What's the longest you've had to wait at an ER?

[Dominato3r]

Poll. Longest wait I've had was 4hours for some stomach issues. I got a room, blood drawn, Gravol within an hour but took to doc some 3 hours to gt to us

 

[Anubis]

0 minutes

i haven't been to the ER since i was ~10 and back then i was in and instantly being helped.

TBH if i went to the local ER here i would be seen in a matter of minutes, Its a small hospital and my father used to be the Chief of Staff

 

[dave_the_nerd]

3 hours or so. (Cut on my knee from a car accident, looked way worse than it was.)

It wasn't super-serious, they quickly figured out nothing was broken (X-Rays, etc.) but I had to wait like 3 hours to get stitched back together.

Resident did a crap job, too... *grumble*

 

[Dominato3r]

0 minutes

i haven't been to the ER since i was ~10 and back then i was in and instantly being helped.

I remember when I still lived in Alberta the wait was ridiculously low. My sister slipped on the stairs and went down 5-6 steps resulting a swollen knee. We got in instantly and had X-Rays etc done within 25mins.

They might have had a different form of doing Triage, who knows...

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I think 3-4 hours. Badly broke some fingers playing football when I was around 11 or 12 and it was a Friday night. The ER was filled with car crash victims, hearts attacks, an OD or two and other more serious issues. Some broken bones are pretty low on the triage list.

Which is the good thing, if you're waiting a long time in an ER you're obviously not in bad shape.

 

[IronWing]

For family, went straight to front of line as health issue was an actual emergency (breathing emergency) so less than a minute from walking in the door to being dealt with.

Took a coworker in once. His condition was triaged in the first ten minutes then we were parked for about an hour.

This is how it should be. Immediate assessment of condition followed by immediate treatment for the truly bad stuff and waiting for the rest.

 

[vi edit]

My daughter was seizing a few years back and she was immediately sent to a room, had an IV line in her within about 2 minutes of walking in the door and was given anti-seizure meds within 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

I had to go in for kidney stones (only have one kidney and some other issues so it's worse than normal) and was in a room in about 15 minutes.

I had to go in this spring for serious dehydration from a terrible GI bug and hit the door and had an IV drip running within 10 minutes.

Helps that it's a huge, very efficient ER and that my wife knows almost all the staff there since she works in it. Get a bit of VIP treatment.

 

[waggy]

it really depends on witch ER i go to. the one in Dekalb is always filled and the one in Rochelle is empty.

Now Rochelle is a small hospital and if anything major they will send you to Dekalb.

 

[mattpegher]

In our ED if a bed is available triage is done in the room. My average door to doc time is about 20 minutes, and I average 80% of patients seen before 30 minutes.
I havent had to wait a minute for the last two times I took a family member to the ER, but I work there.

In our department it all depends on how long it takes to get back the XRay and blood and how long to get a patient to their room once they have a bed.

 

[mnewsham]

4 hours after breaking my elbow when i was 8 or so. broke it around 4PM didn't get seen until 8 or 9 PM. They called in a specialist who got there around 11PM finally got to leave around 1:30AM after they set my arm, that hurt like a bitch.

Haven't been back to that hospital, last two times I went to the ER the wait has been 10 minutes of processing before i'm in a room, another 10-15 mins before a doc sees me.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd say over 5 hours. I went when I got C Diff (did not know at the time what it was) and from the time I took the number, to the time I exited, it was well over 5 hours. Basically I had an excruciating sore stomach, as if there was a large chunk of cement stuck in it or something. That's how it felt.

The other day I went because of a swollen knee that's been like this for months. In and out 15 minutes. Apparently 7am in middle of the week is best time to go. I hate to use the ER for non emergency issues but it's the fastest way to get treatment for anything. Otherwise you wait months before you can see a doctor and what is not an emergency now could turn into one by the time it's your appointment date. I'd still be waiting right now... at least now I'm in the process of going through rehab. I still have no clue WTF I did to it. Woke up like that one day.

 

[Leros]

8 hours.

I was having pain and uncontrollable spams in my left hand. It freaked me out so I immediately went to the sports clinic at my university. The doctor at the clinic told me it might be a blood clot in my arm and that I needed to go to an ER immediately or I could risk death. I didn't have insurance but it sounded very serious so I went to the nearest ER. It took about 8 hours for me to see a doctor. They did an ultrasound of my arm and told me I was fine. Ended up costing me $1800.

 

[shortylickens]

4 hours.
They have no clue what emergency means.
Then they charge you 10 grand to do nothing.
Fuck heads.

 

[Bateluer]

20 minutes at the Urgent Care down the street, 6 and a half hours at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB. Worthless. It was a big warning sign to the fluster cluck of Government medical care I'd be stuck with for 6 years.

 

[jlarsson]

I had a motorcycle accident a couple years ago and as a result had a couple broken fingers. I think I waited about 45 minutes on a Sunday afternoon before I got in to see a doctor (I'm not counting the screening where they ask for details of the incident, and whether or not you feel safe at home, etc.).

 

[ViRGE]

6 hours for a broken leg. Geriatrics kept coming in, so I kept getting bumped.

 

[DaveJ]

Does it count if you don't remember? I had surgery twice this year for hydrocephalus in late April and May, and each time I'm missing at least 24hrs of time. The first time I remember getting to the ER and talking to a nurse (~9:30am) and the next thing I remember is waking up the next morning after surgery, right before I had a seizure. The second time I'm told we arrived at the ER (via ambulance) around 1:30am, I had surgery at 6pm the same day, and I remember waking up in the ICU around 6am the next day. From what I've been told I actually got triaged pretty quick both times, although I had to wait for surgery.

 

[Red Squirrel]

4 hours.
They have no clue what emergency means.
Then they charge you 10 grand to do nothing.
Fuck heads.

Ouch, that sucks. That's almost what it's going to cost me to redo the weeping tiles, and take me over a year to pay.

Glad it's free here.

 

[Dominato3r]

Shit. Seems like its just as bad in the US considering wait times is one of the main things some people hate about UHC

 

[Matthiasa]

It has always been immediate.
Anything less than an emergency you check in at a different part of the hospital, go an urgent care center or see your physician.
Non-emergencies cant take quite a while, but that is why they aren't considered emergencies.

If you could wait hours to see a physician and still be fine it probably wasn't an emergency.

 

[mnewsham]

Shit. Seems like its just as bad in the US considering wait times is one of the main things some people hate about UHC

well the main reason my visit took so long was they had to wait for a specialist to come in as I was 8 years old and had a pretty severe break in my elbow, they wanted the specialist to come in and examine me and then set the bone back in it's place. Rest of my visits have been quick, to get in (not always quick to get out but that is more dependent on the injury)

 

[MedicBob]

It has always been immediate.
Anything less than an emergency you check in at a different part of the hospital, go an urgent care center or see your physician.
Non-emergencies cant take quite a while, but that is why they aren't considered emergencies.

If you could wait hours to see a physician and still be fine it probably wasn't an emergency.

/thread

 

[NL5]

Been twice. Seen immediately both times. It's amazing how fast you get in when you're in an actual emergency situation. Both times they thought I could be dead within minutes. Once was right, and once was something other than what they suspected.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If you could wait hours to see a physician and still be fine it probably wasn't an emergency.

Not always true, if you broke something or cut yourself badly (as in, holding your finger in a baggie in your other hand) you can probably afford to wait hours, but not months, like if you make an appointment with your family doctor.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Once waited 5 hours for them to do an ultrasound and admit me to the hospital.