It's happened too often. This woman had classic signs, but not all women do. I read of one lady who complained of sharp pains in her back and arm. It was enough to scare her into the E.R. They decided it was nothing serious, released her, and she dropped dead in the parking lot on her way out. The point is...women don't always have obvious symptoms.
E.R. is SUPPOSED to be a triage situation, not "take a number". Obviously, some E.R.'s are better than others. One very big problem NOW... is that too many people use the E.R. as a clinic. Legally, they can't turn anyone away. The "E" stands for "Emergency". We need to get back to that.
Let the reader be advised that women do not always present with the classic signs and symptoms of a heart attack as do men. If it's above the ribcage, ladies, get out here!
"They decided it was nothing serious, released her, and she dropped dead in the parking lot on her way out. The point is...women don't always have obvious symptoms. "
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But doctors should know that and not ignore the symptoms.
I'm glad you pointed out that women do not always have classic symptoms. My neighbor was complaining of aches and pains in her neck, back, legs. She is in her 70's and walking quite a bit and we all just thought she had general old age aches and pains- arthritis or what have you. She and her husband were on a trip to Boston and along the way in a motel she started hurting bad enough she couldn't sleep. Her husband did not like the way she was looking or acting and called an ambulance. Her symptoms were pretty vague but she was having a heart attack and got stints put in. She still did not relate this to her aches and pains but she told me later it dawned on her that after the stint was put in her aches went away. The achiness was the only symptom she had before the heart attack. She said her chest was not tight or hurting at all. Her Dr told her it is sometimes hard to diagnose heart problems in women from symptoms.
Testify, sister.
I took my mom to the ER with kidney stones. In case you've never had kidney stones or nursed someone who did, they're about as painful as anything not immediately life-threatening gets. Mom had the cartilage removed from both knees and gave birth twice, and she said the stone was more painful than all combined.
We were sitting in the ER waiting room, with Mom in a wheelchair doubled over in pain with barely enough strength to whimper. She was holding an ice pack to her abdomen which offered some meager amount of relief. I was sitting within sight of the triage nurse, and while I didn't want to nag, I wanted to be in a position to make a pleading puppy-dog face when she happened to look up.
As we were sitting there, a young woman stomped up to the desk. I don't know what her complaint was, but it didn't prevent her from waving her arms like a third-base coach and yelling louder than a Pete Townshend solo. She was outraged that people who had come in after her were being admitted before her.
I was sitting next to the tough, smart woman who raised me, who was now completely helpless, and there was nothing I could do about it but sit and wait and worry as this spoiled little [deleted] went off on her little tirade.
"Listen, b----," I screamed. "This isn't a deli. If you're strong enough to scream like a banshee, you're strong enough to wait. Unless you're bleeding from BOTH eyes, sit the f down and shut the f up before I give you an injury that will move you right to the top of the list."
Okay, so I actually only said that in my head. The nurse, who had obviously dealt with this kind of thing far more than I had, quickly calmed the woman down and sent her back to her seat, no violence or foul language necessary. Not too long after, Mom was doped up and antibiotec'ed, and the crisis passed.
One very big problem NOW... is that too many people use the E.R. as a clinic. Legally, they can't turn anyone away. The "E" stands for "Emergency". We need to get back to that.
Agreed; we need more clinics. Yes, I know that a lot of FReepers are going to hate the idea, but I don't see any reasonable way we could allow ERs to turn people away without having a viable alternative available.
Most 911 calls are not legitimate emergencies. Some of them are incredibly stupid. If a hit-and-run driver clips my car, causing damage but no injuries, I know not to call 911 -- but I don't know whom to call, especially if I'm out of town and don't know whose jurisdiction I'm in. Same thing if I'm robbed, or some punk vandalizes my car, or I see someone kicking the hell out of a stray dog.
Some cities have launched, and publicized, a x11 number for all services other than life-and-death emergencies. I don't remember what the X is -- it's not 411 (directory) or 611 (repair), but I don't remember what it is. We don't have it yet. It seems to do a pretty good job of diverting the non-urgent calls to people who are both less strained and better able to help.
What I suggest is a way of getting non-emergency patients out of the ER just like x11 gets the non-emergency calls out of the way of the real emergencies. We ought to have more community clinics and a better system of making sure people know about them and know where to go. Yes, that will cost money, but only in the setup phase. It'll save money in the longer term, because routine care is less expensive anywhere else than it is in the ER.
Where I used to live, Syracuse NY, there was a 24 hour clinic that was specifically for, "Not life threatening but really cannot wait until the morning" types of things. From what I heard, it really helped the hospital ERs.