“A family member who was a paramedic used to joke about HHS, Hispanic Hysterical Syndrome, because any ailment, no matter how minor, would bring out a grandmother who would throw herself on the street weeping and screaming. So the hospital probably wrote this woman off.”
I will grant you that some Hispanics tend to be very emotional. A few can be emotional in the extreme.
Hopefully your family member paramedic also told you that it is relatively easy to tell if someone is truly in pain or not. Blood pressure and heart rate should do it. If you can’t do that, you can always watch their feet for a few minutes. Someone in severe pain can’t keep their feet still. They will keep moving them, trying to find a position to aleviate the pain. Have worked in paremedic/firefighting for years. Seen more than my share of drugseekers, and fakes. Most of us are fairly confident in our ability to assess pain. (children can be a little trickier, they tend to be very quiet when they are in pain)
No way the hospital avoids liablity here. ER docs or triage nurse is responsible, unless there is something major left out of the article.
Oh, I agree. It was probably possible to initially underestimate the seriousness of her condition, especially if she was perceived as a “frequent flyer” or troublesome and hysterical, but it certainly sounds as if they never went any further than that first glance. I think some medical personnel, especially in a big, busy emergency ward, probably do tend to stereotype people medically and are less attentive, depending on their perception of the patient. The hospital is definitely going to find itself sued - and losing.