Haha, i've heard a lot of kidney stone jokes in my day, I have them chronically, but the jokes are funny

If you have gone to an ER in a city you might be amazed at all the non emergency issues people go for. It's why I'm glad my hospital also has a 24 hour urgent care attached to the ER.

I think that that only happens in the US where the health care isn't free. So they go to the ER. Where I live you can have to wait, but not if you are in a lot of pain. Only waiting that happens is the people who go there for insignificant things.

Where I am, in Canada, even if we're in extreme pain, we have to wait until the people that got there first have been seen, even in the emergency room. At least the hospitals I go to, are like that.

While I do agree with this sentiment, there are other variables to be accounted for, most notably a shortage of doctors.

37 - That doesn't seem right. It's called triage for a reason, almost every hospital does it. It should go in order of emergence or severity. I went to the ER in the US once with extreme abdominal pain and got in within 30 seconds of walking in the door while there were at least 15 other people in the waiting room.

I work in the ER and sometimes it can't be helped. We try to get patients out ASAP, but some people come in for the simplest things that aren't necessary for the ER which slows down everything.

There are a number of people who go to the ER for minor health issues because it's quicker than going to the doctor's office. My grandmother does this; her reasoning is that she's not paying for it anyway (she's on government health care).

It isn't correct. In any hospital in Canada I've ever been to/heard of while living in several provinces and working as an EMT, you are seen in the order of medical need, then arrival order. More pain does not always equal more urgent need. A large chunk of the reason for long wait times are people clogging up the emergency department with nonsense like prescription renewals and the flu. It's unfortunate that OP couldn't be seen sooner, but if there were people having heart attacks or breathing problems, that trumps pain.

It's worse in Canada where healthcare is free because everyone goes to ER for the smallest things. I've had to wait 12 hours with a broken wrist before

If your ever in Maryland do not go to PRMC. they are the worst. I waited 4 hours to be seen for Hives. may I mention my whole body was covered

47, that's how it's been when I've had to go to the ER, I remember one time, I was very I'll with a bowel blockage, and there were quite a few people in the waiting room, but because of how sick I was, I got to go before the people waiting. So usually, here in the US anyways, it goes by who is the sickest.

Oops, I meant to say ill*

#53, actually.. i love in Canada and when i went to the ER, i came across a lady who was having difficulty breathing and at one point she couldn't breathe and she had been waiting for 3+ hours to be seen

I live in Canada and it can be crazy. I went to the ER for a severe allergic reaction. A young lady decided to come in because she thought she was pregnant. I had been waiting for a long time and this young lady had come 1 jour after I had been there. She hasn't bothered to take a home pregnancy test or go to her family physician. It finally took my mom to get the doctor to come see me once I started to go into anaphylactic shock. Ps she wasn't pregnant.

If you guys think that's bad, listen to this- I went to the ER when i was 16 because I could barely breathe and it took them about an hour to see me. I was in circulatory shock, and could've died. But still, from that point on I couldn't believe that the US had that shitty of a medical system, and that things similar to that happened more often than I thought. Truly sad.

the uk is the same. whatever we have gone in for we had to wait. we never go for useless thing its mostly bones needing reset. you dont mind waiting especially when its little kids but there was a girl in with me who thought she had broken her leg but could walk no problem. she was taken first while i had to wait with my ankle shattered. such is the NHS lol

26- Canada has the longest emergency room wait times.

106- that's because the NHS is rapidly going downhill. Cameron needs to stop focusing on benefit cuts and immigration and sort out the NHS. *sits back and waits for political arguments or tumbleweed*

you'll get none from me my friend. the NHS needs a radical overhaul. the leg incident did happen under the labour government however. im not sure how they can sort it but there are definately a few things that can be cut back on.

but not too much water - it floods out minerals as well. there are cases of people dying drinking too much. 2-3 should be okay though

You think the extreme pain would of been caught at triage though.

Hi, this is the OP. I told them in triage with tears streaming down my face that I thought it was a kidney stone. I was in so much pain I could barely fill out the forms. There were only a couple of possibilities as to the source of pain to begin with since the pain was all down my left flank and upper left quadrant. I have medical training so I wasn't too shocked to find out it was a kidney stone. What was shocking was they thought I was faking to get a drug fix, put me on the back burner, then acted like it was somehow my fault for not being seen sooner so they could help manage the pain.

That's when you start screaming in agony so loud until they're forced to see you. Honestly if the pain was seriously that bad that's exactly what I would do. I hate how the ER treats people with real emergencies. I'd make them suffer with me.

Just mention you feel pain in your abdomen, usually they freak out about your appendix and get you in there quick, lol.

It makes more sense now and makes the story worse for you OP. ER's have a lot of people drug hunt around here as well, but I have not heard of extreme pain being automatically assumed to be that and someone being ignored. Hopefully there's another ER for future emergencies nearby.

This is why i will never go to the ER again. I have hemophilia (i'm a free bleeder for those of you that don't know what that is) and the last time i went to the ER i was bleeding extremely bad. It took them four hours with me bleeding and almost passing out in the waiting room for them to finally see me and stitch up my wound. Was not impressed. Gotta love living in a small town in the South.

Also, just a side note: this is my post. Someone had copied it probably while moderating the FMLs, and changed a word or two around and reposted it, but it is mine. Why do people do that? SMH

It's a shame that some ers are turning into basically walk in facility quality of care because of drug seekers. It's to the point that if you do need treatment you almost have to call an ambo. Before I knew I had an autoimmune disorder, my husband took me to one because I literally couldn't walk. My legs kept giving. The first thing they said was they couldn't give pain killers. I was like I don't want pain killers. I don't hurt that bad. I just want to know why I can't use my legs. This area is pretty bad with drug seekers and most if the times you have to be admitted before they can treat the pain. During my heart attack, I was in so much pain, but the paramedics couldn't do a thing for it even though they knew I wasn't faking. They aren't allowed to carry anything to help with pain. I had to wait until I was in the cath lab for any relief. While I understand their side, I really do think the policies went too far on the side of caution.

ERs are horrible! ive had similar experiences! I hope you gave the doctor a piece of your mind

Sounds like it's time to switch to a new hospital. I switched medical insurances and went somewhere new and they figured out in one visit what my old doctor(s) couldn't figure out in six years. Making a switch does help a lot.

Honestly, if you're going to the ER, you shouldn't even be in the god damn waiting room... I understand doctors can be pretty busy sometimes, But you and OP should have gotten medical attention right away... And I fail to understand how they didn't notice you were bleeding so much... Sorry to hear you had to go through that... :(

@51 When I has appendicitis, the ER I went to made me wait for over three hours. it actually burst while I was in the hospital, and I got to stay for week. Good times.

Sue

Same thing happened to a friend of mine. They put her in a room and promptly forgot about her, even ringing the buzzer multiple times didn't help. Her appendix burst during that time span and someone caught her just in time before she went septic.

I think that calls for a lawsuit

I cannot believe this happened to you. I hope you are okay now and you should sue the hospital!

It doesn't really matter what you write on the forms, I had brain surgery last year and had a fall a week later. I still had to wait 4 hours to be seen due to my lack of whinging. I think all in all a reform of the medical services in most country's is needed, at least when it comes to emergency room wait times

I have gone to the ER for kidney stones twice because they are so incredible painful and the doctors told me I shouldn't have come in because there "wasn't much they could do for me anyway."

No. I was fighting vomiting more than anything the pain was so intense, why would I need to pee? I did pee for them so they could get a sample which is how they found blood in the urine indicating a kidney stone.

Or died first :P

Just, why?

Because he's "that guy"