Are You "Emergency Room Happy"?

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

I just called DM who is an ER/trauma nurse in a major medical center.

Since 10am they have seen over 40+ people in the ER w/ simple illness & no insurance so they come to the ER because they can't be turned away.

2Eskiedogs, there is a major difference between a doctor visit & using the ER as a doctor.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Not by a long shot... if my life depended on the emergency room last time I was in it... I wouldn't be here! If we're within the hours of the Urgent Care facilities around here (they do stitches/broken bones) I would take advantage of them instead.

If it's life threatening, you bet I'm using the ER.

 

[LaraK]

Being in healthcare myself, I avoid the ER like the plague...unfortunately, I have a son with multiple chronic illnesses that mean that they send me to the ED when he gets sick (usually respiratory distress). I try to use urgent care first, even then.

I remember one time the pediatrician at the urgent care center started screaming at me for going there instead of to the hospital. My son's O2 sats were in the low 80's. She asked me why I was there and not the ED...I said "because it's Monday night and I knew you could get steroids into him MUCH faster than an ED". I was right.

BTW....if you do want to go to an ER, just know that the very WORST time to go is on Mondays from 3-11....it's just awful then. It's from all the people who muscled it out over the weekend and called their doctors' offices on Monday morning...they get a call back on Monday afternoon and are told to go to the ED. Primary care offices are in crisis in this country and it is very very difficult for many people to see a primary care physician.

 

[honugirl]

Primary care offices are in crisis in this country and it is very very difficult for many people to see a primary care physician.

I have a PCP that I'm willing to give to anyone that will take him! In fact I'll even PAY YOU to take him. He's horrible. If that's the best and brightest we can get, I'll take my chances elsewhere.

 

[LaraK]

I have a PCP that I'm willing to give to anyone that will take him! In fact I'll even PAY YOU to take him. He's horrible. If that's the best and brightest we can get, I'll take my chances elsewhere.

It's only going to get worse for reasons I'm not allowed to discuss on this website. Brace yourself!

 

[KPeveler]

I dont even have a GP/PCP - no one will take me because of my medical conditions...

 

[honugirl]

It's only going to get worse for reasons I'm not allowed to discuss on this website. Brace yourself!

Oh don't worry, provisions and back up plans are being made. I know exactly what you're talking about.

 

[disneychrista]

We have no option here. If you can't get into the doctor, then the ER is the only option. I have had the doctor tell me a couple times to go to the ER. The ER/Urgent Care is one in the same.

 

[golfgal]

I would certainly go to the ER for some stitches or a broken bone.
I want an orthopod to look at a broken bone -and depending on where the cut is -I may want a surgeon or a plastic surgeon to stitch it up.

Also -some prompt cares are not covered by insurance at all -depending on your plan.

You can call the orthopedist yourself without going into the ER.

 

[Bunnyfeather]

The urgent care places around here are pretty much a joke, the paramedics and doctor's mostly have advised us to wait if at all possible or go straight to ER rather than the non-pediatric urgent care. I am loathe to visit an ER, especially with small kids, because the ER is a great place to catch something really nasty while being diagnosed with something relatively minor.

I have consistently gotten medical advice to get a higher level of care than was actually waranted. DD was 9 months old and running a fever that wouldn't go down but also wasn't extreme-101-103 for 2 days. The nurse line at my pediatrician's office said to take her to urgent care. As we pulled into urgent care her fever broke and she broke out in a horrible rash all over: roseola and there was no medical treatment needed, but we didn't know that!

Then a year later, she was vomitting and couldn't keep anything down, not even water. Her doctor's office said if that continued more than 24 hours we needed to go to the ER. So that Sunday we were in the ER, where they diagnosed her with a virus and checked to see if she was dehydrated and sent her home.

When my son was 5 months old, my husband tripped over my daughter and dropped the baby on the sidewalk. I took him to the local urgent care more just to confirm he was OK because I have no medical training, but he seemed fine. They freaked out and told me to instantly take him to the pediatric ER for an MRI, told me if I really loved him I would go downtown instead of the local hospital. When I took him to the pediatric ER downtown, the doctor said he was fine and that if the impact zone is smooth and the patient is conscious, there is no call for an MRI from a head trauma.

Then when he was 15 months old I took him in to the regular doctor for what I assumed was a sinus infection and his blood sat measured low and didn't respond to breathing treatment and he ended up being taken by ambulance to the pediatric ER...where the doctor assured me the measurement they took at the dr's office could not have been accurate, based on my son's cheerful demeanor. Which had been my suspicion all along, but how do you argue with health care professionals saying your child's life is in danger if you don't put him in an ambulance?

And then the day before my son turned 2, he was really sick. He was extremely lethargic and slept 20 hours in 24. He wouldn't respond to us, just laid there. The nurse line suggested we go to urgent care in case it was meningitis, we went to pediatric urgent care because regular urgent care place is a joke. Urgent care said no way is this meningitis, did some tests and gave him fluids and decided he was really sick so he needed to once again ride an ambulance to the pediatric ER. They gave him more fluids and and observed him and did an X-ray and gave him an enema and gave him Gatorade and sent us home at 5 in the morning with a diagnosis of "probably a virus, he's fine." Oh, and the ER doctor and nurse insisted a scratch on his lip was impetigo, which my regular doctor confirmed the next morning it was not.

I don't think any of those 5 instances was a true medical emergency and wish we had stayed home for all of them. But once a medical professional has advised me to escalate to urgent care or ER, I keep thinking that I would never forgive myself if I ignored that advice and I was wrong! So maybe I am ER-happy, but not by my preference!

 

[iwrbnd]

I have a PCP that I'm willing to give to anyone that will take him! In fact I'll even PAY YOU to take him. He's horrible. If that's the best and brightest we can get, I'll take my chances elsewhere.

Can't you switch doctors?

 

[honugirl]

Can't you switch doctors?

Not currently. No one is accepting new patients and I have to have someone in town that can "attempt" to figure out what to do if I end up in the ER because all my specialists are in other states.

 

[krcit]

Not currently. No one is accepting new patients and I have to have someone in town that can "attempt" to figure out what to do if I end up in the ER because all my specialists are in other states.

Too bad you can't see the Dr in your tag

Not making light of your situation at all just trying to make you smile

 

[honugirl]

Too bad you can't see the Dr in your tag

Not making light of your situation at all just trying to make you smile

Totally! Thanks! Smiles are good.

My next surgeon has gone through all the astronaut training and was a finalist for the last space shuttle mission. So that's pretty dang cool.

 

[MushyMushy]

Every area is different. Some small towns have an ER that functions as everything -- lab testing, x-rays, urgent care, etc. There are no other options. On the other hand, yes, a good many people might go to the ER to avoid paying for a doctor or specialist.

My mother was a nurse at our local hospital. My great grandmother, grandmother, and sister all worked there as well (my sister is currently there). They were certainly not "ER happy," and none of them would hesitate to go to the ER for stitches, broken bones, sprains, pains, etc. Nobody would raise an eyebrow at that here.

 

[mariolatry]

My husband is an emergency room doctor and we've been to the ER four times in the past year alone! I dislocated DD2's elbow while swinging her by her wrist (out of town for that one), DD4 jumped off a play structure and hurt her foot and later the same DD4 just had some kind of asthma/allergy attack and was getting wheezier by the minute. I went in myself for a post-operative cellulitis after brain surgery. We waited each time but it was within reason.

We have a lovely old family practice doctor (not a pediatrician) who sees patients from 9-4:30 Mon-Friday. He does not do any tests, breathing treatments, casts, or sutures. You cannot be worked in same day or next day. You are lucky to get a appointment in less than a week. If you call at any time other than 9-4:30, you get a message saying "No one is here. Go to the emergency room."

Of course, some people might be thinking of trauma vs. ER, as well. Usually the people with multiple gunshot wounds, horrific auto accidents, multiple fractures, etc. go into trauma. Chest pains, single limb breaks, sutures, breathing difficulties, headaches, and all other will get you ER around here.


ETA: No urgent care centers within 75 miles of my place.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So I'm a bit confused...

some folks have chimed in that the ER is only for life threatening situations.

Life threatening is certainly an emergency, but not all emergencies are life threatening.

Isn't that why they triage patients.

I haven't had a single life threatening emergency that I or my family has been treated for in the ER--but the emergencies were very real at the time we needed to be seen.

 

[lemondog]

So I'm a bit confused...

some folks have chimed in that the ER is only for life threatening situations.

Life threatening is certainly an emergency, but not all emergencies are life threatening.

Isn't that why they triage patients.

I haven't had a single life threatening emergency that I or my family has been treated for in the ER--but the emergencies were very real at the time we needed to be seen.

I agree with you. Many injuries or illnesses are not life threatening but they do require an ER. A fracture is one I can think of right off the top of my head. Most doctors don't cast broken limbs or do xrays. You would definitely need to go to an ER for that. My children's pediatrician does not suture either. They can do the wound glue, but the one time we had a bad cut we were sent on the ER anyway because it was not a clean enough cut for the glue and she needed stitches.

I think people are referring to those who head to the ER for a cold, sore throat, etc. Things that could definitely wait for and be treated by a regular doctor's office visit.

 

[krcit]

I agree with you. Many injuries or illnesses are not life threatening but they do require an ER. A fracture is one I can think of right off the top of my head. Most doctors don't cast broken limbs or do xrays. You would definitely need to go to an ER for that. My children's pediatrician does not suture either. They can do the wound glue, but the one time we had a bad cut we were sent on the ER anyway because it was not a clean enough cut for the glue and she needed stitches.

I think people are referring to those who head to the ER for a cold, sore throat, etc. Things that could definitely wait for and be treated by a regular doctor's office visit.

I agree. I don't think anyone is arguing that there are some emergencies while not life threatening do need to be tended to asap. I can only speak for myself but I'm talking about exactly what you said-colds, sore throats, tooth aches.

 

[tinkerbell198530]

go figure that my insurance covers the ER but not a clinic