Before You Hit the Emergency Room...

Before You Hit the Emergency Room...

Monday, August 11, 2008

filed under: family

Tired of waiting to see an ER doctor? Read this.

Ever brought your kid to the ER for a sore throat or ear infection, and found yourself waiting and waiting? And waiting? We've all been there. But here's some frustrating news: According to the results of a new study released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the average time patients wait to see an ER doctor has grown from 38 minutes to almost an hour over the past decade.

Why? Chalk it up to basic supply and demand. "There are more people arriving at the ERs. And there are fewer ERs," said Dr. Stephen Pitts, the lead author of the report.

Moreover, hospitals lack a sufficient number of surgical specialists, and many patients have trouble nabbing an appointment with their own doctor, which causes some to head to the ER--even for incidents that aren't really "emergencies," experts say.

Need more proof? "It takes me a month to get an appointment with my own doctor, and I'm a physician, for God's sake," said Dr. Ricardo Martinez, executive vice president of Schumacher Group, an organization that manages 140 hospital emergency departments.

"Another reason people wait so long is because there aren't enough beds to hold everyone," says Dr. Cara Natterson, pediatrician and author of Your Newborn: Head to Toe and Your Toddler: Head To Toe. "As a result, many ERs have developed "Fast Tracks"--areas that function like urgent care centers within the ER. For example, a child with ear pain, a teen with a sprained ankle or an adult with a sore throat are all candidates for Fast Track. This saves beds for people with more serious illnesses like breathing issues or chest pain."

To find out how you can get out of ER as fast as possible, go to page two.

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I never took my kid to the ER. That’s what urgent care clinics are for.

- Anonymous

Posted 08/11/08 10:45 AM

HA! I wish I had read this yesterday! Of course, who knew yesterday, that I would spend 4 hours in an emergency room last night? My daughter fell off a quad and broke her shoulder last night! Of course in the defense of the hospital, it is a very small country hospital and it was busy! It was 7 p.m. though! I should have gone the other way and headed to the city hospitals, I am sure I would have been in and out faster than 4 hours!

- Carla

Posted 08/12/08 08:35 AM

The big problem is that people use the ER as their primary care physician! They go there for a simple cold or stomach virus. This is mainly because of people without insurance or those on government insurance that don’t have to pay a large co-pay to go to the ER. It’s too bad that people can’t use the ER for what it is meant for … EMERGENCIES!

- Stacey

Posted 08/12/08 11:29 AM

I went to the ER about a month ago. I had this ginormous lump in my breast and then I started feeling like I had a severe case of the flu. I called my grandma and she said get to the hopspital now. Everyone I knew was either at work (hubby) or unreachable so I had to drop the baby off with a friend and I took my 6 year old with me. I thought I would be seen quickly because I was on the verge of passing out and had a 104 temp. But no, I was there for 3 1/2 hours before the doctor saw me and told me it was mastitis gave me some tylenol and a scrip for antibiotics. Meanwhile, my “friend” had called up to the er to tell me the baby wouldn’t stop screaming. It was horrible and I was so pissed that they made me wait so long knowing that I felt like I was dying. See if I pay that bill. J/K.

- ashley

Posted 08/14/08 08:45 AM