 Emergency Ew |
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I hadn't been to an emergency room since I brought my grandfather in February of 2000. I brought my grandfather to the emergency room, and he never left the hospital. So. Not a big fan of emergency rooms. But when my co-worker called me last night to tell me she'd been in a car accident and had to go to the hospital and had no one else to call, what could I say? "No, I've had a long day at work and all I want to do is go for a walk, make dinner, and watch Everwood?" No. I said, "Of course." Even though in my heart, it was the last thing I wanted to do, because I am just not that nice of a person. Let's face it. We headed to what I thought would be a nice, quiet emergency room. I did not bring her to the one I brought my grandfather to even though it was closer. There was just no way in hell I was going back there, and her injuries weren't critical. I'm not even sure they qualified as an emergency. But her forearm was burned from the impact of the airbag, and she was essentially freaking out, and at 6:30 at night, I wasn't sure where else to take her. So we went, and we waited. Waiting in an emergency room lobby is a singular experience. We waited at least an hour before she was even taken back to be triaged, and then they sent us back out and we waited for another two hours. Which was fine. If the conditions of the patients were being ranked, which I suppose they were because that's the whole point of being triaged, she would probably have been near or at the bottom of the list. Not that she didn't need medical attention, but she clearly was not as bad off as the girl whose eardrum had ruptured and wouldn't stop bleeding, the pregnant woman who was bleeding, the pregnant woman who was doubled over with cramps to the point of sobbing, the woman who had blood in her vomit and stool, and the young boy with open sores on his arms and legs which his mother was convinced indicated a staph infection. (She was right.) I was flabbergasted that these people had been waiting for four and five hours. How could the doctors not at least see the pregnant women in a timely manner? It was insane. We all concurred on that point. We all became pretty well acquainted, I have to say. When there's no TV or reading materials, there's not much to do but strike up conversations with people. I guess I get that from my parents, who have never waited in a line when they did not become best friends with those in front of and behind them. The staph boy and his mom had fried chicken delivered. The bleeding pregnant girl's friend, Demeca, ordered pizza and gave me her card and said, "I do all kinds of hair." The mother of a very pale and sickly looking three-year-old girl whipped out her cell phone and showed me a picture of her one-year-old son, explaining, "His cheeks bounce up and down when he runs." Then Demeca did the same thing and showed me a picture of her four-month-old, who is "happy all the time." A sorority girl came in with her very well-dressed mother. She was wearing Greek letter flip flops, a t-shirt, a black skirt, her hair back in a ponytail, and pearls. She buried her head on her mother's shoulder. Another woman sat there with the little plastic barf dish under her mouth at all times in case she had to spew. Thankfully, she never did. I don't do well in normal environs as far as germ phobia, let alone hospitals. I pulled travel Clorox wipes out of my purse and wiped down the arms of my chair. Then I wiped down my arms. I used hand sanitizer every time I got finished pushing my co-worker back and forth to the receptionist's window. I sat there thinking, "Is staph airborne? What am I going to catch from these people? Holy mother of God." I wished so hard that I had brought a book. I told my boyfriend at one point when I escaped to call him that I was trying to pretend I was in the world of Grey's Anatomy and that McDreamy would come in and save the day. (Speaking of, the magnificent Mare Winningham and Mr. Katimsky in the same episode almost made me lose my mind with happiness. This show is no slouch when it comes to casting.) Finally at about 9:30, I wheeled my co-worker to a room, where she got into a robe and waited for the doctor. I left at 10:00 because another one of her friends showed up. She has a concussion and some pretty bad scrapes. It's great that she wasn't hurt worse. I mean, car wrecks are so scary. It's why I'm such a maniac about seat belts and why it terrifies me when people I love don't wear theirs. If she had not been wearing hers, she'd pretty much be dead. Let's all of us just stay away from emergency rooms.
© Copyright 2006 elb |
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