"Jenn" wrote in message
...
one of the reasons for this is that people take kids with cut fingers to
the ER -- it is this great surge of trivial problems that clog things up

This was NOT a trivial cut and it makes me see red that you assume it was.
It was a SERIOUS cut. It was literally gushing blood and we were not
entirely sure at first whether he had severed the bone. He needed 6 g*ddamn
stitches and no one in the ER thought it was trivial--simply that he wasn't
in danger of dying or losing the finger if he had to wait a few hours to be
seen. (The only reason we were able to take him to the urgent care center
for the stitches was because a second pass by the triage nurse determined
that the cut didn't quite make it all the way to bone.)

Don't patronize me. I know the difference between a minor injury and a
serious one, and this was serious. It was not *life-threatening*, I agree,
but it needed attention *that* day (and it was a Sunday, so where exactly
should I have taken him other than the ER, especially since I didn't know
the urgent care center even existed until after we got to the ER?).

part of the reason is that ERs are used as primary care by those without
insurance, and pediatricians who routinely worked with patients with
minor problems e.g. broken arms,

And another one. When Julian broke his arm, I was *told* by my pediatrician
to take him to the ER because it needed to be set and she couldn't do it due
to the way the bones were broken. If he hadn't broken both the ulna and the
radius, she probably *would* have set it herself, but under the
circumstances, she didn't feel she could. (For a host of reasons, this
turned out to be a mistake, but I was taking the advice of my PHYSICIAN when
I took him to ER that time. You think perhaps the *pediatrician* can't tell
the difference between a problem she can treat and a problem she can't?)

cut fingers etc in the past, now don't
work after hours and send people to ERs and part of it is the judgment
of people who think it appropriate to use an ER for a trivial problem.

Well, I agree, there are plenty of "trivial" problems in the ER. (There was
the lady my husband ran into in the ER when I was in cardiac arrest who was
there because she'd taken too many diet pills and felt funny. Well, stop
taking too many diet pills!) Notwithstanding, there are times when the ER is
the *only* option--weekends, nights, etc.--and a condition is emergent
enough to require treatment before the regular pediatrician's office and/or
the urgent care center is open. It is not the fault of parents that the ER
is their only option in these situations, and given that the limitations for
off-hours care are well-known, it seems to be that the ERs ought to be
staffed appropriately to handle the load (though, of course, I realize that
is easier said than done given the shortage of qualified nurses and doctors
willing to do ER duty).
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [18mo] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

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