Emergency room visit

[SABIO]

So the Wife is sick all day... then she gets sharp pains in her stomach...lower right side.
So off to the Emerg. we go.
Arrive 8:50pm, take a number. Triage at 9pm...admitted 9:10pm (to waiting room)..4 Hours later....1:10am get inside the sacred grounds and she gets a room...1:40am nothing....2:10am nothing..
I talk to a nurse about getting some sterile jars so the wife can...ummm relieve some of the pressure (breast feeding). At least they did that. I left at 2:30am to get back home to the Baby Boy, we had her Brother and Wife doing the emergency babysit thing...she\'s still there... :(

We were getting kind of grumpy seeing the soccer moms come in followed by their hopping daughters, gee, playing soccer on wet grass...duh... After Us...only to be admitted Before us!! And leave while we were still sitting there...Grrrr...!!! And they left they way they came in..hopping.
If the bone isn\'t sticking through the leg people, stay home and put ice on it!! Don\'t waste everybody\'s time going to Emerg. go to the walk-in clinic in the morning... Farking losers. This happened three times!! Since when does a sore ankle or knee come before someone doubled over in pain sitting there four hours.... bullshit...


o.k i feel better now........
and for the wife...just waiting for a phone call......

[Chuckie]

next time.. call an ambulance..
i\'ve heard that you get faster and better service if you are being brought in by ambulance.
thats what i\'ve heard anyways.

you might taking away the ambulance for someone really in need though.

[SourcE]

hope she feels better soon...

[SABIO]

so. 11 hours later, I give them a call for a sit-rep. They ran some tests and are waiting for the results and they will be doing an ultrasound.... a.k.a -keep waiting........


As for the ambulance...I agree. Pay the $120 for the ride and you get to pass Go. Straight in.
That\'s how one of the limping soccer girls came in!

[3GFX]

Those wait times are nasty, at least she got a bed. I had an xgf who was sick and we had to wait for 3 hours before she even got a bed!

I hope your wife is ok.

[eguiyab]

Originally posted by Chuckie


next time.. call an ambulance..
i\'ve heard that you get faster and better service if you are being brought in by ambulance.
thats what i\'ve heard anyways.

you might taking away the ambulance for someone really in need though.

I agree. Im a Nurse myself and through personal experience I know that when you come in alone and end up in the waiting room your kinda on your own till someone see\'s you. However If and when you call for an ambulance, IF you are classified as someone who could be \"at risk\" the paramedics stay with you until your are offically admitted. The reason being is that TEMS is responsible for you till the hospital really takes over.

If your health status changes as your waiting... they quickly act and inform the nurses and voila, your seen. Plus during your wait your usually monitored, and in a comfy stretcher, well not comfy but better than a chair across the hall.

This happened to my family twice, once with and once without TEMS. My grandmother practically went into diabetic coma and passed out before she was seen (without TEMS) and my grandfather was at least monitored and treated consitently slowly (with TEMS).

Although Chuckie makes an excellent point. If its not nessecarry, it is one less ambulance on the road attending to the rest of the city. Thats why you tend to see multiple Ambulances parked outside of ER\'s all the time.

[Medic22]

Yeah,
However, the amount of patients I get that use our service because they figure coming through the ambulance = less waiting times, is crazy. Which hospital did you go to SABIO? Actually the price is a lot cheaper than 120, i believe it is around 40 dollars with a health card and a little over two hundred without one I believe, it also depends on if the patient is essential/non-essential (at the discretion of the nursing staff). We are not responsible for the fee, its the hospital that is responsible for the charge.

If you are able to walk/sit in a wheelchair and your vitals are stable, or you are able to lie in a hospital bed without supervision, even if you come by ambulance, the emerg staff will most often send you to the waiting room or hospital bed and make you wait with everyone else. Each hospital is different and have their own way of triaging their patients. Hope everything turns out fine with your wife Sabio.

[Whos ur dadd]

I cringe everytime the kids come down with a high fever...and most of the times it\'s just right before the long weekend when the doctor\'s offices are closed...

I can\'t say that my experience is as taxing as Sab\'s though. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to the wife.

[TheProfessor]

Sorry to hear Sabio, hope everything works out and she gets outta there soon.

As for the \'use an ambulance\' idea, isn\'t that just a waste of a fairly valuable resource that might be put to better use by, I don\'t know, helping somebody who actually needs an ambulance? I was always under the impression that ambulances were not in great abundance, though correct me if I\'m wrong.

[bluntman]

I hope everything turns out well for your family.

[firstmazda]

Hey Sabs,
you shoulds taken it easy on her the night after your wedding!

I hope things turn out okay. Which hospital are you at?

Most likely, another big reason you waited so long is for the results of tests and such.
Though it seems the nurses are ignoring you, they\'re looking after way too many patients
they should be and without the results of your tests, they\'re waiting to see what they
can do for you as well.
Blood results often take 2-3 hours to come back from the labs.
From your first post, i figured you\'d probably be staying overnight to wait for the
Ultrasound tech to come in the next morning.

But I completely agree with how people misuse and abuse our emergency system when
there are so many walk-in clinics and so many things can wait a few days until your
family doc is available.
You know how many people come in at 3am yelling saying they\'ve been waiting an HOUR to be seen
\'cause they hurt their thumb 3 days ago and decided to come to emergency now? it\'s unbelievable!

[Broli]

hope the wife is ok!

keep us posted!

[Medic22]

The amount of ambulances that are out there compared to the growing number of calls we get every year is ridiculous. Professor, if only everyone thought the same way you did we wouldn\'t be so busy. Firstmazda, you wouldn\'t believe some of the ridiculous calls we get...someone calling for an ingrown toe nail?...which is obviously a TRUE emergency :sarc ...it can get very interesting

[majic]

sabio, hope all is well...


Originally posted by Medic22

someone calling for an ingrown toe nail?...which is obviously a TRUE emergency :sarc ...it can get very interesting

wouldn\'t it be the operator\'s call NOT to send an ambulance to the loser complaining about a toenail?

when i was a lifeguard, i recall a cost of $240 for the ambulance trip to the hospital.. that was about 6-8 years ago..

[SABIO]

SouthLake here in Newmarket. The one they are spending over 100 million on upgrading. Maybe they should whip out some cash for staff..... but at least we got a fancy archway over Davis Drive (hwy #9) with an enclosed walkway over the road..:sarc

Ultrasound has been done..they think it is her appendix, I am going there at noon to see what *Think means... yippee.... Hope I don\'t have to wait...:sarc

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by Medic22

...Firstmazda, you wouldn\'t believe some of the ridiculous calls we get...someone calling for an ingrown toe nail?...which is obviously a TRUE emergency :sarc ...it can get very interesting

LOL I\'m not surprised! I\'m sure you\'ve seen a lot more than I have in your line.
You ever drop by St. Joe\'s in toronto, ask for me in X-Ray!

Ray

[Medic22]

Majic, in the end it is a service and dispatchers or even medics don\'t have the right to refuse service unless the patient does so...some people have run into some big trouble for not transferring patients who appear to be fine but end up serious later...if someone requests for an ambulance, we transfer someone regardless of it is a true emergency or not. As for the $240 fee, I don\'t know how it was 7-8 years ago but I know now the fee is around $45 /w a health card or around $240 without one. However, if the hospital feels that the ambulance was called for the wrong reason or the patient could have been able to make it their by his/her own means, the hospital may charge you the full price. Paramedics have nothing to do with the fee. That is one of the main questions we get on the road. Hopefully you don\'t have to wait too long Sabio. At least you don\'t have to go through the emergency area...

[Medic22]

Firstmazda,
I work around the area and have been there at St. Joseph\'s. It a great hospital, at least the emergency area, the offloads are very short and the nursing staff there always make sure that we are not held at the hospital too long. I wish I can say that for all hospitals...where is the x-ray portion of the hospital anyway?

[majic]

Originally posted by Medic22


Majic, in the end it is a service and dispatchers or even medics don\'t have the right to refuse service unless the patient does so...some people have run into some big trouble for not transferring patients who appear to be fine but end up serious later

aah that is true.. *sigh* public health care ;) anyway.. as a lifeguard we always had to ask \"can i help you?\" and only if the \'victim\' refused, we weren\'t allowed to help.. and had to wait till they were unconsious b/c no answer = yes.. kinda opposite with women ;) :p

[FLIPDADY]

The past two times I took the little one\'s to the emergency room minimum wait was like 2 hours.

Last hospital was Markham Stoufville when my little one had a croupe cough. Imagine an infant crying for 2 straight hours.

At least they gave us a private room instead of waiting with the other people in the main triage.

Our system sucks!

[eguiyab]

Yup. Our healthcare system needs a overhaul, however we must also all remember it could be worse.
I believe that since our healthcare system is acutally quite good, that is where the abuse can come from.

Now I dont believe that one system is THE only system or that one is better than another but in comparison to the states, Here in ontario at least no one will die just because they cant afford it. However like Like Medic22 pointed out, resources can be wasted on minor things just because it is available. Im sure no one would be calling TEMS about hangnails or sore thumbs if they knew the cost that they would incur. But that cost is eaten up by our system, thus less money for more things that can make our system \"faster\". ie, EMS, rooms/beds, nurses, doctors, and overall staff.
Fact is right now budgets are tight, and the mentality that if we can make due with x number of staff.. we will. People are worked to the bone and wait times are longer.

Sorry .. my little rant

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by Medic22


Firstmazda,
I work around the area and have been there at St. Joseph\'s. It a great hospital, at least the emergency area, the offloads are very short and the nursing staff there always make sure that we are not held at the hospital too long. I wish I can say that for all hospitals...where is the x-ray portion of the hospital anyway?


Yeah, the nurses here are great, and a lot of fun too. I\'m sure you\'ve met Barb. She\'s usually the charge nurse in the evenings, blond, loud, and hella funny.

We have an X-Ray room right in emerg, in the Ambulatory care area. You know the triage desk?
follow that hallway on the other side of those glass doored rooms. There\'s an X-Ray room there.
LOL I\'m in here right now!

Emergency TM3 meet anyone?:D

[SABIO]

Sooo... Appendix comes out at 5pm. It was close to noon when they told her it was going bye-bye...and not until 2 pm did they tell her when.

Total 15 hours to find out what was going on. If it burst she would be dead. Nice hospital.

[firstmazda]

I was thinking appendix, didn\'t wanna say it tho.
She\'ll be back on her feet in no time tho.
Appendectomies are a walk in the park!
No need to cut you all open anymore.

Next time, come to St. Joe\'s!
Medic will get you here faster, and I\'ll hook you up with a TM3 pass!

[SABIO]

Originally posted by firstmazda


No need to cut you all open anymore.



I guess they are going old school... they are doing the slice and dice version.

[TheProfessor]

Sabio, I\'m sure everyones thoughts and well-wishes are with you and your wife......as firstmazda said, hopefully she\'ll be up and on her feet in no time.

[SABIO]

It all went well. She\'s missing a useless part of her body now :) If all goes well she might come home friday nite. If not Sat. aft.

Thanks everyone for the support. I\'m good for something interesting happening once a month:p