Posted on 10/19/2011 6:28:09 PM PDT by Pinkbell
When Doreen Wallace fell and broke her hip in the lobby of a Niagara Falls hospital, she figured at least she’d get help — and fast.
But that’s not what happened.
Instead, the 82-year-old Wallace — who was leaving with her son after visiting her dying husband at Greater Niagara General Hospital on Oct. 8 — was told by staff no one could help her until an ambulance was called.
To a hospital.
“It was horrible. It really was. Everybody who walked through the door stopped and stared at me,” said Wallace, who already had a broken arm from a previous fall. She ended up spending almost 30 minutes on the ground.
“I was inside the hospital. Why did they have to wait for an ambulance to come and pick me up?”
As she lay face down on a metal grate, her right arm slashed, a security guard called for help and two nurses from the emergency room came over. But Wallace’s son said they refused to help until paramedics arrived.
“I was floored,” said Mike Wallace. “We’re probably, maybe, like a 50-yard walk, literally, down to the emergency department.”
In the meantime, Wallace’s head was wrapped in a dirty blanket and the security guard helped wipe away her blood with paper towel.
Eventually, an orthopedic surgeon came across the scene and with the help of an assistant, moved the elderly woman into a wheelchair.
Shortly afterwards, paramedics finally arrived at the main entrance — their ambulance allegedly originating in St. Catharines because no one at the hospital in Niagara Falls was available to help.
The supervisor of the Niagara Health System said the incident stemmed from a communication problem among staff.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestar.com ...
There was a similar story a few months ago. Calling the paramedics is the correct response. Somebody should call the paramedics for her and stay with her until they arrive.
-—”A broken hip and they put her in a wheelchair?”-—
That’s what I asked. I can’t really believe that it was an orthopedist that ordered this, can you?
Once you have a charge number, you gotta run it up with everything you can.
It should have been a Harvey’s..at least you can see them make your burger. (s/)
Here's the 'communication problem":
Staffer One:I'm the stupidest person in the hospital. Staffer Two : No, I'm the stupidest... Staffer One: Prove it...
And that folks is how this happened...
bizarre...
This is what the Democrats have tried to foist off on us. They love the British and Canadians one payer system with shortages, rationing and higher death rates for cancer and other diseases.
What happened here has to do with "insurance" ~ the Single Payer system seeks to make all medical decisions in advance through regulatory process combined with zones of control.
It is still inconceivable to Single Payer that people can get hurt in the lobby ~ is it INSIDE THE HOSPITAL or OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL ~ legally speaking, and how can you get emergency care people, hedged in with all sorts of rules designed to keep them from providing medical care OUTSIDE the framework authorized by Single Payer, to help you.
In all Socialized medical systems technicians or physicians who work beyond the scope of what is allowed are probably not insured to do that ~ and even without great monetary awards at stake their licenses can be pulled!
What that means is they can't even move to the USA for a high paying job.
A communications problem??? What? The staff spoke Hungarian?
Actually it’s King county that has more lawyers than Japan but the idea is the same.
Coming to a community hospital near you soon.
No, SHE was floored!
Some people have had broken hips and walked on them for weeks.
I’d have put her on a gurney, not in a W/C.
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