A night in the ER or ED

Last night when we had my dad in the emergency room, he was out in a gurney in the hallway for 4 hours or so. They registered a record number of patients yesterday; a total of 187 by 6:00 P.M. They didn't have rooms available for so many people and so they were all lined up in the hallways. Some looked all banged up from accidents with neck braces and other wounds. I felt so badly for them because they did not have any privacy out there in the hall. And forget about HIPPA, as I heard so many names and medical issues being discussed.

The staff at the hospital work hard. I wouldn't want to do their job. But it is also difficult to be the patient waiting to be seen. My dad came in at 2:00 P.M. and no tests were started until after 6:00 P.M. My sister said they were so short handed that she cleaned up the blood from all over the floor from his bleeding hand.

There were also other snags that were annoying, mostly communication. They tell you one thing, but that doesn't happen so you have to be sure to follow up. You have to be assertive and self advocate. I feel for all the people who lack advocacy skills or close family members to advocate for them.

They are also treating him today for another problem that developed since he was admitted which they may have caused. They were in a panic and had to call a surgeon. Fortunately, things looked stable for today, but they are closely monitoring it.

So to bed early for me tonight to catch up on my sleep and to be well rested for more case management tomorrow.