3 ms·

I tend to elide this experience - feel free to speculate about my psychology around the event: I do! - but when I had a stroke (in the US) I was seen very quick

by eszed 2y ago

I tend to elide this experience - feel free to speculate about my psychology around the event: I do! - but when I had a stroke (in the US) I was seen very quickly. In A&E (UK for "ER") departments I've seen (half a dozen experiences, mostly attending with others, all for non life-threatening conditions) wait times ~an hour, about which staff were apologetic. (I understand those expectations may have changed under Tory sabotage.) This whole thread, while interesting, highlights how variable N=1 anecdotes can be. We're poorly served when we base conclusions only on our own experience. (Though I still think US-one-hour guy is a fortunate outlier!)

gcanyon 2y ago
US-one-hour guy here: > fortunate outlier Not exactly how I would describe it :-) I: - Hit the ER with two collapsed lungs in an ambulance after a motorcycle accident: saw the docs immediately (I assume, I don't remember it) - Hit the ER with intestinal blockage after the motorcycle accident, had vomited something like fifty times during the night and was actively bringing up bile as we checked in: they saw me in maybe an hour - Hit the ER with a suspected deep vein thrombosis: I think they knew it wasn't that serious, but still saw me in <30 minutes - Hit the ER with *actual* deep vein thrombosis: they saw me almost immediately and almost didn't let me leave that day. And then there's my wife, who has several things going on that aren't mine to disclose, but that tend to put her toward the head of the line.
- eszed 2y ago
  Holy heck. Yeah, those are what put the "emergency" in Emergency Room. Glad they got to you quickly, and hope you are doing well. With my cat bite I was checking in every half an hour, and then every fifteen minutes, showing them what was going on. Once I got to the back the doctor kinda puffed out his cheeks and said something along the lines of, "yeah, they shouldn't have made you wait." Then they put me on a cocktail of the Super Serious Antibiotics, and every junior doctor on rotation (it seemed like) came by to take a look. (Top tip: you really don't want to be a medical celebrity, even for an evening.) I joke about knowing it was serious only because I'd read so many nineteenth-century novels.
  - gcanyon 2y ago
    I'm not sure I'd trade the fake DVT for the cat bite -- something moving that fast is serious.

by eszed 2y ago

gcanyon 2y ago

US-one-hour guy here: > fortunate outlier Not exactly how I would describe it :-) I: - Hit the ER with two collapsed lungs in an ambulance after a motorcycle accident: saw the docs immediately (I assume, I don't remember it) - Hit the ER with intestinal blockage after the motorcycle accident, had vomited something like fifty times during the night and was actively bringing up bile as we checked in: they saw me in maybe an hour - Hit the ER with a suspected deep vein thrombosis: I think they knew it wasn't that serious, but still saw me in <30 minutes - Hit the ER with *actual* deep vein thrombosis: they saw me almost immediately and almost didn't let me leave that day. And then there's my wife, who has several things going on that aren't mine to disclose, but that tend to put her toward the head of the line.

eszed 2y ago
Holy heck. Yeah, those are what put the "emergency" in Emergency Room. Glad they got to you quickly, and hope you are doing well. With my cat bite I was checking in every half an hour, and then every fifteen minutes, showing them what was going on. Once I got to the back the doctor kinda puffed out his cheeks and said something along the lines of, "yeah, they shouldn't have made you wait." Then they put me on a cocktail of the Super Serious Antibiotics, and every junior doctor on rotation (it seemed like) came by to take a look. (Top tip: you really don't want to be a medical celebrity, even for an evening.) I joke about knowing it was serious only because I'd read so many nineteenth-century novels.
- gcanyon 2y ago
  I'm not sure I'd trade the fake DVT for the cat bite -- something moving that fast is serious.