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Maybe this has been said before, but unless its a true life threatening emergency one should try those urgent care clinics. They are actually quite good, most have x-ray, lab, some even have ultrasound, etc. They are much cheaper and quicker. I've used them for sinus infections, taken my kids there for a broken arm, twisted ankle, asthma attacks, they are quite good. Also, they can get you into a specialist faster, like when my ds broke his arm---we went to urgent care, they x-rayed and splint it, then gave us a referral to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, sent the x-rays over, we were seen by the specialist is 3 days, otherwise would have taken weeks.
The only time I used an ER was when I was gushing abdominal blood, told dh to call 911, I was dying. Well, when you go in by ambulance, they take you more seriously. Turned out I had transverse colitis, blood coming out both ends, I sure made a mess of that ambulance!
I personally cannot stand urgent clinics. I've had nothing but negative experiences with them and avoid them at all costs now. Either I have an ER emergency or I'll wait til I can see the dr. Open 8-5, long, long waits, slow staff, limited resources, costs just as much through our insurance, and always sent us out the door no better than we went in, either referring us to an ER or a doctor. I just skip the middleman now.
The urgent care clinics I have been to are open 7/8 am until 11/12 midnight. I have always left with either a prescription, an x-ray and sling, or a quick trip to the hospital in short order (but not the ER, to a specific doctor). Just depends on where you are, I guess. I have rarely hdd to wait more than 30-40 min.
I went to the ER about 2 years ago with severe abdominal/chest pain and vomitting. It was awful, I had to wait several hours to be seen, and I was in so much pain all I could do was rock back and forth and nothing made me comfortable. When I was finally seen, it turned out I had gall stones that had entered my pancreas and caused pancreatitis. Apparently it is pretty serious. I had to be admitted immediately and have emergency surgery the next day. After that horrible experience, yes, I definitely think our emergency room system is broken.
I see you're from the Chicago burbs, did you happen to go to UIC?
Went to their ER in February for stabbing pains in my side. It was so bad I nearly passed out walking out of a restaurant; thankfully, I flagged down a cab to take me there. I waited for 5 HOURS just sitting there. Then, they triaged me then sent me back out to the waiting room. Finally got a bed and had to wait and wait for a doctor to test me, then do a chest xray. All the while I was in pain. Didn't get any ibuprofen until right before they discharged me with a kidney infection.
... then i had a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics they gave me, go figure!
I went to the county ER after a car accident, the doctor looked me over and ordered a chest x-ray, left after 7 hours, never got the x-ray, couldn't find the nurse and the doctor was done with me. Received a bill for $500.00. The doctors were sitting around talking, nurses went on breaks and lunch the whole time I thought is was an episode of House or St. Elsewhere, Greys Anatomy because of all the sitting around in the hallways with marker boards talking......If only reality were as good as tv life. Next day went to a private hospital ER, saw doctor, nurse stayed nearby, had chest x-ray and discharged in 90 minutes.
I ended up in the ER when I contracted what turned out to be Samonella. I couldn't keep anything down and was crippled with the worst stomach pains I have ever had in my life. DH drove me to the local hospital ER. Wow - what a bad experience that was. The nurses couldn't get an IV started on me. After a total of 15 tries, they finally put a central line in me. The nurses were horrible after that (Its not MY fault they couldn't get the IV started). I nearly wet the sheets trying to get a bed pan after asking for one for more than an hour. I finally got out of bed to find a bathroom. Yes - I got yelled at by the nurses but I prefered that to wetting myself. I was being admitted for the night so I also sent DH home to take care of the dogs. He called 3 times and couldn't get any info on me (they said there was no record of me being there) The next morning, I had a nurse come into my room and inform me that she was there to prep me for surgery. Ummm - no - I wasn't scheduled to have surgery!
By that afternoon I was still weak but could at least keep liquids down and got myself the "H" out of there. No more "local hospitals" for me. I'll take my chances at the large medical center thats about 6 miles away if I ever need to go to the ER again.
I agree with what a lot of people on this thread are saying, if you have a REAL emergency you will jump que over all of the........sniffles and snuffles "emergencies".
I once cut my finger very deeply while using a knife. Went to the ER, it was crowded. But the nurse who was doing triage put me ahead of all the loafers, I was seen very quickly.
I take care of my elderly mother (Medicare AND top-tier supplemental insurance) in a suburb of Tucson, AZ. I spend a lot of time in emergency rooms. High fever, chest pains, extreme stomach cramps, a serious fall, dehydration are some of the recent reasons. Unfortunately, the emergency room is her GP's answer for everything. I believe the doctor is very lawsuit adverse because she refuses to provide care for symptom that sounds remotely serious when described over the phone. "Take her to the emergency room," is her stock answer. And yes, I've tried to get her a better general practitioner but with so many seniors in Arizona, the waiting lists for geriatric-experienced doctors can be years. Quick care places also will not treat if "chest pain" is one of the complaints. They put the patient right in an ambulance, even if the chest pain is obviously from a cold.
Each time I have taken her, we arrived in the morning and each time she needed to be admitted to the hospital -- even the ICU -- it didn't actually happen until after 6 p.m. The time she fell occurred in the early afternoon and we didn't get home until after 10 p.m. We just wait and wait. Nobody seems to be in a hurry. We always have to wait for doctors to come from somewhere else. You wait hours for X-rays. And please do not think that because this is Tucson the ER is filled with uninsured illegals. That has NOT been my experience in the suburbs.
It just seems to me that the ERs are understaffed (profit motive) and unless the patient is bleeding significantly, unconscious, or in the throes of heart attack or stoke, there is no attempt made to provide timely care. And it is totally up to the person who brought the patient to monitor him or her and act as a liaison with the staff.
It's the same everywhere. Once in Pennsylvania when my mother was dehydrated, she was left strapped to a gurney with an IV bag in a freezing cold cubicle for more than FOUR HOURS. Had I not been there to report when the IV needed to be changed, get her blankets, etc., heaven knows what would have happened. She was in the ER for eight hours total and never once was she offered food or drink or asked if I had gotten her anything. There's no doubt in my mind she would have been totally forgotten had I not been there to insist on care for her.
I agree with what a lot of people on this thread are saying, if you have a REAL emergency you will jump que over all of the........sniffles and snuffles "emergencies".
I once cut my finger very deeply while using a knife. Went to the ER, it was crowded. But the nurse who was doing triage put me ahead of all the loafers, I was seen very quickly.
Why are people with less severe symptoms than yourself labeled as loafers?,rather pompous of you.
Reading all these posts on poor medical treatment in some cases and long waits is a bit of a surprise to this Canadian as thats usually the rap our Canadian Universal health care gets,seems to me our experiences with the medical profession are very similar,only difference is....
When we lived in Eastern Pennsylvania, my youngest was injured in an accident (a cut that required stitches). We took her to the closest hospital, which was in the city. As we had insurance (BC/BS), we were routed to another medical center (after they initially checked the bleeding) in the suburbs. The waiting room of the city hospital was was very crowded with Spanish speaking patients, two of which were young pregnant girls going into labor. The interpreters were busy that night.
We now live in rural Western Pennsylvania. One Saturday evening I was ill and in extreme pain with what turned out to be a urinary tract infection. The Emergency waiting room of our small local
hospital had three other patients, one a young Amish man injured in a farm accident. We only waited less than a half hour to be seen, but the young doctor on call asked me if my extreme abodominal pain might not be "menstrual cramps". I told Doogie that I knew what menstrual cramps felt like, I'd been having them since before he was born, and was now approaching menopause. I am normally not that rude, but I was in extreme pain. He laughed, he was a nice kid, and fixed me up fine. I was out of there in less than two hours.
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, they finally put a central line in me. The nurses were horrible after that (Its not MY fault they couldn't get the IV started)
. I nearly wet the sheets trying to get a bed pan after asking for one for more than an hour. I finally got out of bed to find a bathroom. Yes - I got yelled at by the nurses but I prefered that to wetting myself. I was being admitted for the night so I also sent DH home to take care of the dogs. He called 3 times and couldn't get any info on me (they said there was no record of me being there
