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i spent most of last night in A&E with a vomiting and pain-ridden wife.
I won't go into my frustrations with the prioritisation system other than questioning why for over an hour, a succession of people with slight limps and black eyes overtook us when my wife was constantly throwing up and nearly passing out in the waiting room. They only allowed us into a private cubicle with a bed when I complained, twice.
No, what I will question is about one chap who looked normal, if a little worried, walked into A&E and told the receptionist that he had passed out while decorating and on recovery checked his BP and found it to be 400/200.
Is that even possible? Surely if it is, it's one serious emergency, no?
Of course, he had to sit quietly in a corner while people with no apparent injury whatsoever, got rushed past him only to skip lightly out of the hospital 5 minutes later. Obviously he did eventually get seen by the triage nurse (again, overtaking my now pretty much unconcious wife) who took him straight to some other department like cardio or the morgue.
who took him straight to some other department like cardio or the morgue.
Or hydraulic services.
I'm not trying to belittle your experience but perhaps tens of thousands of folk up and down the country are [i]at home[/i] vomiting copiously at the moment..
maybe the staff didn't consider it to be an issue serious enough to be dealt with at A&E, and were happy therefore to monitor the situation in the waiting room..?
There is only one rule in A&E AFAIK:
"everyone except me always gets seen first..."
Aye, but the triage nurse very quickly came to the conclusion it was something beyond any vomiting bug ( which it was)
so what was it, and did it need someone specific to come and see to her ? I guess maybe you were just waiting for themAye, but the triage nurse very quickly came to the conclusion it was something beyond any vomiting bug ( which it was)
400/200 - I doubt it very lots 😯
They think it was appendicitis which sounded a bit odd to me as I always thought once you had it, you had it but they seem unconcerned that after various treatments the inflammation appeared to have gone away. Once we were actually seen it still took over another hour for the blood and urine tests to come back. Then the real wait started while a doctor was found. The evening ended with two surgeons seeing her.
didn't have to have surgery ? Great !
sometimes you can run* it offI always thought once you had it, you had it
*shite
I was in A&E on Sunday night with a suspected broken wrist. I went on Sunday at 21:30 as I figured it would be quieter than earlier on and certainly better than Monday a.m. There were a few others in there in a worse state than me who got seen first. And quite right too. I'd already decided that if I was called before the lady lying on the floor in agony with some sort of trapped nerve or the guy who had cut the tip off his finger, I'd request they be seen first.
To prioritise is quite difficult particularly if you are there with a loved one.
Hope she's OK now Jon.
Oh, and 400/200!!! Did he do a "Scanners"?
I have found having one pupil naturally larger than the other quite useful for getting fixed up quickly after bike accidents. It's important to choose the point at which you convince them it's not actually concussion though, else you might get a night's free accommodation...
400/200 not going to happen. Highest i've ever seen was 230/110.
people with minor injuries probably got seen first as they were ween and treated by nurse practicioners in minors
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