Is a higher fever (say 103/104) an emergency? I had been led to believe this was the case, but I would love an expert's opinion. (PS: It's good to see a post from you.)
Eh, that kind of depends. I would lean towards high fevers not being an emergency in a normal, healthy person. There are always exceptions though. A fever of 103/104 in an adult certainly needs to been seen by a health care provider, but not necessarily in the ER unless there are other complications (delirium, difficulty breathing, etc.)
I agree with all that, but what about if your BP is over 200? Apparently not an emergency, I had to wait 2 hours. But yet it was high enough that they wouldn't let me shower for days, lest I "stroke out"
BP over 200, yes. Generally an emergency. That's why I said "probably". That's the problem. People come in for non-emergent complaints and clog the system for those that really do need to be seen immediately.
Of course, my local emergency room once failed to consider the signs of a systemic allergic reaction an emergency...when I presented with them AND said I'd had allergy shots just an hour prior. (Alas, the allergy shot clinic had closed
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This sounds like some of my after-hours emergency-line calls.
One of the 'best' ones? Getting woken up at 6AM by someone SITTING IN THE ER because they weren't being seen fast enough for their earache and they wanted an antibiotic over the telephone. I told the person they could call for an acute office appointment when the office opened, or they could continue to wait there to be seen (since it was too late to tell them not to go to the ER at that point). Seriously, people?
Caution, sarcasm ahead:wardbearNovember 23 2011, 22:06:05 UTC
But if not for all the stubbed toes, single episode vomiting, 99.4 degree fevers, and don't forget my favorite "I think I got bit by a bug", what would we do all day on the ambulance and in the ER. They are just helping us to not be bored. :)
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I had been led to believe this was the case, but I would love an expert's opinion.
(PS: It's good to see a post from you.)
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This sounds like some of my after-hours emergency-line calls.
One of the 'best' ones? Getting woken up at 6AM by someone SITTING IN THE ER because they weren't being seen fast enough for their earache and they wanted an antibiotic over the telephone. I told the person they could call for an acute office appointment when the office opened, or they could continue to wait there to be seen (since it was too late to tell them not to go to the ER at that point). Seriously, people?
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