Heart Attack Patient Dies In ER Waiting Room- Ruled a Homicide

Associated Press ^ | 9/16/06 | 60 Gunner

[kcvl]

many frequent flyers with anxiety attacks

lol! It's actually not funny but the way you said it (typed it) it was.

[kcvl]

tell them you're on Medicaid or an illegal alien so you can get some service

And that's not a joke.

[kcvl]

I'm so sorry.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I had a ridiculous experience in an ER waiting room. I had a head injury falling off a ladder working in a hospital building remodel. I was escorted across the street to the ER (this is a major medical center in a large city) and NEVER GOT TREATED for hours. I just sat there with my head covered in blood.

I finally approached the desk and ask if I could go back to work if they weren't going to do anything. "Oh no," the woman said, "you might have a serious head injury."

I walked out of there, untreated, recognizing I was not the only person present who needed his head examined.

I found out later this negligence is more the rule than the exception.

I will take a taxi to the Boy Scout Council Office next time. At least the Boy Scouts can render first aid.

A hospital emergency room is a dangerous place where you will likely not get treated at all.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

I'll Be Glad To See The Geese ;0)

[Mo1]

.

[wideminded]

chest pain + shortness of breath + nausea = heart attack until proven otherwise

I've heard recently that the symptoms of an approaching heart attack in women are often different from the symptoms that are common in men. Do you know anything about this?

[Drammach]

Are you ex-military? There's always the VA if nothing else...

[Sarajevo]

While reading your article, I had the sudden vision of Rambo in a sewt of scrubs, firing his M60. Instead of bullets, he was firing 60cc syringes filled with sterile water and tipped with 14ga. catheter needles!

[maine-iac7]

Hooray for the coroner! Most would not rule it a homicide but only a heart attack.

I wonder if the coroner has had to cover just one too many of such deaths from this hospital?

[Bernard]

I'm not familiar with the specific facility, but since it is in Waukegan chances are it's not a rich neighborhood. And that would mean that the people who visit the ER don't have regular medical care, so it would not surprise me that the patient just sat and died while waiting for attention.

After all, you make the comment that symptoms are taken more seriously when the patient comes in with a full reservation - ambulance, EMT's, etc. if the patient can't afford an ambulance ride along with medical care at the hospital, having this woman die in the waiting room should not be a surprise.

[Ex-Democrat Dean]

Homicide defined -

http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/study/outlines/html/crim/crim24.htm

They're talking involuntary manslaughter.

[Concerned]

YAELLE: "It's sad, but we insured patients have to pay $500 for the ambulance ride, while the illegals ride for free."

You think that's sad...We lost our insurance when my husband shut down his business, so we have to pay for that same $500 ambulance ride out of our own pockets---for us and the illegals!!!

They get every kind of test and treatment available, while we pay for it!!! We, however, have to ensure that any tests or treatments are truly necessary...and hope we're right!

How many AMERICANS have to die waiting for an Emergency Room Doctor or treatment because of ILLEGAL ALIENS??? Well, that's too many!!!

Using a take on the liberals' argument, "If even one [American's] life can be saved by..." arresting and deporting illegal aliens,...it's worth it.

[Mustng959]

Early signs of detection are paramount. At the beginning of last year, my wife experienced chest discomfort and I took her to the ER. An overnight stay insued with no major problems detected. A few months later, there we were again. No problems. Scheduled a stress test and after completing that she was diagnosed with about 25% blockage and told not to worry, given medication to help dissolve the blockage and a diet to follow. Two more times to the ER over the next few months got us overnight stays in the hospital again to run tests with no additional problems detected. About a month after the last episode, we decided to bypass our local hospital and try to make an appointment in Nashville. Of course, a long wait would be expected to schedule a visit. One day my wife called me from work (she's a teacher) and said she just didn't feel right. I called my sister a local nurse and said can you get me into today to see a heart specialist ion Nashville. She said no that our best bet was to drive there and be admitted through ER. We did and again the bloodwork showed no problems and an overnight stay with a stress test the next morning was ordered. As she was on the treadmill, her heart went crazy, she started to suffer extreme chest pains and began to pass out. She was immediately taken to have an arteriorgram done and I was told that if problems were noted they would go ahead and fix it then. A few hours later, my wife came out of surgery with a stint holding open the artery around her heart that had over a 90% blockage.
Advice, when dealing with matters of the heart, go to a hospital that boasts about it being their speciality. I know my wife wouldn't be here today if we had kept going to our small local hospital.

[JSteff]

"$750 here in Columbus."

Our local community has an "ambulance association" or something like that. Costs about $100 per year to join per family. Then if you go to the ER by ambulance, whether you have insurance or not (we do), it is no charge. All the local hospitals, ambulance providers, and fire departments are in the pool so we are always covered.

Didn't need it for 12 years then in one year my wife needed it 3 times due to severe reactions to medications. All trips were covered.

Everyone should check with their local municipality or county and see if they have or know of one. Well worth it.

[Ditter]

When ever I eat food that contains flavor enhancers I have heart symptoms, pressure in my chest, palpitations and nausea. Watch out for monosodium gultamate, disodium insonate and disodium guynalate.

[Rte66]

I hear that. I paid for my own for over 20 years. It was more than my former house payments and more than my former car payments.

I never put in a claim. Paid for my own medications, didn't have dental, so paid for that. Paid for my own exams. That's all. I was never sick.

Finally, to cut back on expenses, I canceled it, so I'd have extra money for my 2nd business. Two years after that, I became very sick. Tried for a year to fix it with antihistamines, anti-inflammatories, better nutrition, more exercise, the usual. Only got a little better, then worse - now it's chronic, an asthma-like condition that may be asthma or may be heart disease mimicking asthma. It's triggered by mold spores and humidity.

Still haven't seen a doctor - no money, no car, no one to help me. Can't do much of anything most days. Didn't qualify for SSDI because they didn't count my SE tax in SocSec.

Play by the rules all your life, pay your bills and taxes, take responsibility for yourself, don't commit to long-term debt if you can't afford it - and where does it get you? On the garbage heap, if you miss 3 payments on a $300 Target charge card while trying to make money by selling off some things of yours, to satisfy a landlord - who kicks you out, anyway.

That's life. "Sort of."

[Sabatier]

Good post, thank you. Very useful info. A friend of ours was a very heavy smoker and recently died of a heart attack in his early 50s. Don't think he believed it could happen to him.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Nonsense, that never bothered m

[Shery]

One question: Was she even seen by a triage nurse first? I would hope that there was one, but maybe not.