Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire do you know of anyone who went to the hospital, that wasn't rushed there?

at our local hospital that has recently converged with another hospital, the er is very busy.

ambulances serve a number of outlying counties.

the medical system is working. does it cost?

More times than I wanted to!

I went to the ER yesterday. Thought I had a stroke but there was no rush to get there. My tests came back negative.

i just hate it when well armed sheriff & policemen are in the ER and observing the activity.

i guess under the full moon, etc. and things get rough some police power is necessary.

this is just meant to be a discussion of er's in general and how they function.

the money is in the delivery of services, and who pays.

getting a patient to the er, with sirens on is good.

blowing through redlights, with a life present.

I've gone twice. First time was a snowed over chimey on a modular home and a propane flash back when I lit the furnace after it quit. I shoveled off the roof first. Wife didn't understand why I was up there in a winter storm. It needed to be done and my face felt a lot better.

Second time I broke my wrist on a mountain bike, had to bike back six miles. Figure it would wait until morning when I could see my doctor during office hours. About two am, it didn't want to wait anymore. I was hoping it was just a sprain. Wasn't

They sent me in the helicopter once, was a nice view of what I was able to see of it. Actually it was from the local emergency the wife had driven me, to another equipped to deal with what I needed
Thank you, Life Flight

My brother had a heart attack while in the hospital visiting a patient.

While in the USN, on leave, Christmas 1977...spent a couple of days with an uncle who was living in Midland, Texas. Woke up in the middle of the night with terrific abdominal pain and thought it could be serious. Without waking anyone, drove myself to a hospital in the middle of town. The doc gave me a shot of painkiller, then came back in the room about a half hour later and told me "your appendix is coming out." I told him "like hell it is, give me my clothes and my wallet back."

They just wanted to do a surgery and send Uncle Sugar the bill. Still have my appendix.

Walked in a couple of times. One time scare the doctor after I got there (multiple bi-lateral pulmonary embolisms - poor guy couldn't figure out how I could still walk). It's never good when your doctor is shaking his head and lost all his color....

Second time close to septic with a vibrio infection. Didn't walk so much a hobble into the hospital for IV antibiotics. SOB, that hurt.

About five or six times for eye surgeries. The retina-ice pick treatment stands out as the one I would most prefer to not repeat....

Packed a neighbor and his wife to the local out fit several times. Each had lots of issues, but never in an emergency mode.

I'll make a leisurely run there in a couple months for cataracts.

About 35 or 40 years ago I fell out of a treestand I was trying to rebuild. Broke my elbow & had a big gash in my left forearm that was squirting red stuff all over. I made it back to camp and a couple of the old timers, Slim and Lil' John, were sitting on the lawn drinking beer. I asked for a ride to the hospital and Slim said "well we just opened these beers. won't you sit and have a beer with us?" I didn't think that was too bad of an idea so I sat down. It was a hot August day and I'd been sweating pretty good and had lost a fair amount of blood and after a few "Gennys" I wasn't feeling any pain. They loaded me in the truck and we all headed for the ER. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the first one to show up at that ER drunk in a pickup truck.
A couple other times I went in with kidney stones. I think I'd rather be busted, bleeding and drunk.

the ER room nurses i have entertained back a few years ago are tough crowd.

fell off a ladder, and drove my self to the ER.

no other urgent care people were available.

it was at or near 5pm on a friday.

the phiscians assistant was there.

and sewed me up, and left a wound.

the doc said i have a ladder like that.

10 days later the nurse said, let the wound dry out.

and i said i followed the er nurse directive.

she said fine, now it's under my control.

Drove wife to hospital Friday am, for ortho on her knee.
No hurry--Why?

Took my wife to the clinic a month ago because her pulse felt erratic. They couldn't see her but said we should go to the ER because it was worth checking out. An ambulance ride to Billings, MT that night, tests the next day and open heart surgery with five bypasses the next day. Maybe we should have been rushing to the hospital in the first place.

I've been to hospitals plenty of times in no great hurry. When my retina let go I drove myself in, for example, only to be told "sit as still as you can, I'll organise an operating theatre right away - you should get someone to pick up your car, because you aren't going anywhere". When I had an accident with a linisher and injured several fingers, I made a point of calming the bloke down who was driving me to hospital - no point in making things worse with a car crash.

And then there have been the times I've taken people in for scheduled stays, for surgery or chemo or whatever. No need to rush there. Even when the kids were about to be born - labour takes a good while, and no good purpose is served in getting panicky.

OTOH I was assigned to an ambulance for a brief period in the Army, and did a few "lights and siren" runs with blokes moaning and screaming in the back. You do still have to stay calm and keep the rubber side down though.

Every time I’ve gone, it was a necessity.

On crutches with a full leg cast I was able to make it to the emergency window, and using several breaths to speak that much said "can't breath, coughing up blood."
She ask me if I could get thru the double doors a few short feet away and I told her I think so, just past those doors I was met by 4 or 5 people, I had their full attention, Spent about a week in ICU etc etc.
I had been driven 45 miles to the hospital in a private vehicle.

i stabbed myself with a knife once

when i realized the knife was very sharp leaving a precise and fairly deep wound in the leg, bleeding profusely, figured would never close without stitches. after patching it up in hopes it would not let loose, managed to get to the ED...3 stitches, and the hosp charged 600 per stitch

Walk-in clinics are generally the rule around here for less than a dozen stitches. Generally a couple hundred bucks or so. My wife is terrible with knives.....

still planning to take the red cross class, should cover most stuff