A word to the wise,
When children are involved call 911 and have
an ambulance bring them in. Unfortunately,
the EMTs have much more experience than the
‘clerk’ sitting at the emergency room window.
Good idea, except they’re 5 minutes from the ER, and it was a stupid RN doing triage, not a clerk. See my post above for further particulars.
The family has good insurance. They’ve had the same pediatrician for all the kids for the past 12+ years. The ER had one other patient who was wheeling in and out of the ER to get sodas and snacks. STILL got freaking lousy care.
Sadly, calling an ambulance is the “right” thing to do for everybody, not just a kid. You get treatment on site without waiting, transportation to the hospital, and since you are under EMT care until they get someone to sign you over, you go straight to the treatment rooms without waiting.
Of course, if everybody called an ambulance, there wouldn’t be any available for real emergencies. Why don’t they? Because most people think they have to PAY for an ambulance. Some people do, but indigent people in the end don’t. But they don’t seem to know it yet.
Once they figure that out, they will stop calling cabs and start calling the ambulance.