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I've had a pretty awful few days....
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Athens
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Sep 29, 2011, 03:06 PM
 
Started on Tuesday, my mom was at the Hospital getting a test done and I was going to pick her up and take her to my Grandma's. She was put under for the tests and the drugs used in the test required some one to take care of her for a day maybe two. Hour before I was supposed to pick her up the family doctors office called and asked if I could pick up my Grandma. She had gone there to deal with some pains she was having. She wanted to go to the Hospital because it got worse while there but she was refusing to take a ambulance (non emergency ambulance trips are $80.00) so I said ok, I was already heading to the hospital in a bit to pick up my mom. So it takes me a half hour to get there, and it took another 20 minutes to get to the hospital. It was not uncommon for her to go, get checked and released so I thought nothing about it.

I should have actually been more concerned because she usually avoids going to the Hospital, for her to want to go should have sparked some concern. We get there and the admittance nurse a real **** refused to look at the note provided by the doctors office and even though I said its marked urgent on the note, her reply was "dear every one is urgent" This would be the second failure of the night. At the same time 2 people came in to the hospital in REAL bad shape, i mean real bad shape so what should have been 10 minutes to get to the next part of admittance which is a nurse checking vitals and prioritizing you based on your symptoms didn't actually happen for 40 minutes. It has now been almost 2 hours from when I first got the call to pick up my Grandma. Mean while in a different part of the hospital my mom was still out cold from tests.

Finally the triage nurse looks over my Grandma and reads the note, and before doing any thing like blood pressure she makes a call to cardiac for a EKG. While waiting for the EKG guy to get there, she does the blood pressure, checks oxygen level and the works. Left waiting for 10 minutes for the EKG. Should point out the Emerg was really packed. 3 Ambulances where pulling in just as we pulled in and another 8 where already there. The waiting area was not that full but you could see they had a ton of seriously critical patients being worked on at once. So im not really upset about that delay (just the first admittance nurse who was a real ****)

EKG gets started and right away a problem is noticed. The guy rushes into the ER room and not even a minute later 3 nurses rush out and they take her to triage. With in another 10 minutes she was already gone to Cardiac and getting stints put in which would be finished a hour later. She was having a heart attack. Last night she was transferred to ICU because she was getting worse. The work on her arteries was fine but she has internal bleeding they are trying to figure out, and her diabetes is complicating things. Her blood pressure is super low.

I find myself pissed off at 2 people in all this. The family doctor that didn't call for a Ambulance. This would have saved over 2 hours alone because they would have gotten to her in 10 minutes, not the 30 minutes it takes me to get there and they have there own EKG units on-board they would have got to the hospital and she would have gone straight to Cardiac.

I'm also pissed at the Admittance nurse for refusing to look at the note, and her complete disregard to anything that had to be said. Was one real grumpy ****. It was in her power to skip my grandma straight to the triage nurse.

So ya tired, annoyed and feeling guilty. A pretty bad few days.
Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
MrsLarry
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Sep 29, 2011, 04:09 PM
 
I'm sorry you're going through this, I had a similar situation with my grandfather ~5 years ago.

Upon being admitted to the hospital for open, unhealing sores on his swollen legs, he was put on a cot in the hallway of the ER triage center for 4-5 hours. Despite us telling the nurses that he was diabetic, since he was not in a room (busy day at the hospital) he could not have a meal. Well not having a meal, meant not taking his medication. Needless to say, for a diabetic, this was NOT a good thing. Unfortunately, my story does not have a happy ending. The blood sugar spike dominoed into a blood pressure problem, and a heart issue.... he ended up never leaving the hospital. To this day, I still blame the hospital for his death.

Sometimes I think some medical professionals don't fight for their elderly patients' rights in the same way they might for younger folks. It's really a shame.

I hope both your mom and grandma are feeling better soon. Hang in there!
     
BadKosh
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Sep 29, 2011, 04:32 PM
 
The medical professionals and culture has had a sucky attitude for about 30 years. Some are really good folks but too many are jerks in one way or another. I dealt with a lot of various types of 'professionals' as my mom passed. This was just a year ago. Overall, I'd give the group experience a C-.
     
Athens  (op)
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Sep 29, 2011, 06:59 PM
 
Well I've had some good news today her diabetes has been stabilized, so now its just the blood pressure and the internal bleeding that are concerns. Guess they work at one problem at a time and the most critical ones first.

The systems don't fail, its the people in the systems that do. Regardless of all the debates we have had on here about Canadian vs US, at the end of the day its the people working at the hospitals that make the choices and some times human error is the only blame. I'm absolutely astonished by your story though, I mean who would think a leg wound would spiral out of control like that.

Did your grandfather go to the hospital by Ambulance or by himself or family took him in?

I have to say this, out side of the mistake my family doctor made and that first admissions person, everything else has been top notch. Super quick care and complete care. I've never seen some one taken so quickly before. And until now I've never been in the ICU area and the amount of machines they have in there its impressive. Gives me a new understanding at why it costs so much to run a hospital. Its not the emergency rooms, its the areas of the hospitals you don't see as a healthy person.

What i feel like I was missing was the option for a second opinion, i mean if you think the some one is making a mistake or ignoring you or a important piece of information, I didn't really have a option to go to some one else in a timely manner where it would have made a difference. Sure I can put in a complaint to the hospital but something being read a day later and responded to a few days later isn't going to help in those golden minutes when you really need the attention. Im guilty too, I didn't think it was a heart attack either. So as much as I want to be mad at them its hard to be. At least in my case. Your case is just horrible negligence.
( Last edited by Athens; Sep 29, 2011 at 07:10 PM. )
Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
MrsLarry
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Sep 29, 2011, 08:16 PM
 
My mom took him him - the worst part is that he didn't want to go, she convinced him the problem with his legs was not getting any better and he really needed to go, now she blames herself.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't think this is a normal hospital experience. I don't blame the government, Obama, or "the man" in general. I don't keep my money under my mattress, and I'm not a conspiracy theorist. Just my sh*tty experience on this one occasion at this particular hospital.

You're totally right about the second opinion thing, though. My father and I were discussing this recently - that there should be a job that exists that's like a project manager at a corporation. A healthcare advocate. Someone who knows your entire medical history, and knows the healthcare system, and knows who to call, and what needs to be done when these types of medical dilemmas come up.
     
imitchellg5
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Sep 29, 2011, 09:52 PM
 
Sorry for you Athens

I've been having a really rough few days. Actually a really rough year.
     
finboy
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Sep 29, 2011, 10:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by MrsLarry View Post
My father and I were discussing this recently - that there should be a job that exists that's like a project manager at a corporation. A healthcare advocate. Someone who knows your entire medical history, and knows the healthcare system, and knows who to call, and what needs to be done when these types of medical dilemmas come up.
I think some companies already have those (because they reduce errors and costs), and I know that some insurance companies have caseworkers that do that - but the insurance types have perverse incentives of course. I agree that this kind of thing would be a good idea to make more commonplace.

I'm sorry to hear that you guys are having healthcare troubles. I had a bad first part of the year, but today my wonderful cardiologist gave me thumbs up today for my exercise routine and fitness progress over the last 5 months. He was a very happy man, so I am as well. My blood sugar is still touchy, but everything else is responding well to "getting off of my a$$."

As for experiences, I had a heart cath in April, and the hospital staff was great. Much better than the LAST time I went with an older relative to have things checked out, but that was a few years ago.
     
Athens  (op)
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Sep 30, 2011, 12:37 AM
 
The ICU staff are working pretty hard on her. Got updated a couple hours ago they located the bleeding and it should resolve itself in a couple days, so they will just continue with blood transfusions. With the diabetes under control and the bleeding issue coming under control im more hopeful now. Im being careful not to get my hopes up to high though.

What I hate most about Hospitals is that any kind of challenge to some ones opinion can and some times results in Security being called. As much as I respect Nurses and staff, the protection they have prevents any real challenge to opinion. You can't just go up to another nurse and say hey this one is wrong please help me.
Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
Athens  (op)
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Sep 30, 2011, 12:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by imitchellg5 View Post
Sorry for you Athens

I've been having a really rough few days. Actually a really rough year.
Whats going on with you, share.... Even at the risk of flamers it feels good getting it out and sharing experiences with others.
Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
andi*pandi
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Sep 30, 2011, 07:44 AM
 
Hope she recovers well Athens.

Mrs Larry, that sucks about your grandpa.

I'm really glad my mom is a nurse and won't let any medical staff slack off around her. Last year when she had cancer she was correcting the procedures of the nurses who were working on her and she really had to stand up for herself. I fully believe Florida has a dismissive attitude toward older people as well, like they couldn't believe she knew what she was talking about. They learned she did.
     
RobOnTheCape
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Sep 30, 2011, 08:33 AM
 
I also send my hopes all works out well. I just wanted to throw my thoughts in in regards to hospital care. My wife has been a nurse for quite awhile now, primarily in ERs. What I've discovered is that a hospital is simply a business, and the employees who work there, whether they are nurses, doctors, labs tech etc... are all individuals with strengths and weaknesses like any other professionals. Some of the nurses she works with are great. Not only up to date on the yearly education requirements, but are continually taking additional courses, read the monthly journals they have subscribed to, and truly care about their patients. Others on the other hand are burnt out, or never had the drive to excel beyond the minimum requirements, or even simply don't have the critical thinking skills required of someone working in a fast paced life or death environment. This is all just as true for doctors. Some have lost the skills they once had, some are so scared of getting sued they bog down an ER by ordering every test imaginable to cover their asses, but doing nothing but creating wait times in the many hours, and contributing the the escalating cost of health care. The problem is that unlike other situations where you can take your time and take days/weeks to decide whether you want this contractor or that one to do some work for you, you don't have that luxury when walking into an ER or ICU. Nevertheless, a willingness to advocate, ask questions, and insist on proper care is the key here.

Walk into a hospital and ask questions, try to get a sense if the doctor who has been assigned to you is on the ball, moreover, for longer stays the nurses, as they are the ones who will pick up on signs that there is an issue developing regarding your condition, and will be taking proper notes, or waking a doctor at 3AM for advice(some nurses even have a problem with this as they are intimidated by docs). Some are fantastic, and some are fantastically bad(really bad), and it's up to the patient to calmly insist on their needs being met by all involved in that patients care.

Thanks for listening, and again I hope the best for your mom.
     
imitchellg5
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Sep 30, 2011, 06:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
Whats going on with you, share.... Even at the risk of flamers it feels good getting it out and sharing experiences with others.
Oh, I've been having some medical issues with a lot of hospital visits lately. Nothing horribly serious, it just really wears down. And then my girlfriend broke up with me just over a week ago. We were together for quite a while. It's just been really hard.
     
Athens  (op)
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Sep 30, 2011, 07:25 PM
 
Forget the girl and get your medical issues resolved. Girls come and go, your health is yours for life. Pretty sucky to be dealing with both at the same time.
Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
jmiddel
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Sep 30, 2011, 08:31 PM
 
Athens, That's easier said then done. When you are having physical stuff, the emotional hurt can really aggravate the pain, plus you loose your main support, that's tuff. imich, you have my caring
     
imitchellg5
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Sep 30, 2011, 08:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
Forget the girl and get your medical issues resolved. Girls come and go, your health is yours for life. Pretty sucky to be dealing with both at the same time.
She had been a big part of my life for a really long time, even before dating her.
Originally Posted by jmiddel View Post
Athens, That's easier said then done. When you are having physical stuff, the emotional hurt can really aggravate the pain, plus you loose your main support, that's tuff. imich, you have my caring
Thanks. I really do appreciate it
     
calverson
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Oct 1, 2011, 04:16 PM
 
A few years ago my grandmother died. She was 70, and receiving ECT. I always remembered her as being a headstrong, God-fearing and kind woman–not the frail and limp woman she became after her "treatment". She did shortly after, and no one in the family forgave themselves for not listening to her when she told everyone that it was killing her.

I feel your Athens–and imitchellg5 (what does that even mean?)–here's to keeping on and only growing stronger for having lived through it. :beer: (there should be an emoticon for that)
     
imitchellg5
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Oct 1, 2011, 06:13 PM
 
Originally Posted by calverson;4115360
I feel your Athens–and imitchellg5 ([I
what does that even mean?[/I])–
My username? I had just gotten an iMac G5 when I registered for these forums, so it became my handle
     
calverson
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Oct 3, 2011, 04:41 PM
 
Mind=blown.
     
Athens  (op)
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Oct 9, 2011, 10:10 PM
 
Update on m grandma. She's out of ICU and talking up a storm. No idea how long she's going to be stuck here but it looks like everything is going to be ok. A lot of stress has gone away now.
Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
andi*pandi
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Oct 10, 2011, 12:47 AM
 
Good news!
     
MrsLarry
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Oct 10, 2011, 11:18 AM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
Update on m grandma. She's out of ICU and talking up a storm. No idea how long she's going to be stuck here but it looks like everything is going to be ok. A lot of stress has gone away now.
     
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Oct 10, 2011, 11:50 AM
 
I'm glad things are looking up.
     
Monique
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Oct 10, 2011, 01:38 PM
 
Sorry about your grandma Athens, hope she feels better soon.

When you were telling your story I thought you were talking about an emergency room in Canada where you wait from 7 to 12 hours.

Good luck with your mom and grandma.
     
Athens  (op)
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Oct 10, 2011, 04:03 PM
 
haha the 7-12 hour waits are mostly fiction and fantasy. Most of the time its more like 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on what condition you have. My Grandma waited to long for a couple of reasons. Mistake was not calling for a Ambulance. They do there own EKG test on route to the hospital. Had this been done she would have been taking to cardiac straight from the Ambulance. Second reason as we came in 2 really really messed up people came in at the same time. That delayed us by 30 minutes.
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Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
Tiresias
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Oct 11, 2011, 10:33 AM
 
Originally Posted by imitchellg5 View Post
And then my girlfriend broke up with me just over a week ago. We were together for quite a while. It's just been really hard.
Since my girlfriend and I broke up eight years ago, the graudal erosion of the erotic and romantic ideals I invested in her and the accompanying diminishment of melancholy longing has found visual represention in recurring dreams in which she has been undergoing a physical decay.

There was a time when, almost every night, I would dream of her standing apart from me in a shaft of afternoon light, or in a deserted public square, or in an empty hotel lobby, perfect, remote, unattainable, in amorous languidity. She wore a cloche hat and liquescent chemise. Her skin gave off an aura of summer orchards.

Then, year by year, almost imperceptibly, flaws began to invade the vision. A creeping dissymmetry began to alter her profile. She developed a limp. Her mood became increasingly less angelic. A certain note of petty irascibility, of scorn, began to underset her words and movements, a note that increased in pitch and volume until, together with her galloping physical deterioriation, the last gleam of beauty was lost altogether.

Today my dreams of Holly are nightmares. She lumbers through them, a hipshot harridan, a repulsive harpy or whore, gangrenous, pustuled, hunchbacked, covered in fleshy outgrowths, with supernumerary limbs. Her face is twisted with caustic hatred and her eyes are greenly aglitter with vicious scorn. Gone is my maudlin affection, my anguished regret and self-reproach.

The only feeling now is one of overwhelming relief that we are no longer lovers.
( Last edited by Tiresias; Oct 11, 2011 at 10:45 AM. )
     
Monique
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Oct 11, 2011, 06:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
haha the 7-12 hour waits are mostly fiction and fantasy. Most of the time its more like 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on what condition you have. My Grandma waited to long for a couple of reasons. Mistake was not calling for a Ambulance. They do there own EKG test on route to the hospital. Had this been done she would have been taking to cardiac straight from the Ambulance. Second reason as we came in 2 really really messed up people came in at the same time. That delayed us by 30 minutes.
No it is not in Québec, 2 years ago I broke my arm got in the emergency room at 2:00 pm saw a doctor at 9:30 in the evening and got out of the hospital after treatment at 11:45.

A collegue of mine had a daughter treated for a broken arm and it took them 12 hours to see a doctor. We have so few doctors, that in the emergency rooms there is only one doctor to see patients.

I am glad that it is not the same in the U.S. and I hope your grandma is feeling better.
     
Athens  (op)
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Oct 11, 2011, 07:18 PM
 
Let me guess Live in a small town with 4000 people or some place rural? Quebec probably has less doctors because of the language law requirements. I will rephrase, English Canada does not have 7-12 hour waits with the exception of human error and some rural locations thousands of miles away from any major town. Perhaps you should move to the city or better yet civilization like Ontario or Alberta or even BC. BTW last time I checked Quebec thought of itself as a separate country. So which is it. Quebec part of Canada or not. When its convenient its not, when its not convenient it is?

Before you say its not the same in the US, many hospitals have screwed up in the US too including people that have died in waiting rooms only to be discovered the next morning decomposing. These problems are not "SYSTEM" related but human error which is why all systems, the British Socialist system, the Canadian Publicly funded system and the American Private systems all have the exact same horror stories.

You can wait for hours at a Hospital in East Seattle yet have almost no wait at a Hospital in North Seattle. You can wait for hours at a downtown Vancouver hospital and have almost no wait at a hospital just outside of downtown. Its the same in Canada and the US. The only differences that are worth debating is how much each system costs to run and access to care

Je me souviens d'autres messages. Plus que moins ce que vous le message est à moitié vérité et le mensonge. En anglais on appelle cela un troll. Vous êtes un troll.
Blandine Bureau 1940 - 2011
Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
Athens  (op)
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Oct 11, 2011, 07:23 PM
 
PS you have been saying how much better the US is then Québec for so many years now. Pack up, move already. Get the hell out and don't let the door hit you on the way out. The way you talk about Québec you make Somalia sound like a garden of Eden compared to Québec.
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Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
James L
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Oct 12, 2011, 01:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
haha the 7-12 hour waits are mostly fiction and fantasy. Most of the time its more like 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on what condition you have.
The British Columbia government has tried programs in the emergency departments such as the quicker they move people through the ED the more $$$ it is worth to them. Additionally, most major lower mainland ERs have been renovated within the last few years, and some now employ additional nursing staff/LPNs/paramedics in the emerg to facilitate patient flow.

Still though... even with that sometimes you just can't keep up to demand.

Originally Posted by Athens View Post
My Grandma waited to long for a couple of reasons. Mistake was not calling for a Ambulance. They do there own EKG test on route to the hospital. Had this been done she would have been taking to cardiac straight from the Ambulance. Second reason as we came in 2 really really messed up people came in at the same time. That delayed us by 30 minutes.
There is a type of heart attack called a STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction). If we see this on a 12 lead ECG we can notify the emergency room and send them a copy of the ECG. Work is usually still done in the ER, but it is often the cardiologist meeting us in the emerg, doing a quick assessment, and then up to the cath lab the patient goes.

STEMI alert protocols are not isolated to BC, but are becoming a significant part of EMS worldwide. It is a great thing that can shave a lot of time off of the interval between the onset of a heart attack and definitive treatment.
     
James L
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Oct 12, 2011, 01:04 AM
 
Originally Posted by Monique View Post
No it is not in Québec, 2 years ago I broke my arm got in the emergency room at 2:00 pm saw a doctor at 9:30 in the evening and got out of the hospital after treatment at 11:45.

A collegue of mine had a daughter treated for a broken arm and it took them 12 hours to see a doctor. We have so few doctors, that in the emergency rooms there is only one doctor to see patients.

I am glad that it is not the same in the U.S. and I hope your grandma is feeling better.
Anecdotal at best. If you think there aren't delays like that in the US system you are dreaming.


Originally Posted by Athens
...English Canada does not have 7-12 hour waits with the exception of human error and some rural locations thousands of miles away from any major town.
On the very rate occasion I've seen very lengthy waits in Vancouver hospitals. I've also seen them in Seattle hospitals, San Francisco hospitals, etc.

There will always be times when more people get ill and injured than the system can manage. This has nothing to do with geography.


You can wait for hours at a Hospital in East Seattle yet have almost no wait at a Hospital in North Seattle. You can wait for hours at a downtown Vancouver hospital and have almost no wait at a hospital just outside of downtown. Its the same in Canada and the US. The only differences that are worth debating is how much each system costs to run and access to care
Yup.

Though, ironically it is the suburban hospitals in the lower mainland that are experiencing the biggest crunches.

If you are ill or injured in Vancouver there are 7 or 8 hospitals within a 30 minute drive.

If you get ill or injured in one of the suburbs there is usually just one smaller hospital to deal with, and they get seriously slammed sometimes.
( Last edited by James L; Oct 12, 2011 at 01:13 AM. )
     
Athens  (op)
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Oct 12, 2011, 01:25 AM
 
The problem with the lower mainland is the distribution of resources. Royal Columbian is the major trama center for all of Surrey, Coquitlam, New West, Burnaby, Poco, Port Moody, Maple Ridge. Thats to damn much for one hospital. Even though you have Surrey Memorial, Eagle Ridge, Ridge Meadows and Burnaby General, most major trama's go to Royal Columbian. St Pauls handles most of Vancouver's serious trauma cases. The pattern is to send them to Royal Colombian then Royal has to make space and transfer people out to the other hospitals. Its why if you have a broken arm and you go to Royal you can end up waiting 4 hours while if you go to Eagle Ridge or Ridge Meadows, your waiting 10 minutes.

Either case the biggest mistake made was not calling a Ambulance. I don't know how other regions do it but in BC the Paramedics are THE most important part of our medical system. They respond dam fast. Are excellent, better then almost any nurse ive meet at the care they provide and are well equipped. Had my grandma gone by Ambulance the EKG would have been done by the Paramedics which would have changed a lot of what happened.

I find the biggest problem is the first Triage Nurse the one that checks your vitals and your first overall exam. Most of the time its just one so the wait starts there. If she spends 10 minutes with one person the next person isn't categorized until she is finished. Would be nice if they had 2 or maybe even a third. At least for Royal because it gets multiple serious cases coming in at the same time. One probably works at all the other smaller regional hospitals.
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Missed 2012 by 3 days, RIP Grandma :-(
     
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Oct 12, 2011, 01:33 AM
 
James L I take it you work in the medical field, I just re read your post about the ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Basically when my Grandma got her EKG she was rushed right into Truama and with in 10 minutes from that upstairs in cath lab. Quickest thing I have ever seen.

7 months ago my mom was having chest pains and I was 30 minutes from her house so I told her to call 911. I got there in 10 minutes (perfect set of lights and well a little speeding) and by this time the second Ambulance was pulling in with a Cardio specialist, one of the Advance units. 5 fire fighters, 5 I think paramedics in one tiny apartment was interesting. Anyways that was the first time I've seen a portable EKG test done before transporting a patient. Her heart was fine so she ended up waiting a hour in emerge. And of course the Paramedics can't leave her until the hospital takes her so those paramedics got stuck there for a while too. But was pretty impressive how much gear those paramedics carry now.
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James L
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Oct 12, 2011, 02:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
James L I take it you work in the medical field
Yup, I'm a paramedic.
     
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Oct 12, 2011, 02:53 AM
 
heh, which region do you work?
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James L
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Oct 12, 2011, 02:58 AM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
The problem with the lower mainland is the distribution of resources. Royal Columbian is the major trama center for all of Surrey, Coquitlam, New West, Burnaby, Poco, Port Moody, Maple Ridge.
You need to keep going... RCH is also the main trauma receiving for the Fraser Valley, right out to Boston Bar really.

Thats to damn much for one hospital. Even though you have Surrey Memorial, Eagle Ridge, Ridge Meadows and Burnaby General, most major trama's go to Royal Columbian.
RCH is the ONLY trauma receiving hospital for all of Fraser Health. Abbotsford is working their way there though.

St Pauls handles most of Vancouver's serious trauma cases.
Actually, SPH takes very little major trauma... the vast majority of serious trauma in Vancouver goes to either VGH or BC Children's.

Its why if you have a broken arm and you go to Royal you can end up waiting 4 hours while if you go to Eagle Ridge or Ridge Meadows, your waiting 10 minutes.
Oh, believe me, you can wait 4 hours in ERH or RMH too. ERH doesn't have ortho either so if it is a complicated fracture it will be transferred to another hospital for surgery.

Then again, I've seen people get in right away at all of the above mentioned hospitals. There's definitely no rhyme or reason sometimes.

Either case the biggest mistake made was not calling a Ambulance. I don't know how other regions do it but in BC the Paramedics are THE most important part of our medical system. They respond dam fast. Are excellent, better then almost any nurse ive meet at the care they provide and are well equipped. Had my grandma gone by Ambulance the EKG would have been done by the Paramedics which would have changed a lot of what happened.
Yes! Call 911 when needed, or when in doubt. That's what the system is there for!

Nurses have FAR more education than even our critical care paramedics. Having said that, paramedics are usually very good at a small slice of emergency medicine that they do over and over again.

I find the biggest problem is the first Triage Nurse the one that checks your vitals and your first overall exam. Most of the time its just one so the wait starts there. If she spends 10 minutes with one person the next person isn't categorized until she is finished. Would be nice if they had 2 or maybe even a third. At least for Royal because it gets multiple serious cases coming in at the same time. One probably works at all the other smaller regional hospitals.
It would be nice, and several of the lower mainland hospitals do actually. It all comes down to money though in the end.
     
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Oct 12, 2011, 03:19 AM
 
Surrey Memorial is also in the plans for upgrades to be a Trauma center too. You guys still on strike?
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James L
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Oct 12, 2011, 03:30 AM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
Surrey Memorial is also in the plans for upgrades to be a Trauma center too. You guys still on strike?
Surrey is getting a huge, and well deserved, upgrade. That community is growing at an exponential rate and deserves a top notch hospital. I don't believe SMH will be a trauma hospital when it's done though unfortunately.

And the strike.. nope. None of the problems got solved either which is a shame.
     
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Oct 12, 2011, 03:35 AM
 
That's just brutal, what was the major issues besides pay?
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Oct 13, 2011, 05:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
Let me guess Live in a small town with 4000 people or some place rural? Quebec probably has less doctors because of the language law requirements. I will rephrase, English Canada does not have 7-12 hour waits with the exception of human error and some rural locations thousands of miles away from any major town. Perhaps you should move to the city or better yet civilization like Ontario or Alberta or even BC. BTW last time I checked Quebec thought of itself as a separate country. So which is it. Quebec part of Canada or not. When its convenient its not, when its not convenient it is?

Before you say its not the same in the US, many hospitals have screwed up in the US too including people that have died in waiting rooms only to be discovered the next morning decomposing. These problems are not "SYSTEM" related but human error which is why all systems, the British Socialist system, the Canadian Publicly funded system and the American Private systems all have the exact same horror stories.

You can wait for hours at a Hospital in East Seattle yet have almost no wait at a Hospital in North Seattle. You can wait for hours at a downtown Vancouver hospital and have almost no wait at a hospital just outside of downtown. Its the same in Canada and the US. The only differences that are worth debating is how much each system costs to run and access to care

Je me souviens d'autres messages. Plus que moins ce que vous le message est à moitié vérité et le mensonge. En anglais on appelle cela un troll. Vous êtes un troll.
I live in a city of 1 million persons. And the hospital I am talking about is the largest one, called CHUL.

I am talking about problems in Canada. Why can't you say that there are problems in this country that it is not heaven?
     
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Oct 13, 2011, 05:19 PM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
PS you have been saying how much better the US is then Québec for so many years now. Pack up, move already. Get the hell out and don't let the door hit you on the way out. The way you talk about Québec you make Somalia sound like a garden of Eden compared to Québec.
Get me the papers and I will go; would prefer Paris at this time of my life can you get me the papers because I cannot.
     
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Oct 13, 2011, 05:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by Monique View Post
I live in a city of 1 million persons. And the hospital I am talking about is the largest one, called CHUL.

I am talking about problems in Canada. Why can't you say that there are problems in this country that it is not heaven?
I just started looking up the wait time problems in Quebec, they are terrible, but that's what you get for electing a separatist terrorist sorry former terrorist group to run your province for all these decades. Rather spend money on pointless referendums then spend on health care. Quebec problems are not Canadian problems. They are Quebec problems. You forget Quebec runs almost everything under its own rules its own ways because its trying to be a pretend country. The problems Canada (not Quebec) has are not very different then anywhere else including the USofA. You delude yourself if you don't think American hospitals suffer wait time issues either. Granted Quebec appears to be really pathetic with 16 hour wait times. So as I said before move some place else then. Go to Toronto or Vancouver or Calgary. That's what my family did. My family left Quebec for civilization during the FLQ days.
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Oct 13, 2011, 05:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by Monique View Post
I am talking about problems in Canada. Why can't you say that there are problems in this country that it is not heaven?
Well, what you said was:

"I am glad that it is not the same in the U.S."

When the truth is one could easily pull examples of long hospital waits from the US system.

There is no problem dissing the Canadian health care system... I've worked in it for 20 years and diss it often.

Just don't be naive or a hypocrite about it.
     
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Oct 13, 2011, 05:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by Monique View Post
Get me the papers and I will go; would prefer Paris at this time of my life can you get me the papers because I cannot.
Passport Canada: Home

Then drive to the US and Marry some dumb hick. Problem solved. Now go, shoot shoot scat. Be done with this horrible country and go live the American dream.
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Oct 23, 2011, 07:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
Passport Canada: Home

Then drive to the US and Marry some dumb hick. Problem solved. Now go, shoot shoot scat. Be done with this horrible country and go live the American dream.
This is the attitude I hate about some Canadians you cannot see you do not live in heaven, but in a country with some problems that hopefully can be solved. It is not because your life is perfect, that it is easy for you to ignore what is wrong that another person cannot point it out.

By the way, a Canadian passport is not a green card to live in the United States and does not allow me to live in Europe as an immigrant. So get me the papers to live as an immigrant in France or a green card to live in the United States. I am an office assistant so you might have some ideas I do not have since you are so perfect.
     
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Oct 23, 2011, 08:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
I just started looking up the wait time problems in Quebec, they are terrible, but that's what you get for electing a separatist terrorist sorry former terrorist group to run your province for all these decades. Rather spend money on pointless referendums then spend on health care. Quebec problems are not Canadian problems. They are Quebec problems. You forget Quebec runs almost everything under its own rules its own ways because its trying to be a pretend country. The problems Canada (not Quebec) has are not very different then anywhere else including the USofA. You delude yourself if you don't think American hospitals suffer wait time issues either. Granted Quebec appears to be really pathetic with 16 hour wait times. So as I said before move some place else then. Go to Toronto or Vancouver or Calgary. That's what my family did. My family left Quebec for civilization during the FLQ days.
I do not want to live in places where people like you are; I lived in Calgary and it is full of racist. I am glad I live in Quebec and do not deal with the medical establishment very often thank God. By the way English Canada is only a civilized country for white, English speaking people. And by the way we do not have a seperatist government but a liberal one.
     
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Oct 23, 2011, 08:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by James L View Post
Well, what you said was:

"I am glad that it is not the same in the U.S."

When the truth is one could easily pull examples of long hospital waits from the US system.

There is no problem dissing the Canadian health care system... I've worked in it for 20 years and diss it often.

Just don't be naive or a hypocrite about it.
I am not talking about the U.S. but about Canada not being heaven on earth. Every country has problems and it is not by putting your head in the sand that we will be able to solve them.
     
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Oct 24, 2011, 01:35 AM
 
Originally Posted by Monique View Post
This is the attitude I hate about some Canadians you cannot see you do not live in heaven, but in a country with some problems that hopefully can be solved. It is not because your life is perfect, that it is easy for you to ignore what is wrong that another person cannot point it out.

By the way, a Canadian passport is not a green card to live in the United States and does not allow me to live in Europe as an immigrant. So get me the papers to live as an immigrant in France or a green card to live in the United States. I am an office assistant so you might have some ideas I do not have since you are so perfect.
You obviously missed the part where I said marry some dumb hick.....

And your comparing Quebecs medical to the medical of 9 other provinces. Each province runs its own Medical system. Your Quebec problems are that, QUEBEC's. Blame the PQ for your long waits which are pretty pathetic. I would have left Quebec long ago if I had to endure such a ass backwards system.

Originally Posted by Monique View Post
I do not want to live in places where people like you are; I lived in Calgary and it is full of racist. I am glad I live in Quebec and do not deal with the medical establishment very often thank God. By the way English Canada is only a civilized country for white, English speaking people. And by the way we do not have a seperatist government but a liberal one.
I won't argue with you on Calgary, it is a pretty racist city. But considering that is just one city out of many your the ignorant one saying all White English people are racist. The only place I can think that is more racist then Calgary is ... Oh Quebec.... Fancy that, and its even government sanctioned racism too. Vancouver isn't even a white city, over 60% of the population is Asian alone. And your right the PLQ is running things, I thought it was the PQ.

Originally Posted by Monique View Post
I am not talking about the U.S. but about Canada not being heaven on earth. Every country has problems and it is not by putting your head in the sand that we will be able to solve them.
And making things 10x worse then it is and more importantly acting as if Quebec's problems are the same for all of Canada will?
( Last edited by Athens; Oct 24, 2011 at 01:46 AM. )
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Oct 25, 2011, 06:24 PM
 
Nobody gives a shit except the CEO. I think people working for other people is just a bankrupt concept moving forward. I see it in so many areas. Service sucks, people hate working for others. I think this is the case in all industries. What I'm saying is, the lack of motivation/due diligence here isn't surprising. As I have gotten older, my faith in other people has dwindled down to not much.

Maybe if the nurses earned profits it would be different. But at any rate, I'm rambling, and sorry to hear about the experience.
     
   
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