Angel!
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Politics Admin
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 11:44:08 GMT -5
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Post by Angel! on Oct 28, 2013 16:18:00 GMT -5
One thing about calling an ambulance - they call ahead to the hospital to make sure they are ready for your arrival and you will bypass the waiting room. The other thing about an ambulance - the hospital can tell the ambulance they have no room and force them to reroute to a further hospital (or a hospital that you wouldn't prefer). The last thing about an ambulance - just because you have bypassed the waiting room doesn't mean you will see a doctor any sooner than if you walked yourself in. They don't see patients based on when they were brought into a room, they are still seen on priority basis. And if you call an ambulance for a broken toe, you are still in for a long, long wait as other cases will be a bigger priority.
My Mom has always told me that in general it is actually better to get yourself to the ER if possible because they can't turn you away at that point. Because the last thing you want is to be sent to a hospital 20 minutes further away when time is of the essence. I'm not sure how often that happens though.
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Angel!
Senior Associate
Politics Admin
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 11:44:08 GMT -5
Posts: 10,722
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Post by Angel! on Oct 28, 2013 16:25:26 GMT -5
Wow, I actually found an article about the cost of diverting ambulances. content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2079935,00.html Apparently, you are significantly more likely to die if you are having a heart attack and are diverted to another hospital. I guess my Mom knew what she was talking about. I was just looking it up to verify because this was something she told me ~15 years ago and I figured it may have changed. ETA - why can't the links work when they have commas? I tried and tried to fix it. Just copy and paste the thing.
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happyhoix
Distinguished Associate
Joined: Oct 7, 2011 7:22:42 GMT -5
Posts: 21,558
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Post by happyhoix on Oct 28, 2013 16:26:10 GMT -5
Last year the 23rd of December DH suddenly began vomiting. All over the house. (I don't know that I will ever be able to eat French toast again). He couldn't walk, couldn't even open his eyes. DS and I tried to help him stagger to the car but he was a dead weight. Finally had to call an ambulance and go to the ER.
They got him back into a room and DS and I were allowed to go back there with him. They gave him something for the nausea that also made him sleepy, so DS and I spent the next six hours sitting in this tiny room with DH snoring away. Periodically someone would come in a say something. They kept wanting him to pee in a bottle (they thought he might have a urinary tract infection) but since he had barfed his guts out all morning there wasn't any free liquids left in him, and he didn't want to drink water to make some pee, he just wanted to sleep. And snore.
The highlight was when they pushed a wheelchair past the door to our room and it had a jolly old man with a big white beard (and I am not joking) a santa hat sitting in it. DS looked at me in mock shock and said "Christmas is canceled!!". Good thing DS was 24 at the time and not 4, or that might have been a serious problem.
Turns out Mr McBarfy had an inner ear infection. DS and I decided that was way too boring sounding so we made up a story that McBarfy had the plague (the two problems share some of the same symptoms, according to the internets).
So McBarfy had a nice sleep and doesn't remember anything about 6 hours in the ER or even the ride there or back. We came home with some more anti-puke drugs which allowed him to sleep the next few days away in a happy stupor while I cooked pies and made stuffing and cleaned the house and wrapped presents - all to prepare for HIS family of 22 people coming over for Christmas dinner. But I'm not complaining. I thought he had something serious wrong with him. Of all the people there at the ER, we were probably the luckiest, which is why we sat there the longest, no doubt. And I surely hope Santa was ok!
As a follow up, we got the $500 bill from the ambulance service a few weeks later, and Mr McBarfy almost became Mr McCoronary. He made me swear the next time he needs an ambulance I will roll him into our yard cart and tie that to the bumper of my car and pull him to the ER that way.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Oct 28, 2013 16:31:56 GMT -5
One of my concerns is I could end up like my mom. She had a detached retina, and needed to undergo emergency eye surgery to save her vision. I may have the same problem someday, and if I go to the ER, I can't afford to wait for 6-8 hours to be tested.
What you want to do in this case Phoenix is to figure out right NOW which hospital has the best ophthalmology department and go to that ER.
When I checked out the the hospital AMA in KY, my intention was to go to the ER of the hospital in Seattle that did my last replacement. However, my orthopedic surgeon (who is the only hip surgeon in his practice) was in London. So I choose to go to the ER at the hospital that had the best orthopedic department. My thought was that whoever the orthopedic surgeon was on call, I knew he was in a practice with one of the best hip surgeons in the city if the hip surgeon himself was not on call.
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