My Own Personal Hell: The E.R.
November 20, 2007 – 4:06 pm
Last night, I was in the emergency room (don’t panic - it turns out that it’s nothing serious. And to top it all off, I’ve got some pretty sweet painkillers to keep it from getting serious for the next week or two!). I’ve had some bad emergency room experiences in my life, but this was - by far - the worst.
What I witnessed made me more sick than I already was.
Example 1: A teenage girl is wheeled into the ER waiting room by an EMT. She moans in pain, holding her stomach, and falls out of her chair onto the floor of the waiting area. She lays on the floor for nearly an hour before a nurse finally notices that she’s on the floor. Rather than helping the situation, she yells at the girl, telling her that she cannot lay on the floor and must sit upright. The girl refuses. Security comes to put her back in a chair. She eventually lays back on the floor for another two hours before a doctor sees her.
Example 2: A man who arrived about a half-hour after me was told to sit down, and was almost immediately called into the triage nurse’s room… but not before leaning over and telling me, “the secret to getting through here fast is telling them you have chest pains. It works every time.” He was treated and released before I had even had my vital signs checked.
Example 3: Among the quality programming aired on the one television in the emergency room waiting area: House. If there’s one thing I don’t want to see while I’m in the midst of waiting four hours just to see a doctor, it’s a TV show about a doctor who is able to diagnose, treat, and cure chronic illnesses in that same span of time.
Example 4: I saw lots and lots of crazy people. But after waiting four hours just to see a doctor, I wondered: are these people seriously mentally ill, or have they just gone crazy from waiting so long? By the end of the night, even I found me talking to myself out of sheer boredom and frustration.
I need a new doctor… one who can actually see me on the same day that I’m sick. Please?
14 Responses
Two words for you: Lenox Hill. You’ll thank me later.
By Sally Tomato on Nov 20, 2007
Never never never go to Beth Israel. In the East Village many people refer to it as Death Israel because of their emergency room experiences.
My thirty year old brother went to their emergency room with extreme flu symptoms. They told him to go home. We insisted on taking him to another emergency room where he was immediately admitted to the hospital with life threatening pneumonia (his left lung almost collapsed!). Take a cab to NYU emergency room up on first avenue and the 30’s. That’s what I’ve done after that fiasco. It’s clean with good service….cause all the drug addicts and crazy people are across the street at the Bellevue Emergency Room.
By evi on Nov 20, 2007
Go to the Urban Family Medical Center on 16th bet Union Sq and 5th (212-206-5200). They take all insurance and you can go in without an appointment. I called to make an appointment for a vaccination and was able to go in three days later–unheard of at my regular doctor. I had a really good experience there–I mean, it’s still a doctor’s office, so it’s not FUN or anything, but not like an ER for sure.
By StuyGirl on Nov 20, 2007
“She moans in pain, holding her stomach, and falls out of her chair onto the floor of the waiting area.”
sounds like how most of my dates end. hey-oh!
By lozo on Nov 21, 2007
I had a horrible experience at Beth Israel too. I was sitting in the waiting room throwing up every 2 minutes and I asked a nurse for another bucket and she told me no, I could only have one. I finally got seen by a doctor 4 to 5 hours later (no lie - still dry heaving). Then I just sat there for another 4 hours until my blood work and xrays got examined. Soooo ridiculous…I will never go there again.
By KB on Nov 21, 2007
“She lays on the floor for nearly an hour before a nurse finally notices that she’s on the floor.” I have to tell you, the first thing that went through my head when I read that wasn’t about the nurse’s incompetency, it was shock that you watched a girl lay on the floor for an hour without telling someone. Not usually a commenter, but that one just struck me.
By KS on Nov 21, 2007
One of my close friends lives across the street from that hospital.
To save yourself some time, go to the Ambrosia Diner around the corner. The decor is from 1972 and it’s a bit dingy, but they make a grilled cheese that will cure anything.
By mjones on Nov 21, 2007
it was shock that you watched a girl lay on the floor for an hour without telling someone. Not usually a commenter, but that one just struck me.
KS: She was lying in the middle of the floor in the waiting area. Every single time a triage nurse opened the door to call someone, she saw her on the floor. After she had been forced up from the floor by security, I brought her the juice and scarf she left where she had been lying down. I’m not a medical professional, but I did more for her in those three hours than any staff member did.
By Chris on Nov 21, 2007
I can’t speak to the regular ER at Beth Israel, but their pediatric ER is excellent. I had the occasion to take my 4-year-old there, with a scalp lacearation from falling off the bed onto the corner of the bedside table, a month ago. Next time, tell them you’re a minor!
By phreaddy on Nov 21, 2007
This sounds like a completely normal occurance… in the UK! They put up with it because everyone is insured. Here, after you’ve had your 4 hour wait the first thing they ask is,”Do you have insurance?” God Bless America.
By AJ on Nov 21, 2007
I called to make an appointment at a doctor’s office down here, and they told me the next opening was in January. I’m sick now!
By Cody on Nov 22, 2007
…example one…
you watched her on the floor for an hour? You couldn’t help?
By Opinion Jones on Nov 29, 2007
Opinion Jones: I hate repeating myself, but look four comments above you.
“She was lying in the middle of the floor in the waiting area. Every single time a triage nurse opened the door to call someone, she saw her on the floor. After she had been forced up from the floor by security, I brought her the juice and scarf she left where she had been lying down. I’m not a medical professional, but I did more for her in those three hours than any staff member did.”
By Chris on Nov 29, 2007
i was in the er on thursday and i agree with you. i was trying to figure out if i could self cure myself and go through med school before I was waited on
By alicia on Dec 4, 2007