Not really recommended, but, when all else fails...

July 17, 2008

A number of years ago I had the opportunity (displeasure) to visit an E/R

in the Sacramento area. I had no idea what was going on, though now I know

I was having a major kidney stone attack. The pain was closer to a 12 on

the 1 to 10 scale, almost constant dry heaves, coouldn't get comfortable in

any position, and the pain waves were coming every 30 seconds or so. I had

an IV in my arm, but nothing else was being done for nearly 6 hours. When

went to find out what was causing the delay, she found the E/R staff

sitting around a desk having their lunch. When she asked how soon someone

would be in to tell us what was going on, she was told, " eventually. "

Needless to say, that was a totally unacceptable answer. With one of the

E/R staff watching, we picked up our cell phone and dialed 911, declared a

medical emergency at the E/R and explianed to the dispatcher the staff was

not taking any action to help. The dispatcher called the E/R, told them

they had a 911 call from their E/R room and unless something was done

immediately, she would dispatch an ambulance to transfer me to another

facility that would show a little more concern for the patient. For some

reason, we had a doctor and a bunch of other techs and nurese helping us

within 5 minutes.

Now, I wouldn't recommend this tactic except in what could be life

threatening situations, but the E/R folk are there to help you. We've all

seen the news reports of the lady who keeled over and died while waiting

for someone from the E/R to see her. While there are certain situations

that would take priority, gunshots, heart attacks, etc., if you don't get

the attention you feel is necessary, start asking for the names of the

people on duty, the nurses, doctors, charge nurse, everybody. When someone

asks why, you are detailing their lack of attention and response and will

be filing a complaint with the hospital admin and with the appropriate

state or military authority. Also, if snything happens to your health

because of their callous and careless treatment of you, you will have a

good lawyer contact them about malpractice. Those comments usually get

someone very motivated.

(BTW.. The 911 dispatcher made a copy of the tape and sent it to the

hospital administration who investigated the incident. When I ended up

back at the same E/R six month later, there was absolutely no delay getting

treated. It was like a totally different operation.)

Jerry

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