in excruciating pain before anyone administered any help. I was truly embarrassed and ashamed of our health care system.

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Things like this make me sick and I hope they shut the place down.

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A mental patient died... Damaged goods. No loss.

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Why? Were there more urgent cases in front of her or were the doctors playing pinball in the Doctor's Lounge? When my wife works in the ER, Heart Attack takes priority over stable patients like your mom. When I broke my leg, I was about to be seen when they had a squirter coming in. I didn't have a problem with waiting. I should have *****ed that that clown with a severed artery was queue jumping over me and my broke leg. Even in my Vet's shop, they take care of urgent cases over appointments.

If you haven't burnt your bridges, you can head back to Europe where it is so great. There are probably 300 mexicans waiting to take your place.

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It had to do with the priority thing. We were told there was a heart attack patient that the doctor was busy with and of course that's reasonable, but it seemed that there just weren't enough doctors to handle the patient volume. The waiting room was full of Mexicans with the sniffles and I'm sure that was part of the problem as well. Basically it's too few doctors and overloaded waiting rooms with non-emergencies that is the problem in this country. When you go to the ER in other countries there's hardly anyone in the waiting room and they take care of your emergency right away, at least from what I've seen.

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"Surveillance video showed hospital staff watching television and playing cards just a few feet away."

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

That is the issue. I'm sure that if your Dad or Mom was having a heart attack and they told her to wait her turn and admitted this other person with a separated shoulder, you'd be livid. Now, if you want more doctors, go adopt a Singapore like system. You are TOLD that you will major in this or that. As such, they are less likely to have shortages of anything since the govt has engineered it all already so that they have necessary personnel for whatever they want. Say you have the equivalent of a 4.0 and want to major in Engineering. They get to tell you that they don't want so many people in that field. You will go to Law instead.

So toss those without payment means out and watch the ER free up. I don't have an issue with that.

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They do that too. From what the wife tells me, as long as they have no patients, they can do what they want. When someone comes in, they had best be there yesterday.

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I am a street medic who worked for a number of years in one of the nation's most violent cities; Richmond Virginia.

There are 11 hospitals with ERs in the Richmond region. The quality of patient care varies widely among them with the best of the bunch being the busiest, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College (MCV). MCV is the only Level One trauma center within an approximate 50 mile radius and they get EVERYTHING. They also have an active care program for indigents and the street people know it. Meatloaf for lunch day is particularly popular. They occasionally go on medical diversion because of ER overcrowding but will always take in a trauma case.

Because they are so busy, the Triage nurse, after a cursory exam, will sometimes make less sick patients wait before being seen in the ER exam rooms. It is possible that other busy hospitals find themselves in the same situation. I am not saying that the ER staff at that hospital is blameless but please try to gather as many facts as possible before judging. A hospital on diversion can turn away ambulances but they have to take walk-ins who may find a long wait. The patient in question may also have been a "frequent flier" or one who shows up at the ER almost every day, usually for imaginary problems.

In Richmond we guarded against prejudging street patients and always treated even frequent fliers as though it was the first time. Transport them all and let the doctors sort them out. It does however make for crowded ERs.

Assuming they're not still down with the sniffles.

Nothing wrong with making less injured or sick people wait. There is something wrong with making someone wait 22 hours without checking on them. 22 hours is too long no matter what they have. There is something very wrong if they wait while people play cards.

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1984 300TD

Problem is he kept quiet and fell thru the cracks. These things happen if the ER is busy. You have to squawk if you have been waiting a long time. When the shift changes, the new people come in and don't notice this guy or even remember him. In any case, he is damaged goods so what is the big deal?

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