Are You "Emergency Room Happy"?

[AKL_Megs]

The point a few people in the original thread were trying to make is that if you ignore asthma long enough (or underestimate it) it will become an emergency. I am really surprised how many parents are so cavalier about it.

I would consider an asthma attack an emergency, and I wasn't trying to link the two threads in any way, but rather, the people who think a broken baby toe is an emergency.

 

[nrsldy]

I have been an ED nurse for 20 yrs. I look at every patient that walks through the door as my job security. Sure there are many things a primary care giver can take care of but many people are uninsured and do not have a doctor. If our patient have a doctor not always are they able to get in and the doctors offices will tell patients to go to the ED.
A lot of people do not have the money to go to a clinic. Clinics in my area do not suture or cast fractures, they send them to us.
Every paitent that walks through our door has to have a medical screening exam and then sent to the appropriate place. It is a $50,000 or more fine for not seeing a patient that presents to the ED. I do not see a quick fix for this problem. We have a fast track area to see the lower acuity patients. That helps if we have the staff to open that area in our ED.

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

By clinic do you mean urgent care?

Our urgent care is open M-Sa 8-8 M-Th and 10-6 F, Sa. They often send people over to the ER if anything needs to be done. They’re basically just a second doctor. (so yes they’d send broken bones etc over to the ER)

However, we only go to the ER if there is no other option. The average wait time (even if the waiting room is not crowded) is about 7 hours. The longest time my dad has waited to be seen was 14hours and yes he was admitted and put into the ICU (after another 10 hours in the actual ER). Yep, he spent 24 hours in the ER and this was after his pcp called over to tell the hospital he was coming.

 

[Lintasare]

As far as I recall I have been to the ER 4 times in my life. 3 times for stitches and once after a car accident.

I process insurance claims and you should see all the ER bills we get. And yes many are for things like allergies, colds and the like. Though we do get the ones for trauma, heart attacks and other conditions.

Around here there are no 24 hour urgent care centers that I know of so after 7 PM it's the ER or nothing. And I am a firm believer in urgent care. The ones around here are great and can do almost anything.

 

[Nik's Mom]

We have used an ER 2 times since 1996. Once was for DH when he fell and hit is head. He lost consciousness and our doctor's office said to bring him to the nearest ER.

The other time was when our youngest had an asthma attack after urgent care was closed. He needed a breathing treatment ASAP. We have used urgent care clinics several times though. I really hate emergency rooms. The waits are way too long. Plus, emergency rooms should be just for that. Not because my kid has an ear ache.

I feel bad for those of you who don't have an urgent care clinic in your area. You must really hate sitting in an emergency room for something that is not an emergency.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would consider an asthma attack an emergency, and I wasn't trying to link the two threads in any way, but rather, the people who think a broken baby toe is an emergency.

A what? The first time I did that, I did go the doctor. Every time after that - and yes, I'm a klutz - I "fix" it myself. I keep extra rolls of first aid tape around the house. You'd think I'd learn and wear shoes or slippers, but nooooo.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

Our local ER doesn't even cast broken bones. I was amazed at the amount of children that came into the orthopedists office with xrays in hand and left in casts... And I'm in Richmond, VA not some little small town.

We've been to the ER one time since we moved here in 2008. My daughter (3)ate a metal hair clip (don't ask how- we still aren't sure.. she says she chewed it and swallowed) and vomited it up along with ALOT of blood and wouldn't answer us when we asked if she ate any others.

In the waiting room: The guy next to us thought he might have broken his pinkie toe. The lady across from us had had an earache for over a week, and one lady was most likely very dehydrated and already had a PICC line in her arm when she walked into the ER.

 

[Savanah'sMom]

Because not all places have clinics and if they do, for some it's more expensive. We have 2 urgent care clinics withing 30 minutes of my house, my insurance only covers one of them and then it's a lot more than going to the ER.

 

[Disney Doll]

I would avoid goign to an ER unless I truly thought I was in a life ro death situation.

Go for an earache...nope. It can wait till morning unless my ear falls off. Even then I mighy consider putting it on ice and waiting till morning.

 

[Chuck S]

We don't have any urgent care clinics in our area. An even when I've called the doctors office for something I know isn't an emergency, but something that needs to be looked after that may have had a sudden onset (like a fall, sprain or allergic reaction to prescription) they won't "work people in" even if you are willing to wait. They say wait for 2 weeks for an appontment or go to emergency.

 

[hereyago]

My DM is a dr. er. addict. the doctor thing has calmed down as her new doctor won't give her a pill for every little thing-my DM's old doctor should have been a drug dealer but that is a different story.

DM fell last year and broke her hip and she couldn't get up so we called the ambulance. But she would want to go if she had diareahha or a headache, why? Because she wanted medicine to knock her out-you don't need a valium for a headache.

Then she will eat junk and has the self control of a 4 year old and then wants to go to the er for her stomach being upset. I am sorry, but I have a dd11 and I am not about to wake her up unless DM has pains in her chest or bleeding profusely.

 

[CF'er]

Until recently my ins would not cover our local "doc in a box". We found a primary care doc with long hours and weekends. Our new Dr's office also operates an urgent care so if you're sick you don't have to call for an appt.

I work in a hospital and see what "emergencies" people come in with. Some are... most aren't. We have instituted a policy where if they assess you and deem you "non-emergent" you must pay at least $100 then and there to get care.

The last trip I made to the ER was for my son. He passed out at band camp and hit the gym floor and his trumpet pretty hard. He cut his chin open and needed stiches. I called his pedi to see if they could do it and they said to go to the ER. He also had a CT to see if there was a reason he fainted. Nope.

 

[madcam]

We never go to the ER if we can help it. Part of that is due to the fact that I am borderline germophobic and feel like we will catch worse things sitting there waiting than we are there to be seen for. My BFF's DH is a doctor and he advises us to stay out of the ER if possible for this reason. Of course I always call him first when something is wrong. Not to mention that one usually only goes there when their life depends on it (hasn't happened so far....knock on wood) or in the middle of the night when the doctor's office is closed (in which case by the time you get seen and discharged your doctor's office is about to open again). We have had to go to after hours clinics for stitches and kids head injuries (to rule out concussions) but I always wait in the car with them and make my DH call us in when it is our turn!

 

[cm8]

nope, we are not ER happy, we are a family of Physicians, so we usually avoid the ER and decide to self medicate or treat for almost anything unless it is something life threatening.

 

[msjprincess]

The "Ugh Stop Telling Me How To Parent" thread got me thinking about people who go to the emergency room for every little thing.

IMO, unless you are going to die or there are NO clinics around, you don't need the emergency room. Even if it's broken, the clinic can mend it. Last time I was at the clinic at 1am for strep throat, there were TWO kids getting casts on broken arms!

I have a friend whos DD woke up with a painful boil-type cyst on her butt. Her mom drove her 20 minutes to the hospital emergency room, passing MANY clinics on the way.

The day we moved into our house, my mom fell and somehow split open her hand. It was NOT in need of stitches, the bleeding stopped after about a minute, but FOR that minute, my MIL shouted, "Oh my God, oh my God, I can drive you to the emergency room NOW!" Um... but even if she NEEDED stitches, WHY would we pay for an emergency room when the clinic can stitch it up for her $20 co-pay!

I rarely go to the ER. But a couple of weeks ago my son fell and hurt his elbow. I called his pediatrician to ask if I could just take him to a radiology place for an X-ray and she told me with an elbow I had to go to the ER because if it was broken it would need to be put in a cast ASAP. So maybe the people you saw there were told to go the ER by their doctor.

Also with the insurance I used to have my only choices were my PCP or the hospital if I went to an urgent care clinic it wouldn't be covered.

 

[krcit]

I have never been to the ER for myself in my life(knocking on wood) and have been twice with my kids. Once for stiches in my ds' head and once for my dd's broken collarbone. Both times I called my pediatrician and he looked at them and sent me to the hospital. I try to avoid the ER at all costs In fact when I suspected my dd had broken her ankle(she had) I took her to an orthopeadist the next day instead of the ER. Now granted she was not in severe pain or else of course I would have brought her but she was ok and I knew that the ER would just x-ray it and send us to an ortho n the morning anyway. The only time I considered going to the ER for myself was during a gallbladder attack b/c I thought I was maybe having a heart attack-DH assured me I was not and I eventually fell asleep. My dh is a cop and can tell stories of people who call ambulances for toothaches and stomach viruses.

 

[Pig Pen]

We are not ER happy, but some people do not have a choice. I can think of only one urgent care clinic within a 100 miles of my town. And sometimes getting into see your own MD is not as easy as it sounds. When I suddenly developed a UTI last year right before my WDW trip, my MD couldn't get me in before I left. They suggested I go to the ER instead! I declined and finally convinced them to phone in a prescription.

I wonder how many doctors tell patients to go to the ER because they can't fit them in the schedule, or don't want to be bothered after hours?

 

[bumbershoot]

We never go to the ER if we can help it. Part of that is due to the fact that I am borderline germophobic and feel like we will catch worse things sitting there waiting than we are there to be seen for.

We were actually told that by the triage person at the local kid's hospital. DS was 6 months old and had just smashed his mouth into a table at a restaurant; first time sitting in a highchair, he was tired, and just as I was about to take him out the food arrived and I felt it was safer to keep him in the chair with hot food being put down. A few minutes later, blam, one brand new tooth, lost.

His healthcare provider (who called me back even though it was late into the evening, yay her) said a dentist wasn't needed, so we were just going to go home. Then the tooth, which had been hanging on by a "thread", disappeared, and I just didn't know if that was cause for worry. So we went up the hill to Mary Bridge hospital, mind you this was mid-December, waited, and we were finally seen by the triage person. She said it would pass or dissolve, and to go home b/c there were "sick people here". I liked her.

DS has been there two more times...once he got burned on his chest, and the emergency people who responded to our 911 call (the flip chart I got from a kid fundraising said to call if it's a 2nd degree burn or higher) said they didn't want to charge us for an ambulance ride (it's not covered in our taxes here) but we should take him up...felt it was prudent since we'd already alerted people. They did nothing but bandage up his chest. Went there in an ambulance after he fell and hit his head on a metal clothing rack base at Target, and sure he was bleeding but it was his mental state that caused me to call 911. He was totally fine, came out of his haze while in the ambulance, but it was the same ER doc AND nurse (both were lovely especially given our alternative healthcare beliefs, YAY) and it was good to know they felt he was OK.


But anyway, we aren't ER addicts at all, and my husband got good care at the Urgent Care place, but I have not. Not at all.

Just realized that one of my stories was from the "family doctor" side of the Urgent Care building, so that's not fair to the UC people.

But my other story was when I dropped a table on my bare toe. Did awful awful unspeakable things to it, was bleeding profusely. Called the ex to drive me (it was HIS table I was trying to return to him), called the close-by one. They were open but their xray machine was broken, told us to go to the other. Didn't stop to think why I needed an xray of a TOE as they wouldn't do much anyway, but hey, I was fainty from the bleeding.

Got there. The nurses spent at least half an hour trying to get xrays of my toe. Touching my foot repeatedly. I was bleeding all over the film case. Oh, and the nurses NEVER put on gloves. Isn't that awesome?

Then the doctor came in, looked at my toe, and said...."ew".



Bandaged it up, gave me no info about what the nail might do (thankfully I'd had a similar injury at the age of 11, to my finger, and had a good idea what I was in for), gave me a prescription for vicodin (turns out that stuff doesn't work on me), didn't tell me to come back for aftercare with anyone, sent me home.





Anyway, i don't even know if the Urgent Care here is 24/7, but that experience is just seared into my brain and I have very little faith...

 

[PrincesCJM]

I know I'm a little stubborn so I often put up with things for awhile before I even consider going to my PCP and my mom is an RN so I often call her with medical questions. However, I did have DH drive me to the ER almost two weeks ago at 11pm. I was in such pain, had a fever, and was vomiting. Turns out that I had a kidney stone. I live within 30 minutes of three different hospitals but choose the more local hospital. They were great, got me in right away, and was able to quickly determine that I had a kidney stone on the move. I was there for about 3.5 hours before I was sent home. It took a lot for me to say "Take me to the hospital" but I knew something wasn't right and that it couldn't wait until the morning. I don't believe that any of the urgent care clinics near me are open that late at night.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Twice when I've gone to the doctor, he/she (two different doctors) has told me I really should be at the emergency room. I guess I'm not "emergency room happy," then, but I don't agree with you that you shouldn't go unless you're about to die. If my child has a broken bone, I'm taking him to the ER, not to a clinic.