Thursday, October 8, 2009

A night at the ER

No blogging last night because I was in the field doing research on healthcare reform, spending about 3 1/2 hours in the emergency room with a sick toddler.  Nope . . . no swine flu (or cow flu, duck flu, or sheep flu either), just a little croup.

I've been lucky and haven't needed to visit an ER in a long time.  And after last night's experience, I don't desire to go back.  We waited, and waited, and waited some more.  Everyone else waited, and waited, and waited some more.  It was frustrating and, you know what, I'm on board, the American healthcare system needs to be fixed.  But I can't imagine that transforming the ER doctors, nurses, and staff into the functional equivalent of government employees would increase their efficiency.

3 comments:

busy parent said...

Next time try an urgent care center. They are more efficient than the emergency rooms, and treat you either immediately or within a half an hour. they can handle minor "emergencies", even broken bones.

St. Luke's Urgent Care off 141 near hwy 30, and St. Anthony's urgent care off 141 near 30 on the Gravois Bluff side of the road.

St. Louis Conservative said...

Thanks busy, but the Urgent Care Centers close. Of the two near us, one closed at 8:00 and one at 9:00 p.m. (We actually checked both before heading to the ER.)

Busy said...

Yes, and croup acts up the most at night. We have spent many a night holding a croupy baby in our bathroom with the hot water running full blast in the shower next to us. The steam always helped them, but it had to be repeated two times at night, for about 15-20 minutes each time! Exhausting. . .