What were they thinking?

[Grace]

I remember when that happened - two years ago. It was all over the news.

Here's an article from a year later.

[NicoleLJ]

Thanks for that link.

[Laura's Babies]

I remember it too..

[happylabs]

Sadly, this does not surprise me. I was just at the ER with my 88 year old father last month. He had been coughing up blood. We sat for over an hour. The scary thing was that after blood work and a chest x-ray they told him he had pneumonia and admitted him. Later that evening the pulmonary doc came in and told him he did not have pneumonia. I don't think we ever did find out what caused him to cough up blood but they send him home 2 days later with a strong antibiotic.

[Catlady711]

This all goes back to what my mom says all the time: "it's a me-me world", meaning the majority of people are only concerned about themselves, not anyone else.

This theory explains why people can let people lie on the floor in the ER and not do anything, why people try to run you over while driving with their cell phones, why your neighbor kid, and parents, think it's ok for the child to use your yard as an extension of their own, why people use their baby strollers in the mall as battering rams so they can get to the stores faster. It explains a whole lot of things. It is a sad state of our social world today.

[Catty1]

6 people were fired, including the head of psychiatry and the chief of security.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...ief_secur.html

[Catty1]

July 27, 2009 - a year later, they didn't learn a thing.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/..._hospital.html


2010 - new hospital for Kings County:
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?se...cal&id=7712682

[Freedom]

Sadly, this does not surprise me. I was just at the ER with my 88 year old father last month. He had been coughing up blood. We sat for over an hour. The scary thing was that after blood work and a chest x-ray they told him he had pneumonia and admitted him. Later that evening the pulmonary doc came in and told him he did not have pneumonia. I don't think we ever did find out what caused him to cough up blood but they send him home 2 days later with a strong antibiotic.

In January of this year, I took Dad to see his doctor, who sent us to the hospital and phoned them we were coming. We sat in the waiting room over 3 hours before being taken in. Grrrrr . . . .

[Grace]

I think it depends upon the ER you visit. When I had my first TIA - that really wasn't - I went to a small, local ER, 8 miles from our house. I was seen immediately, tests were done - then I had to wait for results. Same thing when I had my second episode - same hospital.

If I had driven 12 miles and gone to the University, I'm quite sure my wait time would have been much longer.

But where you go also depends upon what your symptoms are. I would have gone to the U if I had thought my need would have been for a Cardiac Cath.

The U is a major trauma center for this area. Over the weekend they got hit with 5 or 6 victims from an auto accident at the same time. I dare say the ER wait would have been lengthy for others on that afternoon.

I'm not making excuses for Kings County, but I do know that ERs are abused by many people. Even 30 years ago, when I was working in one, people would use it as a doctor's office instead of an ER. Bringing their kids in with colds and chicken pox. So the beds get filled with unnecessary patients and others suffer because of them.

[Vette]

Yeah i remember this being on the news. =/ pretty disgusting. **** is wrong with people anymore. i just dont get it.

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Wow, unbelievable. How terribly sad, and imagine all of the help that woman could have been given not only from the doctors/nurses, but from all the other people in the ER waiting room.

Vette, please watch the language.... remember this is a family board!

[Vette]

^ sorries. didnt even know i had typed that. bad habit of mine.

[moosmom]

I think the one problem in ERs these days is people who are sick don't know when to go to a walk-in clinic and when it is a true emergency. When the ER gets over-crowded, triage puts the less "needy" people on a gurney in the hallway.

I worked on an ambulance for over 20 years and was also a patient in the ER. I remember bringing a run into the ER and seeing the hallways lined with occupied gurneys. Mostly were ETOH (drunk). The more serious patients were already being seen.

I remember seeing something on tv about a paraplegic who was going through airport (I think) security. Security didn't believe she was paralyzed and dumped her out of her chair to see if she'd react. She couldn't!!! It was all caught on camera!!

Some people just suck.