Visiting the Emergency Room

Last night I had occasion to visit a local hospital emergency room. It is a slice of life that I was not really cognizant of. A friend was admitted to the Cardiac Care Unit through the ER. I was there from about 9:30 PM to almost 2 AM.

Here are the people I saw -

1) An elderly Black gentleman who sat within about four feet of the admitting nurse in a wheelchair for almost all the time I was there. He had a very bloody right foot. He had a young woman with him. At about 12:30 AM I stepped out for ten minutes and by the time I got back he was no longer there. But during the time he was there no one in the staff acknowledged he was there or inquired about how to deal with the very bloody sock on the foot.

2) An hugely obese woman with her equally obese husband. She had a hacking dry cough which she often covered up. Every time she coughed a couple of times I would move away to another seat, away from her. Within a few minutes she would move closer to me after getting up and walking around. Wonder what that meant.

3) The boy scout who had a huge gash in his left ankle - down to the bone. He was a bit pale but seemed to be in good shape. We talked, with his mom and dad, about scouting - I was an Eagle. Evidently he had been in scout camp and was playing tag at night and ran into a rain bird with such force that it cut him down to the bone. When I was about his age I was in my backyard with a bunch of kids around the Fourth of July and ran into a rain bird with such force that two friends had to pry me lose. My right foot still has the scar. It is that déjá vu all over again thing.

4) A woman who came in about midnight and demanded to see her son. The polite admitting nurse said, I am sorry, you cannot your son was admitted with a serious stab wound and we need to stabilize him before anyone can see him. She kept repeating the demand - he kept repeating the rule. Evidently she could have benefitted from taking my course on negotiations. Her only changes in tactics included - "I demand to see your supervisor" and raising her voice one pitch at a time. Eventually the admitting nurse asked a chaplain to come out and speak with the woman and that only infuriated her. Her son was 25. She was unsuccessful in getting through the doors.

As we had gone out that night (he wanted to get an EKG at doc in the box because he had not been feeling up to snuff) I had argued with my friend about whether I should bring my Kindle - he said, we'll only be a couple of minutes - no need to. My friend has had atrial fibrillation but he has lived with it for several years. The night before we had had a few friends at dinner and he felt pretty poorly. I told him we should go to the doc in the box but he said no, not necessary. I am glad I disregarded his advice about the Kindle. I finished one book by Sir Ken Richardson and started another about Hackers. (the Cathedral and the Bazaar - very interesting). My friend was finally operated on (they gave him two stints) and then admitted to the CCU. He continues to progress; not so sure about the ER.