[takeemout]

and yet...those who are here illegally, some who loathe the U.S. are treated everyday for free (to them). So so sad!

[nj26]

Deport the illegals, and take care of our veterans!

[Polybius]

Instead those VA staffers dialed 911 to get help for the man in the hospital parking lot........... "Calling the fire department was quicker than getting equipment and bringing it back out or finding someone who could offer the medical assistance," said hospital director Joe Manley. ............ Paramedics arrived in four minutes , according to Spokane Fire Department dispatch logs.

If the Fire Department response time was 4 minutes to that particular spot, it seems that calling 911 was the correct thing to do. The Fire Department EMT's have everything they need already packed up and ready to roll at a moment's notice.

Just because a "staffer" works at a hospital does not mean he has any knowledge to offer in an acute medical emergency.

In regards to the ER, VA centers can be huge and it could take a lot longer than 4 minutes to get a crash team running out to a parking lot on the opposite side of the campus.

[Pontiac]

Paramedics arrived in four minutes, according to Spokane Fire Department dispatch logs.

Not to defend the actions of the VA staff in question, but if the Paramedics arrived in four minutes it is highly doubtful that anything the VA hospital could have done in those four minutes would have made a difference.

But on the other hand to say that they could not have grabbed an intubation kit and a bag on the way out to a respiratory distress patient is beyond my understanding. These are not large or heavy objects and should be common in any hospital.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

This REALLY, REALLY Pisses me off!

"The Spokane VA Medical Center is dedicated to providing quality health care services to veterans. In carrying out this mission, the VAMC focuses on providing primary and secondary care, with emphasis on preventive health and chronic disease management."

snipped from link below....there is a page linked here for the Spokane VAMC's unique website, but THAT site is presently down!

http://www1.va.gov/directory/guide/facility.asp?ID=126

[Tammy8]

I think this reporter fouled up this story big time. The VA has VA Hospitals which are regular hospitals and have an ER. The VA also has Medical Centers which are usually a complex with various clinics to see specialists.

This is how it works where I am, and if it works the same in Spokane then this man was not mistreated.

There is a VA Medical Center in El Paso, it looks like a small hospital and some people even refer to it as a VA hospital- it is not a hospital. It is really a complex of Drs offices. You go there to see your primary care physician and there are also **some** specialists there. They have a pharmacy. They have no ER, they have no way to treat life threatening things, only minor things. It's out patient based.

The actual VA hospital for us is located in Albuquerque, it is a full fledged hospital with an ER. There are not that many full fledged VA hospitals nationwide. Where we are we can either go to Albq. or Tucson VA hospitals, both about 4 hours away. There are VA clinics in many small towns, and the Medical Center in EP that I already described.

What it seems happened to this man is he asked to go to the Medical center, to see his Dr. and what he really needed was a hospital ER. If this was like the VA Med. center in El Paso that I am familiar with- they would have had to call and get an ambulance to get him to a hospital. (of course in EP Wm. Beaumont Army Hospital is next door- but not everyone eligible for VA care is eligible to be treated at WBAMC- hubby luckily is- so we don't have to go to Albq.)

For those not familiar with the VA system- think of it this way- if you are in the parking lot of your Drs office and you collapse- they will do their best to treat you and call 911 to get you to a hospital. That is exactly what I think happened here.

It seems this reporter did not do a lot of checking to see what happened and why. I am not surprised.

[SampleMan]

I'm guessing a bit here, but I bet the M.D. at the "urgent care center" isn't practiced at intubating, nor had the equipment at all. "Urgent Care" centers are not ERs, and do not provide the same level of care.

Many UC centers here in Jacksonville, FL will gladly see someone with a broken arm, X-ray it, and then send them to the ER to have it treated. This always comes as a surpise to the patient that didn't realize that UC centers provide a very low level of care.

They should really start calling them Non-appointment Family Clinic Centers.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

Sounds like a veterinary clinic to me!!

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

As someone who did some residency time in a V.A. emergency department let me say this. For all those in favor of government run health care let them spend a day in a V.A. Hospital. The staff and physicians are all great people but it is a bureaucratic clusterf##k

[1rudeboy]

I've heard of this happening before. It's some sort of a lawyer (liability) thing. Don't remember how.

[Samwise]

"Calling the fire department was quicker than getting equipment and bringing it back out or finding someone who could offer the medical assistance," said hospital director Joe Manley.

I guess they don't watch ER.

[Zeroisanumber]

A sad case, but the medical staff handled it properly. Urgent Care centers aren't set-up for intibation (which is what this patient needed) and the quickest way to get him the help that he needed was to do just what the hospital staff did: Dial 911.