ER........

This past week I had first-hand experiences with the Canadian emergency care system.

These were my observations:

1. Sometimes paramedics seem to know more and follow protocol better than doctors and nurses.

2. Patients in the ER hooked up to IVs completely bedless. Let's not speed up recovery too quickly by letting someone sleep while receiving medication or hydration...and this at a hospital that recently received an ER upgrade. (The waiting room is now larger..and so is the nurse's station.)

3. Patients being given medication without being asked whether they want it or not, and without being told what kind of side effects to expect. Of course, when it's a life or death situation, a doctor wouldn't take the time for this courtesy....but in other cases??

4. A doctor summoning a patient who is sitting in a transport chair (a wheelchair that is usually pushed by someone other than the patient) and then doing a 180 and walking away from the patient who is left sitting.....and waiting.

I wonder how long this man would have had to wait for assistance had he not been promptly aided by a kindly fellow citizen.

5. An 80+ year old woman alone on a stretcher in the hall of the ER. She was hooked up to an IV and expected to spend the night there. She admitted to me of having memory problems and therefore having trouble remembering what the doctor said to her but not having anyone there to help her remember. Her 89 year old husband had to go home but he wasn't a whole lot of help to her while he was there since he's hard of hearing and didn't hear half of what the doctor said.

6. Nurses flirting. (It was like watching Grey's Anatomy.)

7. A lady having it out with a nurse because the nurse was chatting with another nurse instead of tending the triage station.

8. A father of a very young boy losing it on the nurses because it had taken so long for his son to receive any kind of treatment for his fever and chest congestion. Can't blame the father....it's hard to see your child suffer....nor can you blame the nurses...they can't help that they're under-staffed.

9. It was lunch time and the doctor wanted a patient to eat something. The patient told the nurse that what ever was provided would need
to be gluten-free. The nurse soon brought a gluten-filled sandwich. PERFECT!

10. A man in hand cuffs escorted by two police officers. The man would not cooperate with nurses and so was cuffed at the ankles and then cuffed to the stretcher where he fell asleep. Apparently you have to be violent to get a bed....

11. Free test results given out when many doctors offices charge at least a dollar per photocopy.

12. Two dispensers in the washroom on either sides of the sink....my guess is that most people use the hand sanitizer instead of soap. It wasn't clear which was which.

13. Wheelchairs in the ER entrance that you have to put a loonie into to use, just like the shopping carts that require a quarter. Of course, when there's an emergency or you're looking after someone who is suffering, you have the time to hunt someone down who can give you change for a $20.

The charge for a wheelchair scenario reminded me of a Brian Regan clip. Enjoy! :