Dying in the Emergency Room’s Lobby.

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Disgusting. We’re supposed to be better than this.

Yeah, what the heck? I’ve never seen that kind of language on Neatorama before. I thought this was supposed to be a friendly or at least civil place.

I don’t know why this story is posted on Neatorama.
At any rate, being a nurse in a city hospital the story, if it’s told accurately, sounds shameful. But I suspect there’s a lot more to it.

My wife had to wait 3 hours 47 minutes while having a massive coronary at ORMC emergency room because the shift was changing and that takes 4 hours. So basically, they had her wait because the doctor would have to hand the case over to another “uninformed” of the situation, doctor coming on duty. Federal law states breathing, (copd,asthma,etc.) and any chest pain related problems be treated as a top priority case and to be tended to first.
I am a copd patient with a very bad liver. Just recently I was made to wait 5 hours with a temp of 104.7. I was never seen and ended up leaving and having my pulmonary specialist treat me. My gall bladder had gone septic and another 4 hours i would have been dead.
This is not a “unique” problem in america. It is the standard.

That’s terrible to hear. Thank god I live in switzerland where we have a decent healthcare system…

“Don’t piss off the emergency nurse at King-Harbor Hospital, you may end up dying in the emergency room lobby”

is that really necessary? To make a joke out of a terrible situation?

Have been reading the comments… and you really shouldn’t be surprised. Our healthcare industry is a train wreck. This could have happened at a number of hospitals… including Grady Hospital in Atlanta where there has been similar concerns about a complete collapse.

Another thing… I don’t know what you expect from this blog. This is my first visit but some seem to think that the presentation or even the story itself it was inappropriate. If you don’t mind another voice, I think we are all maybe only a few tiers removed from being in danger of the same thing. People don’t want to talk about things that are unpleasant or that make them uncomfortable. In fact, your blogger here let this hospital off easy. Had that been a relative of mine that was neglected and allowed to die, I would have already removed the attending’s thorax.

We’re on thin ice in the country when it comes to healthcare and it’s gonna take the voices of a great majority of Americans to make any real changes. Health care has become just another business… a bureaucracy that neglects the very people… the consumer, that keeps it afloat.

Thanks for letting me rant. Best to all.