ADVERTISEMENT

The emergency room is, well, for actual emergencies. If you’re badly hurt or your life is in danger, you must go to the ER. Otherwise, if you’re fine, you shouldn’t tie up doctors’ and nurses’ valuable time when they have serious cases to rush to. It sounds like common sense. But unfortunately, common sense is far too rare.

In a brutally honest online thread, medical professionals shared all of the things that they wish people would stop coming to the ER for. Scroll down for their work experiences, from the serious and heartbreaking to the bizarre.

#1

ER staff putting on gloves, wearing white coat and stethoscope, preparing to handle patients in a medical setting People falling on common household items. In this day and age, you can have things specifically designed to go up there shipped discreetly to your home.

They will feel way better and not get stuck up there. There is no excuse to still be shoving the bottle of Tylenol up there. You don't want to end up in the hospital...or with autism.

esoteric_enigma , Ahmed Report

RELATED:
    #2

    Two children playing on a trampoline outdoors, illustrating challenges ER staff face with difficult patient interactions. I see these way too often
    1. Stop buying your kids trampolines. They have never been, and never will be, safe.
    2. Electric bikes are motorcycles. Wear a helmet at the very least.

    Indecisive-one , Jayson Hinrichsen Report

    DramaDoc
    Community Member
    10 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The people behind me installed an above-ground pool this past summer (about 3.5' deep)--and then put their trampoline right up against the wall of the pool. About 2.5 weeks later, I noticed that they moved the trampoline away from the pool and that one of their kids had his arm in a cast to his shoulder. I'm not 100% sure about the sequence of events, but I can take a wild guess...

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #3

    Two ER staff walking down a hospital hallway, one pushing an empty wheelchair, highlighting challenges in patient care. When my kid's appendix burst, and we were checking in to the ER, this horrible couple came barging in, just freaking out and screaming and tried to go in front of us because their infant had eaten a grape. The baby was showing no signs of distress, but the mom's grandmother was allergic to grapes, so obviously, their baby was too. We were like, "I think we got dibs, lady."

    jpow33 , Getty Images Report

    WindySwede
    Community Member
    19 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    was grandmother a cat? (no disrespekt ment but if baby was not anaphylaxis nor strange breathing it was prob no worry for that hurry)

    If you feel that your life is actually in danger, you must go to the emergency room. However, if your health problems are minor and can be solved by phoning your doctor or seeing them in person, talking to a pharmacist, or by yourself at home, you shouldn’t bog down ER workers with your issues. Of course, some situations can be in a bit of a grey area. Or you, as a patient, might not be educated enough to know what counts as a real emergency.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    For example, Concordia University states that you should immediately seek emergency help if you suffer severe physical trauma after an accident, lose consciousness, have sudden chest pains, severe abdominal pain (especially combined with a fever), are short of breath, or have sudden strong headaches.

    You should also go to the ER if you experience sudden numbness in your arms or legs, have blurred vision, or have a rapid pulse while resting when not emotionally stressed or after exercise.

    #4

    Young girl sleeping in hospital bed, holding a teddy bear, illustrating challenges ER staff face from patients' behavior Children's ER for a common cold, but make sure you wait until after the game is over on a Sunday night. It wasn't an emergency until after the game, not all day Sunday when urgent care was open.

    🙄.

    MNConcerto , Curated Lifestyle Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #5

    ER staff reviewing patient information with a woman in a clinical setting, highlighting challenges patients create at work. To get a pregnancy test. Because they don't want the embarrassment of buying one.

    IllNopeMyselfOut:

    This is crazy to me. How is having it tested by other people at the ER less embarrassing than buying or especially if you can buy online?

    PrisonNurseNC , Getty Images Report

    Cee Cee
    Community Member
    5 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Can buy them in the supermarket. Go to self checkout and nobody else is any the wiser.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #6

    ER staff in white coat and glasses writing notes at desk with laptop and medical charts in bright office environment Work notes when they know they are well. It's not because of the patient, its the employers requiring them too. I don't blame the patients at all.

    DrBearcut , Getty Images Report

    A sudden amount of pain or a rapid deterioration of your health is probably an emergency, and you should be safe rather than sorry. However, being slightly uncomfortable is not an emergency.

    As per Concordia University, you should not go to the emergency room in situations when your life is not in danger, like when you have a mild cold or flu, small burns, cuts, or scrapes, or minor aches or pains. You also should not head to the ER to get your prescription filled.

    At the end of the day, if you’re unsure of what (not) to do, get in touch with your family doctor, a pharmacist, or your health insurance company.

    #7

    Hospital meal tray with soup, jelly, fruit, and water illustrating challenges ER staff face with patients complicating their work. Hunger. It's just terribly sad.

    K-Tanz:

    This one is wayyyy more common than people think. Usually people will beat around the bush and have some fake complaint, but every once in a while someone will just straight up tell you in triage "I'm hungry". That and exposure to the elements. I've worked ER in Denver in winter and Phoenix in the summer and there's constantly someone there for "man, it's just too hot/cold out there".

    CipherWeaver , Curated Lifestyle Report

    KatSaidThat
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Homeless people committing petty crime in winter to get warm and a meal.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #8

    STOP!!!! Calling EMS THINKING THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO AN ER ROOM BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT CALLING 911 AND TAKING THE AMBULANCE GETS YOU STRAIGHT BACK TO A ROOM. YOU TOO CAN GO STRAIGHT TO THE LOBBY AND TRIAGED THE SAME AS WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR. This has been a public service announcement from EMS in defense of all ERS across the nation and around the world.

    Old__Medic_Doc_68 Report

    Billo66
    Community Member
    Premium
    9 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Strange. I went by ambulance and got right in. I wasn't breathing and needed nine units of blood but still...

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #9

    ER staff wearing a white coat with stethoscope, sitting stressed at a desk with medical documents and computer keyboard The sniffles, so many adults and children in the er with head colds. Started 12 hrs ago haven’t taken any meds, walk into the er and demand to be at the front of the line. These are the entitled idiots clogging up the er. Each of them has to be registered and seen by a medical professional and takes up valuable time and energy away from truly sick or injured people. But the hospital won’t say anything about it because well that’s an easy er bill.

    Stonepotter , Getty Images Report

    ADVERTISEMENT

    We’d like to hear from you, Pandas. What is the biggest medical emergency you’ve ever experienced? On the flip side, have you ever seen anyone in the ER who most certainly wasn’t having an emergency? Have you ever gone to the ER only to realize you panicked over nothing? What about the opposite, where you thought you weren’t in danger when your life was actually at risk?

    Meanwhile, if you’re a medical professional, we’d also like to hear some of your best and worst work stories. Feel free to share yours (anonymously of course) in the comments the bottom of this list.

    #10

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This I want them to stop coming BACK to the ER. All the time we had people come, wait the long wait, see the doctor, get a prescription, go home, and come back the next day without ever picking up their prescription. We already helped you! We already did what we could! You have to do your part too by *telling us the correct pharmacy* and then *going to that pharmacy* and then *taking your medication!*.

    girl_in_a_blue_dress , Getty Images Report

    KatWitch57
    Community Member
    7 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "This will help you. It will not work unless you actually take it!"

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #11

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This My son calls 911 when he’s going through a hangover so they will give him an iv and meds. He’s done this 4 times in 2 months.

    NovelResolution8593 , Getty Images Report

    Svenne O'Lotta
    Community Member
    21 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You should probably have considered some of that newfangled "parenting" that everyone is talking about at some point before he was old enough to get hangovers.

    View more comments
    #12

    Woman lying face down on bed with pillow on her head, illustrating frustration related to stupidity tax in ER staff experiences. Hangovers. You do the crime, you do the time.

    Key_Shallot_1050 , Curated Lifestyle Report

    Snazzy Smurf
    Community Member
    1 hour ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My best hangover cure was a large Orange Hi-C and an egg mcmuffin from McDonald's.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #13

    Young child with mother smiling in a doctor’s office while ER staff discuss challenges patients create in their job. Oh, so many things. Bringing their child to the ER because they have to have immunizations to go to school so let's get them in the ER at three in the morning.

    Bringing both your kids to the ER because one is getting a cold and the other one is surely going to get it soon. They want both of them to be treated. Neither of them will get any treatment if it's just a cold.

    One guy told me when I asked him what brought him to the ER, that he had a hangnail on his toe. I guess I did a bit of a double take and he said, defensively, "my feet are important to me."

    basically, treating the ER as a minor clinic and refusing to set up a relationship with a primary care doctor.

    AbilitySweet699 , Curated Lifestyle Report

    Helena
    Community Member
    22 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    On that last point. I've been trying to get a primary care doctor for 2 years. Everyone is booked and no one calls back. I am in the US

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #14

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This I wish we had a functioning healthcare system where people had options -besides- the ER for non-emergency stuff.

    lofixlover , Yunus Tuğ Report

    FlamingoPanda
    Community Member
    21 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This. I have gone to the ER for a tetanus shot that could not wait until the doctors opened on Monday. I felt terrible wasting their time with something so trivial but tetanus is not something to mess around with. In South Africa we do not have urgent care and we have a very hit and miss government run health care system so any government clinics that are open on a weekend are massively over capacity. Private ER (which thankfully I have medical insurance to cover) was my only option.

    View more comments
    #15

    Woman using an inhaler and talking on the phone, illustrating ER staff challenges with difficult patients. I take people to the ER.

    The worst are the ones who call 911 because they think they'll get into the ER faster. Sorry, triage exists for a reason lol. Enjoy your 6 hour wait.

    RatonhnhaketonK , Kateryna Hliznitsova Report

    Con O Cuinn
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My dad has had to go to hospital countless times over the past few years. Coming in an ambulance absolutely gets you in faster. You might still be waiting to see a doctor, but you'll be in a trolley or bed in triage, not sitting in a plastic chair in the waiting room. That makes a huge difference to infirm people.

    View more comments
    #16

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This #People who come into triage, walk out AMA, and then ambulance themselves in thinking it gets them seen faster. HOSPITAL STAFF ARE NOT MICHELIN STAR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT AT YOUR BECK AND CALL.

    No, we do not know how long the doctor will be before they see you. *No, it does not* mean staff do not care about you.

    You’re going to wait.

    You absolutely DO NOT WANT to be the first priority immediately taken back to a room, cath lab, or operating room. Those patients are gonna be popular real quick because their last minutes could potentially be in that ER without **immediate** intervention. It’s one of the *most emergent* emergencies.

    No matter who you voted for, our current HHS system’s deliberately harmful policy changes have absolutely messed you up, me, your mom, healthcare non-professionals ^yes ^they ^are^ professionals, and anyone else who needs healthcare.

    Out_of_Fawkes , Curated Lifestyle Report

    Papa
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I've been in the ER twice, and I can vouch for them seeing the people who need it first. The first time I walked in crying like a baby with the worst migraine I have ever had. They had a man come in about the same time with a heart attack. It was an hour or so before they could help me, and I completely understood. The second time I went in with chest pain. The person at the admissions desk told the nurses in the back that there's a 63-year old man here with chest pain, and my b**t had barely hit the seat in the waiting room when they called me in, although there were a number of people there ahead of me (it turned out to not be anything serious, and after a bunch of tests I went home the next day).

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #17

    Young woman in white shirt covering mouth while laughing, illustrating challenges ER staff face with difficult patients Some “highlights” of my 12 year career…

    Booked in as a head injury, was actually dandruff and was an emergency because they couldn’t sleep.

    Abdominal pain ongoing for 20 years, no change in severity at all. Turned out to be trapped wind.

    Took Nytol and got drowsy…

    Step parent had a massive heart attack and they wanted to make sure it doesn’t run in the family

    A blister on their foot from poorly fitted high heels.

    Queenoftheunicorns93 , Getty Images Report

    Ravenkbh
    Community Member
    11 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "Trapped Wind" would be a great name for a Rock group

    View more comments
    #18

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This My mother once took niacin and got a niacin flush. She freaked out and insisted i take her to the er. I tried explaining to her and showing her the bottle that described the exact symptoms she was having that said its normal. She still wanted to go. We went. They told her she was having a niacin flush and she's fine.

    ShyguyFlyguy Report

    Cat servant
    Community Member
    4 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    For those that don't know high dose niacin has been prescribed to treat high cholesterol. The niacin flush is a common side affect.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #19

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This I had to be driven to the ER because we thought my appendix had burst. It hurt so bad I couldn’t think and hardly breathe.

    There was this family ahead of me with a baby, maybe 1-? Showed no distress. They were talking about what was wrong with it, saying it could have been “all that shrimp” she ate, or maybe the lobster or crab meat.

    Truecrimeauthor , LEDC Report

    #20

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This ○ a "fever" of 99.1

    ○ you or your child has a low grade fever. you have not tried tylenol

    ○ you had a stomach ache yesterday, but now the symptoms have gone away (why are you here???)

    ○ you know you have acid reflux. you ate taco bell, now it is worse (this has happened with TWO PATIENTS now, both stated that it got worse after TACO BELL. what did you expect???)

    ○ your toe hurts. you didn't drop anything on it and don't think it's broken.

    ○ you need a medication refilled

    ○ you are having normal, mid-cycle cramps

    ○ you have a charlie horse

    ○ you are not sure why you're here, you just 'thought you should come' (this happens more frequently than you'd expect)

    ○ you have a small, superficial cut. the bleeding is under control. you cut yourself with something like a non-rusty kitchen knife.

    ○ you want a pregnancy test (you can buy one at the store)

    ○ you just got a positive pregnancy test... nothing else.

    linthetrashbin , Julian Hochgesang Report

    Ace
    Community Member
    19 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Apparently, "a chsrlie horse" is a leg cramp. Is that a common expression in the US? I've never heard it before.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #21

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This Not me, but a friend is a nurse who worked in the ER. Men come in for being constipated because they haven't gone to the bathroom in 36 hours.

    Nanojack , Getty Images Report

    #22

    ER staff consulting with a mother and her child, sharing challenges patients create in emergency room settings. Parents that bring in their child that have an earache or when they’re sick but still drinking and playing.

    It’s really hard on the parents but it can wait until a medical clinic opens in the morning. You’re just exposing your child to all the gross bacteria of the ER for nothing.

    kalua80 , Vitaly Gariev Report

    V
    Community Member
    20 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This one is hard, because your kid can have a high fever, and be lethargic so you pack them up to take them to the Dr, then by the time you get there the fever has gone down and they are back to balls of energy. I have been there.

    View more comments
    #23

    UNMEDICATED FEVERS. Please, please give your poor kid some Tylenol.

    ETA: Kid vomited one time and is now acting normal. What do you want us to do?

    The kid “felt warm” so you brought them in to one of the busiest ERs in the country at 0100?? Just for us to check the temp and usually the kid is afebrile.

    RxTurkeySammie Report

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you have a child, you should own a thermometer. Hell, I have PETS and I have a thermometer just for checking their temperatures when I'm worried they might have a fever. And it's more complicated (and gross) to take a cat or dog's temperature, I assure you XD

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #24

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This My sister in law used to work as a nurse in a DC ER. SO MANY tourists would come in because they got bit by a wild squirrel they were hand feeding and want to get tested for rabies. SIL would tell them squirrels cant transmit rabies to humans. The tourists would then demand to speak with a doctor. The doctor would say the exact same thing, then charge them a couple hundred bucks for a consultation and band aid.

    Im mostly for universal health care in the US, but if you pull this, you gotta pay up. Call it a stupidity tax.

    TLDR: dont feed squirrels, theyre rats with fluffy tails.

    somebody_throw_a_pie , Anastasia Clark Report

    Tucker Cahooter
    Community Member
    21 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Being in rabies-free Australia (touch wood), I wouldn't have known that squirrels don't transmit rabies either. Just like if I got bitten by a snake in Australia, I wouldn't pull out a copy of "What Snake Is That?" and start leafing through it; I would see medical attention ASAP

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #25

    Anything that has been a problem for more than a month. The ER is not the place for your 3 month history of shoulder pain.

    xeia66 Report

    LilliVB
    Community Member
    2 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm on the fence on this one. If the pain hasn't increased, it's more or less the same situation I agree. But if for example I'm always suffering because of stomach cramps and suddenly one day is not the usual one but an excruciating unbearable pain, I'm going to the ER, above all if I can't talk to or see my doctor. It can be the same problem that's worsened or something new, but I will mention that it's "x amount of time" that I have stomach cramps, but not so terrible like the ones I have now. And I wouldn't feel guilty at all.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #26

    I spent 8 hours in hospital with my friend yesterday just for the doctors to tell him exactly what I told him. You have the flu. Go home and go to bed.

    bitchyturtlewhispers Report

    Cat servant
    Community Member
    4 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    But if you are in the USA you need a doctor's note to miss work. Depending on the job you may not have paid sick leave anyway but if you miss 3 days without a doctor's note you can be fired.

    View more comments
    #27

    ER staff in blue gloves examining patient foot and X-ray, illustrating challenges patients create for healthcare workers. Broken toes - nothing can be done.

    QuartzFairy , Getty Images Report

    Emilu
    Community Member
    21 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    People may not know this. I as a pleb know that I wouldn't.

    View more comments
    #28

    ER staff sharing behind the scenes moments as patients sometimes make their job harder in emergency rooms. Head lice.

    Extra_Gold1601 , Getty Images Report

    Upstaged75
    Community Member
    1 hour ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Definitely not worth an ER visit. And please stay out of public areas until you've gotten rid of them! It just takes some stinky shampoo and cleaning. My whole 2nd grade class had it at one point. 😫 All through grade school I remember doing monthly lice checks by the nurse.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #29

    Er nurse, I wish family/roomates/etc would stop bringing in their friends/family who is drunk. We won’t do anything for them besides maybe give some fluids/zofran and just let them sleep it off. The number of pts I have where their family will get mad that nothing is done and all we do is let them sleep.

    gokuman33 Report

    justme
    Community Member
    2 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This one shouldn't be shamed. Non-medical people don't know the difference between "very drunk" and "will die from alcohol poisoning if not seen by a doctor". At least I don't know anyone who knows that difference. If my drunk friend/family member is puking and out of it I would take them in just to be safe.

    #30

    I am a former phlebotomist who did a lot of work in an ER. I wish I had seen less DUIs.

    The_Green_Sun Report

    Jane Doe-Doe
    Community Member
    5 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I watch police body cam videos on YouTube and it’s amazing how many drunk drivers have to be taken to the hospital to get a blood draw because they refuse to take a breathalyser, it makes me so angry the amount of valuable time is wasted that hospital staff could be using on patients that genuinely need help

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #31

    I wish their PCP would stop sending them in for their “critical” blood pressure of 140/80. Probably on the low end in our waiting room, honestly. Same for “abnormal” labs that aren’t abnormal. Oh no, their potassium is 3.4, I literally could not care less.

    And the urgent cares need to stop sending people to the ER and lying to them about it. “Oh, we’re calling ahead so they’re ready for you.” Unless they are coming in with something actually critical (which they generally aren’t), they’re going to the waiting room. Even if they’re an appy, probably starting in triage for a minute.

    Oh, and Plastics is not going to come down to do the stitches on your face. Depending on the hospital, you may get an intern. Literally the only time I have seen them come down was when it was for one of their friends….

    AnneBonnyMaryRead Report

    g6fmzpp8d7
    Community Member
    6 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I was in an a*****e marriage, my husband caused a 3 inch scar on my face, they asked if I wanted stitching in the next ten mins but suggested I wait for max fax surgeon that hour wait made sure I have a neat scar. Theo was UK, I’m so grateful for the NHS

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #32

    Diaper rash that has been ongoing for several weeks on Sunday night at 11:00pm. And oh by the way, can I have a doctors note to not work tomorrow?

    WindcoClay Report

    Leah Brown
    Community Member
    9 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Maybe they should use more rash cream? Especially on the days before they have to work?

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #33

    Flu symptoms- you’ll be there hours for an Xr Covid flu swab and Tylenol.

    black_sundaee Report

    Debby Keir
    Community Member
    5 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And passing it around to all the others there. Only go for flu if you experience difficulty with breathing or a temp over 102f/39.5c more than an hour after Tylenol.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #34

    The ER Is For Real Emergencies, But These 46 Doctors And Nurses Reveal What Kind Of People Don’t Realize This From my dad (ER doc) throughout my life I’ve heard quite a lot. The thing that made him angriest and that he most often vented about, as the most frustrating and demoralizing thing imaginable, that he dealt with regularly; the casual cruelty of a system where issues that could have been treated successfully a long time ago weren’t, because people couldn’t afford it, had no insurance and/or were simply scared to risk official contact. People come to the ER for those kinds of issues when it’s finally apparent to them that there’s no choice, it’s an actual emergency. That’s usually way *after* whatever is wrong *actually* crossed the line into being a legitimate emergency. These patients quite often lose limbs to uncontrolled infection, will develop and endure permanent issues, become critically ill (ICU sick), and/or even pass away. Painfully and unnecessarily, in a hospital that pays the CEO more in a year than the average lowest paid full time employee will make in several lifetimes.

    The ER, and associated departments like trauma surgery, must (and should, his problem wasn’t this bit even though his liability exposure to lawsuits was the same) provide at least baseline treatment for life threatening or extremely time sensitive care. This is true regardless of ability to pay, citizenship, or anything else (which thankfully is federal law). Even someone injured during the commission of a heinous crime etc. is entitled to at least this. That said, for profit hospitals won’t provide treatment a micrometer past the exact legal requirement. It’s more common than you’d think; he would see these types of patients pretty often.

    As a doctor, he (of course) knew what could have been done earlier, and knew better than was good for him what their likely prognosis was down the road. Typically, that “federally mandated emergency care” cuts off as soon as whatever issue you’ve got isn’t *actively* ending you (and I mean in like in the next few hours, according to the satisfaction of arbitrary factors in some asinine bureaucrat stained flowchart). Next week “isn’t an emergent need until next week”.

    For any conditions afterward (complications and/or chronic, debilitating, or progressive issues) there’s no cure, no getting better, and no regular treatment; even things that *can* be cured won’t be, unless of course the patient is literally about to die and the cure is the only, or cheapest, option (which means the treatment, often delayed for as long as possible, also has a much lower chance of success). That leads to an absolutely *horrific* revolving door of slow decline for patients that go repeatedly to the ER in dire straights, and receive only the pitiful amount of treatment “carefully” evaluated as *exactly* satisfying the bare legal minimum of care (not gonna die right now). Then they’re pushed back out the door…until they don’t come anymore. And *not* because they’ve been cured by a miracle; they’re just no longer in need in the most final and unacceptable way possible.

    This is also a problem for cheaper insurance; after all, the most profitable client for an insurance company is one that’s fully paid up, but doesn’t survive long enough to use their policy for a large end of life claim and passes without a spent cent. They craft generalized, innocuous sounding rules like requiring multiple rounds of approval for expensive (and time sensitive) procedures that then come too late and aren’t done.

    It wasn’t ever so much that he wished those people would stop coming to the ER, it was a wish that those people would never have to come to the ER for things like that in the first place. Things like a simple slipped knife while cooking slicing a deep cut across the palm of an undocumented single mother that works full time cleaning hotel rooms. Without insurance, a for profit clinic visit bill can be food for a week for an entire family, just for a couple simple stitches and a script for amoxicillin. There’s that, or the huge, existentially terrifying risk of going to a free one, since that can mean an unsustainable loss of work stuck waiting at a crowded clinic, or worse; some state funded/run free clinics are legally obligated to, or at least *can*, require their staff to verify the documentation status of patients before providing treatment. This is a woman who chose to push through it, no stitches, no antibiotics, with growing pain in a hand getting more and more impaired while she developed a fever etc, all while continuing to work, bare handing the kind of nastiness that people leave in hotel rooms; wet, soiled and wadded up days old damp towels, dirty stained sheets, garbage cans, toilets, and showers 8 hours a day. After she finally collapsed, she lost most of her left hand to gangrene, nearly died from septic shock, and spent a week in a coma. And yes, she was released from the hospital against her doctor’s advice (which only carries so much legal weight), to be deported as soon as the bureaucratic machine decided she was “stable enough” to travel. Those situations are *rough* things to see year after year. It’s not the injuries themselves (although I’m sure there was enough of that), it’s the sheer despicable waste and callousness that Dad witnessed, experiencing that system firsthand, for decades, from the point of view of a person that, paid well or not, dedicated themselves to helping.

    I saw and heard firsthand his frustration and anguish pretty frequently, along with his struggles with alcohol and the depression that he endured while coping with the expected emotional consequences of routine death and loss that a big, high crime and poverty serving ER would have anyway, but with the terrible cherry of top of seeing the terrible consequences of the medical (specifically for profit and insurance organizations) industry’s absolute disinterest in *anything* outside of profit, with special emphasis on ignoring as many vulnerable people as is allowed. I’ve never seen anyone more passionate about universal healthcare.

    As much as we all legitimately complain about and vilify idiotic randos wasting everybody’s time trying to get a doctors note for work out of a paper cut, or demanding only the best intensive care and “emergency on call podiatrist” be called in immediately from home (at 3am) for little Timmy and his just *mangled* foot (All while Timmy had just stubbed his toe on a sharp edge, bled slightly, cried a bit, and with him happily tottering around the room giggling). This one is real and it’s absolutely hilarious when dad tells the story. A day full of those is the *best* day, even if it’s infuriatingly dumb, because an eight hour shift of those is eight hours of idiots to tell funny stories about, with nobody suffering.

    Dad’s happily retired now. He still has his struggles occasionally, but he’s got his sailboat and my mom and does ok. He still gets viscerally angry when the subject of healthcare comes up though, and I think he’d compulsively rant in rage at the top of his lungs, spit flying everywhere (that is, if he could keep himself from attempting to punch or strangle) if he was anywhere near certain politicians.

    jjamesr539 , HH E Report

    kzys59pcrp
    Community Member
    23 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Any one got the cliff notes on this one?

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #35

    Chronic stuff. People who’ve been having back pain for 15 years and decided to get it checked out at the ER today. Like, schedule an appointment with your doctor, Stanley.

    celestial_catlady Report

    #36

    Being drunk.

    I wish cops wouldn't do the 'ER or jail" choice thing.

    dragonfeet1 Report

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I went through a phase where I watched a lot of bodycam videos on YouTube, and to be fair, a LOT of the drunks would start yelling about how they were "in pain" the literal second they were detained, even if they hadn't been in an accident and had been talking to the officer for like 10min before getting detained. Many times it's very clearly a sham/ruse (drunk gets handcuffed, immediately collapses against the police cruiser screaming "OMG MY HEART, MY HEART HURTS, AAAAH") but the police have to play it safe and ask if the person wants EMS to come check them out/transport them to a hospital. I assume the drunk driver thinks that, if they go to the hospital, they might somehow avoid getting arrested or something (idk, they're drunk.) I don't think police give drunk drivers the "ER or jail" choice per se - if the drunk person starts screaming about being in pain, the officer HAS to call EMS/give the person the choice to have EMS called.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #37

    Sports physicals that are due tomorrow “or my kid can’t play”.

    Numinous1971 Report

    nottheactualphoto
    Community Member
    19 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No sympathy. Should have thought of that last month.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #38

    1) my grandson has a splinter in his foot.
    2) one child has a fever so bring all 4 in.
    3) urinary tract infection.
    4) "when is lunch?"
    5) I think I'm pregnant.
    6) sore throat

    A lot of things can be handled at an urgent care.

    Youheardthekitty Report

    #39

    To replace their family MD.

    The assumption that we do what family medicine does is both pervasive and unfounded. I have not reviewed basic hypertension or diabetes management in two decades. But, ask me about current DKA or EDKA management, or hypertensive urgency and emergency protocols, and I am your guy.

    I often end up giving the following explanation: “We are specialists like any other. You would no more ask your gynaecologist about your heart than you should ask me about the long term management of chronic diseases. There are just over 20 specialties, and the parts we know of each are the parts that are really urgent.”

    Similar to this, for patients who ask why we do not continue the non emergent components of their work-up and management but instead discharge them with follow-up instructions, I add: “What we specialize in and what we maintain resources for is precisely what you do not want to have, especially not at an academic institution that treats complex and severe disease. The fact that your ongoing management and investigations can be completed by another specialist as an outpatient is good, not bad, and I would be the wrong person to carry those steps forward.”.

    Doc911 Report

    Nils Skirnir
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There aren’t family doctors or urgent care if you’re poor

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #40

    The sniffles and a cough.

    I know you have something viral, you know you have something viral, go take some sudafed and a nap. Or go to urgent care.

    I suppose the caveat here is if they’re febrile, but not gently febrile. Like 102.5 and higher. We’ll still treat you the same but we’ll at least rule out bacterial infections. And no, your 99.5 fever is not a fever for you because you run cold. A fever is 100.4 or higher no matter how you run.

    Caitlyn1005 Report

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #41

    I wish people would stop coming claiming they or their kid "have a fever" but they are afebrile, asymptomatic, didn't take Tylenol, and don't own a thermometer at home for measuring... so like, what are we doing here?

    GroundbreakingLimit1 Report

    John Legere
    Community Member
    9 hours ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    What does afebrile mean. I shouldn't have to look up words.

    View more comments
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #42

    A whole lot of stuff.
    Pregnancy test
    Work notes
    STD checks
    Prescription meds
    Diarrhea/vomiting for an hour
    Fender bender for insurance/legal
    Minor first aid
    Etc....

    MrJQ52 Report

    #43

    When they bring all four kids into the er cause they all have cough and sore throat all at once.

    mrfritzeltits Report

    #44

    Common cold symptoms, throwing up once or twice but still tolerating fluids fine, STI checks with or without symptoms, minor sunburn, minor head injury in a young person, ingrown toenail without significant swelling or redness, whole family assessments after being in a low speed seat belted car accident, young people with constipation that haven't tried any of the plethora of OTC constipation medications, chronic conditions that people have had for months or years and seen specialists for already but "just can't take it anymore and want answers now".

    Fortyozslushie Report

    Mike F
    Community Member
    2 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Define "minor head injury in a young person". I can understand the OP having their dander raised over some of the above, but who would chance their kid's head injury?

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #45

    SO many people flood the ER on very hot or very cold nights because they're "disoriented." My local ER, for the most part, doesn't triage.

    floorgunk Report

    StrangeOne
    Community Member
    22 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If they're disoriented then they're trying to tell you something is up with them they can't explain further because they don't know. On very cold nights, it could mean hypothermia. On very hot days, it could be heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

    View more comments
    #46

    For spinning the roulette wheel of riding a motorcycle 

    There’s no reason. Period.

    Ok-Brain7052 Report

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    13 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Look, I don't like motorcycles and I think they're incredibly dangerous, and I personally do feel that motorcyclists are foolish for choosing to ride, but when they DO get into an accident, they SHOULD go to the ER, and saying something like "I wish motorcyclists would stop coming to the ER" is a pretty shítty attitude. Motorcycles ARE dangerous - in December of last year, a young man on a motorcycle was struck and kílled by an SUV right outside my family business's office. The cyclist had on a helmet and full-body safety gear, was not speeding, had the right of way, etc., but he still lost his life in the accident. They're dangerous. But the victims still deserve to be seen at the ER if they've been in an accident. Come on.

    View more comments