What a winter. There has been snow on the ground since November. Some of it melted earlier this month but was replaced sunday and monday with another 14 inches. Whoopee. Of course I had to work Monday. Even though I live in a state where this goes on every winter, lots of people call in to say that they can't make it in to work. I don't have that option, living in the city and only about 10 minutes away.
You would think that people, especially those from the neighborhood who walk to the hospital, would stay home unless they were having a true emergency. Au contraire mon ami. They make it there with there silly complaints. THey remind me of the postman.
"NEITHER SNOW NOR RAIN NOR HEAT NOR GLOOM OF NIGHT STAYS THESE CHARACTERS
FROM TAKING THEIR GOOFY SELVES TO THE ER FOR THEIR PERCEIVED EMERGENCIES."
Perhaps that should be engraved somewhere. I mean really would you tromp through the snow, spend a couple of hours in the waiting room, for a cold? Of course you wouldn't because you are normal and you have a life.
In my area, they show up because they can simply call 911 and get a free ambulance ride. Grrr.
ReplyDeleteWhere I am, we had a blizzard a few years ago. Most of the ambulances that service us had called off any service but absolute life threatening, and even then it wasn't guaranteed they'd be able to pass on the roads.
ReplyDeleteAnyway- they get a call for a patient with head trauma. Get to house, patient was standing, in jammies of course, at end of driveway in 3 feet of snowdrift with bag in one hand and a smoke in the other. Injury? 1 cm lac to back of head, no LOC.
Patient demanded transport- about 15-20 miles in heavy snowfall (no plows, either). EMS couldn't take pt to closer hospital due to demand to come to us.
And unlike your establishment, no nearby fun things, no close neighborhood. Refused treatment, had no way home.
Sat in lobby forever. I went home, no idea when pt got a ride.
This would not occur if they would allow hospitals to open urgent care centers to take patients with no insurance instead of placing that burden on emergency rooms. And if ERs could refer these patients to those centers. I would love to know the actual statistics of non-emergent care provided at emergency rooms.
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