My neighbor was being released from the hospital a few days ago and I was picking her up. The aide would bring her down in a wheelchair but I had to meet them inside so we agreed to meet at the emergency room entrance. I could call the floor from the ER to let them know I was there. Sounded good.
I should have known things were bad when there was no place to park outside the ER. When I walked into the emergency room it was like walking into Dante's Inferno. Oh, there was no fire nor brimstone. There was no sign that said "abandon hope all those who enter here." But I'm thinking there should have been. Every chair (of the particularly uncomfortable type to discourage lying down, I'd guess) was filled. Each sick person was accompanied by two or three not sick but miserable people. There was some wailing, not just from the two or three babies. There was a low constant moaning sound, not just from the ill patients. A woman leaned against the registration desk, probably because she could not stand, trying to fill out a multi page questionnaire. The two nurses on the other side of the glass were busy triaging the charts to see which lucky soul would go next. They barely acknowledged my presence and when I spoke to explain that the "floor nurse" wanted them to call so they could bring down the patient I was picking up, they shook their heads no and put on their masks which very effectively cut off further communication.
It didn't matter because I had been holding my breath ever since I walked in and had reached my oxygen deprivation limit. I darted for the door to the hallway and barely got through it before I had to inhale, just escaping the toxic miasma that filled the ER. Thank goodness for cell phones and the honor system. The floor nurse accepted my word that I, a licensed driver, was there to drive my neighbor home and soon she rolled into sight and we were off for home.
The thing is that this scene is repeating itself all over the country. Emergency room visits have increased and it is partially due to Obamacare and partly due to our aging population.
I should have known things were bad when there was no place to park outside the ER. When I walked into the emergency room it was like walking into Dante's Inferno. Oh, there was no fire nor brimstone. There was no sign that said "abandon hope all those who enter here." But I'm thinking there should have been. Every chair (of the particularly uncomfortable type to discourage lying down, I'd guess) was filled. Each sick person was accompanied by two or three not sick but miserable people. There was some wailing, not just from the two or three babies. There was a low constant moaning sound, not just from the ill patients. A woman leaned against the registration desk, probably because she could not stand, trying to fill out a multi page questionnaire. The two nurses on the other side of the glass were busy triaging the charts to see which lucky soul would go next. They barely acknowledged my presence and when I spoke to explain that the "floor nurse" wanted them to call so they could bring down the patient I was picking up, they shook their heads no and put on their masks which very effectively cut off further communication.
It didn't matter because I had been holding my breath ever since I walked in and had reached my oxygen deprivation limit. I darted for the door to the hallway and barely got through it before I had to inhale, just escaping the toxic miasma that filled the ER. Thank goodness for cell phones and the honor system. The floor nurse accepted my word that I, a licensed driver, was there to drive my neighbor home and soon she rolled into sight and we were off for home.
The thing is that this scene is repeating itself all over the country. Emergency room visits have increased and it is partially due to Obamacare and partly due to our aging population.
 " In the wake of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many hospitals report a rise in the number of patients seeking care in their emergency departments, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In Los Angeles County, ED use for problems too minor to require an admission rose nearly 4 percent in the first half of 2014 compared to the first half of 2013, according to the publication."
When people who have not previously had health insurance are unable to get a doctors appointment it is natural for them to seek help from the ER. Across the country communities are hard hit by this year's flu version and it is not only frightening but debilitating. Help - crowded, chaotic, slow, not terribly personal, and institutional - is dispensed by stalwart doctors and nurses day and night who deal with heart attacks and runny noses with equal attention. Well, maybe not quite equal but they do it nonetheless.
Bless their hearts for being there when we need them...even if they would not talk to me!
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