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I'm a father of 3 and this service would have been useful on several occasions. TRUE emergencies are handled VERY quickly at the ER, but there are a lot of time

I'm a father of 3 and this service would have been useful on several occasions. TRUE emergencies are handled VERY quickly at the ER, but there are a lot of times when the regular doctors office is closed (holidays, weekends, after business hours) but you REALLY need to take your sick child to get medicine or whatever. We've had more middle-of-the-night ear infections than I'd care to remember. :)

absconditus 17y ago
The drugstore clinics can certainly handle ear infections. There are also urgent care facilities in most areas that can be utilized.
- tkiley 17y ago
  The key phrase here is "middle of the night". How many areas have drugstore clinics that are open at 2am?
  - garndt 17y ago
    Better question, what is the likelihood that a hospital near most residents are busy enough at 2am where wait times are extremely excessive that you need to use a service like this to "schedule" your visit? I would imagine that the likelihood decreases considerably during the "middle of the night" especially when taking into consideration that there are probably more hospitals that are not level 1 trauma centers and/or county run facilities and are often the busiest between 11am and 11pm.
    - randallsquared 17y ago
      My last experience with the ER was in the 90s, but there were several times I (or my then wife) had to wait for hours in the evening or middle of the night to see a doctor at the ER, in both Columbus, GA, and Melbourne, FL.
- Adrenalist 17y ago
  I'm not sure what your qualifications are, but I've given mine -- a parent of 3 kids. Drugstores (in my area, anyways) are NOT able to handle ear infections because antibiotics require a physicians prescription. Urgent care facilities are always preferable to ER visits because they cost less for the patient and permit ER staff to handle true emergencies, there there are many instances where urgent care just isn't an option.
  - absconditus 17y ago
    Many drugstores have clinics staffed by clinicians who are able to write prescriptions. One does not need qualifications to obtain this information.
    - silencio 17y ago
      While you have a valid point, I think you're still missing the main issue: sometimes these clinics aren't open when you need them most. Emergencies big and small happen at any time during the day. Not many clinics and urgent care centers are open and easy to go to 24/7.
      - absconditus 17y ago
        Do you honestly believe that I don't realize this? The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of the visitors to this site believe that most problems have a technical solution. I happen to believe that this technical solution has the potential to exacerbate an existing problem and that other non-technical solutions are possible. What is needed is a combination of 24 hour clinics/urgent care centers, more fast-track departments and convincing certain people that there is no need to visit a doctor for a bad cold unless certain symptoms appear or one doesn't recover in a reasonable length of time. Encouraging more people to visit the emergency department for non-emergencies does not seem prudent to me.
        silencio 17y ago
        My apologies if I was misinterpreting your replies as needless repetition. I don't disagree with you, and it must be said I question the need for such a service...but given the state of waiting at emergency departments today, I could see how this is useful for those people with small emergencies that for whatever reason can't be dealt with elsewhere. For now. The long term solution would obviously be to do something similar to what you suggest.

absconditus 17y ago

The drugstore clinics can certainly handle ear infections. There are also urgent care facilities in most areas that can be utilized.

tkiley 17y ago
The key phrase here is "middle of the night". How many areas have drugstore clinics that are open at 2am?
- garndt 17y ago
  Better question, what is the likelihood that a hospital near most residents are busy enough at 2am where wait times are extremely excessive that you need to use a service like this to "schedule" your visit? I would imagine that the likelihood decreases considerably during the "middle of the night" especially when taking into consideration that there are probably more hospitals that are not level 1 trauma centers and/or county run facilities and are often the busiest between 11am and 11pm.
  - randallsquared 17y ago
    My last experience with the ER was in the 90s, but there were several times I (or my then wife) had to wait for hours in the evening or middle of the night to see a doctor at the ER, in both Columbus, GA, and Melbourne, FL.
Adrenalist 17y ago
I'm not sure what your qualifications are, but I've given mine -- a parent of 3 kids. Drugstores (in my area, anyways) are NOT able to handle ear infections because antibiotics require a physicians prescription. Urgent care facilities are always preferable to ER visits because they cost less for the patient and permit ER staff to handle true emergencies, there there are many instances where urgent care just isn't an option.
- absconditus 17y ago
  Many drugstores have clinics staffed by clinicians who are able to write prescriptions. One does not need qualifications to obtain this information.
  - silencio 17y ago
    While you have a valid point, I think you're still missing the main issue: sometimes these clinics aren't open when you need them most. Emergencies big and small happen at any time during the day. Not many clinics and urgent care centers are open and easy to go to 24/7.
    - absconditus 17y ago
      Do you honestly believe that I don't realize this? The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of the visitors to this site believe that most problems have a technical solution. I happen to believe that this technical solution has the potential to exacerbate an existing problem and that other non-technical solutions are possible. What is needed is a combination of 24 hour clinics/urgent care centers, more fast-track departments and convincing certain people that there is no need to visit a doctor for a bad cold unless certain symptoms appear or one doesn't recover in a reasonable length of time. Encouraging more people to visit the emergency department for non-emergencies does not seem prudent to me.
      - silencio 17y ago
        My apologies if I was misinterpreting your replies as needless repetition. I don't disagree with you, and it must be said I question the need for such a service...but given the state of waiting at emergency departments today, I could see how this is useful for those people with small emergencies that for whatever reason can't be dealt with elsewhere. For now. The long term solution would obviously be to do something similar to what you suggest.