EVER BEEN TO AN ER?

[Duchess]

I know of someone who went to the ER on Sunday evening and late yesterday afternoon she was still waiting to be checked in and given a room. WTF! Is this common? This isn't a crappy hospital either, it's a major East Coast facility.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Some parts of the country are worse than others, especially the ER services. People with no insurance go there and clog the system up, illegals and the like. The cities especially.
I have not need an ER since before I got out of the Air Force, but have taken a few there for treatment. The suburban and community hospitals are not quite as bad. Down here all of them are pretty busy as we are in the middle of the Season so we are over run with snowbirds.

[Blindgreed1]

Some parts of the country are worse than others, especially the ER services. People with no insurance go there and clog the system up, illegals and the like. The cities especially.
I have not need an ER since before I got out of the Air Force, but have taken a few there for treatment. The suburban and community hospitals are not quite as bad. Down here all of them are pretty busy as we are in the middle of the Season so we are over run with snowbirds.

This. ER triage is a delicate beast. For the most part, if it's life or death, go to the ER. Otherwise Urgent Care is faster.

[sally]

The ER closest to me is fast, usually you're seen within 10 mins. If the doctor decides that it isn't an emergency then you have to pay $150 co-pay whether you have insurance or not before they'll treat you. So for example if you go in there at 3 in the morning because you have the flu and your chest is on fire, you'll be in and out of there with a prescription for cough syrup with codeine in 20 minutes as long as you pay the $150 first. If you don't have the $150 they'll give you a list of the closest urgent cares to go to.

[Maggot]

I spent new years eve in the er with my son that had put his hand through a window and towards the end I wanted to punch out the homeless people that were gathering in the waiting room. I actually told one guy to get the fuck out of my way before I stuffed him into the coke machine. I got out at 11:58 that night and had gone in at 5pm.

[Blindgreed1]

The ER closest to me is fast, usually you're seen within 10 mins. If the doctor decides that it isn't an emergency then you have to pay $150 co-pay whether you have insurance or not before they'll treat you. So for example if you go in there at 3 in the morning because you have the flu and your chest is on fire, you'll be in and out of there with a prescription for cough syrup with codeine in 20 minutes as long as you pay the $150 first. If you don't have the $150 they'll give you a list of the closest urgent cares to go to.

Yeah, it is different based on the region and the flow of patients. Most ER triage strategies factor in what the weight on the system is.

[sally]

Yeah, the larger ER across town has a much longer waiting time. You could go in there having a heart attack and they'd still make you sit in the waiting area for hours.

[Maggot]

Or longer...............