Do all hospitals/EMTS suck or did was I just having

[beedees]

a bad day? Situation here . Tues. workinf on remodel in my bath and was using a sawall in an awkward position whe I delveloped a pain in my back an deither dide of my chest. iI'm no stranger to pain so I didn't thik it anything too uunasaal, but it got worese and wife called an  ambulance OmK., I'm scared now and talking to the EMTs , They idecided it was probably just pulled muscles and they suggested I just take it easy for a couple days. I'm O.K. with that but the pain was getting worese and I had to ask them to check my B.P. On the high side of normal, was told nthing too alarming. EMT used a steth. and said my chest sounded O.K., was told I could go to the E.R. but probably faced a 3-4 wait. Decided to go in the ambialnce, nothing in too be a hurry until the EMT hooked me up to an EKG blam!! Lights, sirens the nine yards. In the hospital straight into the E.R., now I'm really getting scared. Docter looks at me and says I'm in the middle of a fullblown heart attack-straight to a heart cath, with was stafedd bt Moe and Larry-dont now where Shemp was.  The doc. that did the cath installed 2 stents in the main artery, while this was coing was told to lay flat on my with and keep me myarms straight down by my side. No problem ther except only had asupprt fo my left and fianlly had to ask for something to rest my left arm on try lyinf on you back for 30 min. or so-it HURTS! Moe finally quit yucking it with Larry and raised the left arm rest up. The coc that did the cath and stents was a real good guy. Theres  lot more to to story but my fingerd are tired. Sorry for the long winded rant but I am pissed at the tratment on some of the staff. The story of my life for tha last 30 yrs. or so, is when a doc. finds out you have MS, you are basically screwed- they don't want nothing to do with you. Theres alot more to this that involes a shall we say a less that truthfull nurse.BTW, right now I'm feeling great.

[JB400]

Consider yourself lucky   Your still with us to tell your story.   But, yes, there's room for improvement in the way they care for us.  I have relatives that are in a mess due to prescriptions.  They're prescribing ones that conflict with each other, causing my relatives to repeatedly go into the ER.  Hard to tell which ones to trust.

[Dino]

As with anything, there's good folks and not so good folks.  ER's are hit and miss, depending on time of day and who's on call.  Some will fight to the bitter end for your well being, and others care more about that ebay auction that's about to end.  There's no black and white scenarios here.  There's variability in anything and it all depends on many factors.  I work in healthcare and have seen some extremes you would not believe.

I'm happy to hear you're doing better.  Next time you have chest pain, don't play the tough guy.  That's how people die.  Go and get checked out even if you have to deal with some a-holes and it turns out to be indigestion.

[beedees]

My problem is I have so much pain all the time, it's hard to tell what's important whats just a fact of my life. I do feel lke a owe an police officer an apology, but at I was so mad at time I wasnt thinking clearly. If Im accused of doing something I most definitely did not do, I get extremely pissed, especially when it's some twerp of a  nurse. What was I was accused of was at time physically impossible for me to do at the time. I have never seen such a lack of professialism  in my life

[Dino]

I hear ya, being wrongly accused would set me off as well.  ou can always file a complaint with patent relations.  Not much will come off it, but t may get on her record so it's better than nothing.

Having chronic pain does make it harder to determine what's serious and what's not.  Chest pain however should always be considered serious.  If it's a muscle then moving your arms will chnage or negate the pain  but a crushing sensation that does not go away or is exacerbated by physical exertion is an alarm bell.  Don''t think that you need to feel something in your left arm first, those are not a given.  You can get pain in the right, or in your neck, or your jaw, or none at all.  Chest pain in itself should be taken seriously even f you think it's something minor, which it can be.

Have a chat with your primary caregiver so you can recognize which pains should set off the alarm, and which are more common for you.  Can I assume that you've been through the ringer when it comes to trying to manage your current pains?

[stripedelete]

Count your blessings!

[ACUDANUT]

My problem is I have so much pain all the time, it's hard to tell what's important whats just a fact of my life. I do feel lke a owe an police officer an apology, but at I was so mad at time I wasnt thinking clearly. If Im accused of doing something I most definitely did not do, I get extremely pissed, especially when it's some twerp of a  nurse. What was I was accused of was at time physically impossible for me to do at the time. I have never seen such a lack of professialism  in my life

What did you do, or not do. to owe a Police Officer a apology ?

[RallyeMike]

Look again. The glass is half full.

[beedees]

What did you do, or not do. to owe a Police Officer a apology ?
First off in my defense, I was having a reaction to "medication" and was scared silly what was going on and the cop said that I thrown something at nurse an barricaded myself in the bathroom. Huh? I was lieing bare-ass naked on the wondering how in the hell got there. She knock I said I'm O.K. please stay  on the door and asked if I was O.K.,please stay out. She comes in anyway I hollered "GET OUT". She left -. I was getting back in bed  and look up and there's 4 cops standing there. One said the nurse claimed I assaulted her, and I blew a gasket and told the cop to go kill a n&^%$, cause that's what they do best. He didn't even bat an eye. The fanal story is when I was in the emergency room, the EMT had told them I was drunk and they gave me a pill to detox .I did have a small drink about an hour or so before all this sh%^ went down, and I guess the alcohol showed up in the blood test, but drunk, not hardly. I will admit that even on best days I DO stagger quite abit, thats why I never ever go anywhere- it's embarriassng as hell to me and anyone I with. What pissed me was they should have given me  "fall risk" arm bamd, but in stesd they just took my cane. NO WHERE was any notice or anything that wasn't reall capable of walking unaide.

[el dub]

a bad day? Situation here . Tues. workinf on remodel in my bath and was using a sawall in an awkward position whe I delveloped a pain in my back an deither dide of my chest. iI'm no stranger to pain so I didn't thik it anything too uunasaal, but it got worese and wife called an  ambulance OmK., I'm scared now and talking to the EMTs , They idecided it was probably just pulled muscles and they suggested I just take it easy for a couple days. I'm O.K. with that but the pain was getting worese and I had to ask them to check my B.P. On the high side of normal, was told nthing too alarming. EMT used a steth. and said my chest sounded O.K., was told I could go to the E.R. but probably faced a 3-4 wait. Decided to go in the ambialnce, nothing in too be a hurry until the EMT hooked me up to an EKG blam!! Lights, sirens the nine yards. In the hospital straight into the E.R., now I'm really getting scared. Docter looks at me and says I'm in the middle of a fullblown heart attack-straight to a heart cath, with was stafedd bt Moe and Larry-dont now where Shemp was.  The doc. that did the cath installed 2 stents in the main artery, while this was coing was told to lay flat on my with and keep me myarms straight down by my side. No problem ther except only had asupprt fo my left and fianlly had to ask for something to rest my left arm on try lyinf on you back for 30 min. or so-it HURTS! Moe finally quit yucking it with Larry and raised the left arm rest up. The coc that did the cath and stents was a real good guy. Theres  lot more to to story but my fingerd are tired. Sorry for the long winded rant but I am pissed at the tratment on some of the staff. The story of my life for tha last 30 yrs. or so, is when a doc. finds out you have MS, you are basically screwed- they don't want nothing to do with you. Theres alot more to this that involes a shall we say a less that truthfull nurse.BTW, right now I'm feeling great.

who the hell is shemp. I thought is was moe, curley and larry. Hope your doing OK. Sound like you were pretty lucky, even though not so happy with the hospital people.

[beedees]

Shemp was most normal ( if that's possible) of the3S. He was replaced by Curley

[472 R/T SE]

As with anything, there's good folks and not so good folks.  ER's are hit and miss, depending on time of day and who's on call.  Some will fight to the bitter end for your well being, and others care more about that ebay auction that's about to end.  There's no black and white scenarios here.  There's variability in anything and it all depends on many factors.  I work in healthcare and have seen some extremes you would not believe.

this.

Dino works healthcare, I use my fair share of it. 

My ER visits are always hit n miss. 

I had an ER Dr. try to send me home cause I think that he thought I was just trying to get more narcotics.  I told him, "You mean to tell me with all the technology this place has, you best diagnosis is to send me home, seriously?".  He left the room & came back.  He then said I was being admitted.

It was a good thing too.  I had Sepsis, staph infection of my blood.  Chunks of infection had burrowed into a recent epidural spacing ( causing massive pain ), latched on to a few heart valves & was inside my lungs.  They had to operate on me to get the infection out of the epidural spacing.

The 2 strokes & 5 days in a coma had nothing on this.



Being a paraplegic I have to take control in these instances.  It's a shame but most of these Dr.s are lost when someone like me comes in.  Some of them get intimidated that I know more about the issues we endure than they do.

[beedees]

Doesn't it just just suck when you have to TELL the EMT"s , etc. to do their damn job because they're too busy telling each other jokes, etc.?

[Brock Lee]

Most of the problem is with the ER's having to weed out serious problems from people seeking pain medication. It is an enormous problem I do not think most people are fully aware of. The ER not only has to deal regularly with people faking illnesses well researched on the net, but addicts with real issues, either self inflicted or as a result from the withdrawal. It makes using the ER more difficult for those that truly need it, but it is just a sad reality.

I too live in pain. I took a different path. I opted not to take medication. Which was hard when it all started in the 90's when they were throwing Oxy at me like they were vitamins. I remember my doctor saying once "Medicine is at a place where no person has to live in pain. It is your RIGHT to live pain free as we have the tools to eliminate it." What a crock of shit. Pain is just a reality for some. Your only right is in choosing how to manage it.

[beedees]

An ER is one thing, the back of an ambulance is an other scene. If I had taken the EMT'S "advice" and just gone to the ER, I would be DEAD. Am I pissed? Damn right I am. And I sure as hell don't like being accused of assaulting a nurse that didn't happen. My oldest daughter is a nursing student and says my experience was not all that unusual. Scary, huh?

[472 R/T SE]

Most of the problem is with the ER's having to weed out serious problems from people seeking pain medication. It is an enormous problem I do not think most people are fully aware of. The ER not only has to deal regularly with people faking illnesses well researched on the net, but addicts with real issues, either self inflicted or as a result from the withdrawal. It makes using the ER more difficult for those that truly need it, but it is just a sad reality.

I too live in pain. I took a different path. I opted not to take medication. Which was hard when it all started in the 90's when they were throwing Oxy at me like they were vitamins. I remember my doctor saying once "Medicine is at a place where no person has to live in pain. It is your RIGHT to live pain free as we have the tools to eliminate it." What a crock of shit. Pain is just a reality for some. Your only right is in choosing how to manage it.

I know all about it.  I absolutely hate going to the pain clinic.  You're treated like you're only there to get a fix and I'm positive there's several that are.

Speaking of weeding out the addicts.  One other time when I was admitted I got a certified letter months later saying the hospital advised me to go in for a Hepatitis C test on their dime.  It seems they had a nurse that was rumored to be pulling pain management IV's out of patients & sticking it in themselves.
Said nurse has Hep C.

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/morning_call/2014/05/peacehealth-investigates-hepatitis-c-scare.html



Of the 900 or so of us tested, no one was linked.  From my reading up on it though, I should get tested again here sometime soon.