Thanks, CNN! This is totally what people need to know!
How to be an entitled asshole in the ER: A special report by CNN
Remember, folks, if you successfully line jump after triage, you're shoving in front of someone a medical professional has already determined to be in more serious condition than you are.
It's one thing if you or your loved one has actually had a significant change in condition since arrival, yes, tell the triage nurse if that happens. But if you're just huffy about the wait because you think your headache/discharge/oozing/itching/nausea is MUCH MORE SERIOUS than the triage nurse did, think long and hard about whether it's more serious than, say, chest pain, or shock, or appendicitis, or trauma. Because that's WHAT AN EMERGENCY ROOM IS FOR.
And remember, if you don't get admitted and nobody tells you after you're seen GOOD THING YOU CAME IN TONIGHT, YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO DEATH AND/OR MAIMING WITH THAT TICK BITE/HEADACHE/VOMITING/DISCHARGE, you probably could have waited till morning and your PCP.
I'm just saying.
ETA: Because a number have people have commented to say "but sometimes triage is done incorrectly!": Yes, of course that is true. Mistakes happen. If you correctly identify that it has happened and save your own or someone else's life in the process, that's good and admirable. If you get your significant other seen by demonstrating to the triage nurse or another professional that look, their physical condition is worse/different than your initial assessment showed" and they move you in line, hey, that's totally legit. What I take issue with is the idea that every single fucking member of the public is a better judge of medical need than actual emergency medical workers, and that they therefore should bully, name drop, and whine till they get a less inconvenient wait.
Because while there are of course dozens of anecdotal exceptions that everyone is aware of (hell, my mother the ER doc has been incorrectly triaged, and yeah, she would know! Although she did NOT make a fuss, and thus she was seen in the incorrect order, and it turned out to be a pretty serious condition, she survived and is pretty philosophical about the whole experience), the fact is that most people are correctly triaged. And on top of that, many people who are in really genuinely bad shape are in no condition to advocate for themselves, so the system this article is advocating truly does endanger them. And someday, that person could be you, slipping away without someone to shout on your behalf while ER staff try to appease an outraged wanna-be VIP who doesn't want to wait any longer.
If you recognize that that's a possibility, and you still feel that you/your loved one is in such serious condition that they need to be seen now over people who are in life-threatening conditions, hey, go for it. But recognize that there's something more than just convenience or even comfort at stake when you make that decision, please.
Remember, folks, if you successfully line jump after triage, you're shoving in front of someone a medical professional has already determined to be in more serious condition than you are.
It's one thing if you or your loved one has actually had a significant change in condition since arrival, yes, tell the triage nurse if that happens. But if you're just huffy about the wait because you think your headache/discharge/oozing/itching/nausea is MUCH MORE SERIOUS than the triage nurse did, think long and hard about whether it's more serious than, say, chest pain, or shock, or appendicitis, or trauma. Because that's WHAT AN EMERGENCY ROOM IS FOR.
And remember, if you don't get admitted and nobody tells you after you're seen GOOD THING YOU CAME IN TONIGHT, YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO DEATH AND/OR MAIMING WITH THAT TICK BITE/HEADACHE/VOMITING/DISCHARGE, you probably could have waited till morning and your PCP.
I'm just saying.
ETA: Because a number have people have commented to say "but sometimes triage is done incorrectly!": Yes, of course that is true. Mistakes happen. If you correctly identify that it has happened and save your own or someone else's life in the process, that's good and admirable. If you get your significant other seen by demonstrating to the triage nurse or another professional that look, their physical condition is worse/different than your initial assessment showed" and they move you in line, hey, that's totally legit. What I take issue with is the idea that every single fucking member of the public is a better judge of medical need than actual emergency medical workers, and that they therefore should bully, name drop, and whine till they get a less inconvenient wait.
Because while there are of course dozens of anecdotal exceptions that everyone is aware of (hell, my mother the ER doc has been incorrectly triaged, and yeah, she would know! Although she did NOT make a fuss, and thus she was seen in the incorrect order, and it turned out to be a pretty serious condition, she survived and is pretty philosophical about the whole experience), the fact is that most people are correctly triaged. And on top of that, many people who are in really genuinely bad shape are in no condition to advocate for themselves, so the system this article is advocating truly does endanger them. And someday, that person could be you, slipping away without someone to shout on your behalf while ER staff try to appease an outraged wanna-be VIP who doesn't want to wait any longer.
If you recognize that that's a possibility, and you still feel that you/your loved one is in such serious condition that they need to be seen now over people who are in life-threatening conditions, hey, go for it. But recognize that there's something more than just convenience or even comfort at stake when you make that decision, please.