So, my brother dropped my dad and me off at the door to the ER, and when we walked in, we weren't sure if we were in the right place. I saw a security guard in front of me, and said "Can you tell me where the emergency room is?" He said "You're in the emergency room. How did you get in here." I looked around and realized that we were where you would go after you've been checked in. My dad and I were standing right in front of the automatic doors that we had just walk through, so the question posed to us seemed very confusing to me. The security guard and my dad were having a conversation about how we were in the wrong place, and I cut in and said "Can you just tell us where we're supposed to go because obviously you don't want us in here?" He walked us to the door that we would come through after we get checked in, and another woman walked us through it and then to the exit telling us to come back in through the metal detector. Now, I have blood all over both sides of my face and down my neck, and my head and face are so swollen that I look distorted. As I approached the metal detector, the other security guard said "Now what are you all trying to do?" The question seemed so absurd to me that I couldn't even answer. I walked through and set off the metal detector with my keys that were in my pocket. I stepped back and removed my keys putting them in the basket available, and walked through again without setting it off. The security guard then picks up his wand to check me and said "Now, let me tell you how we do things around here." Remember, I have blood all over me. I'm a 5'2'' woman, with my 5'7'' 65 y/o dad. Are we posing a threat? I don't think so. My dad gets into a conversation with him about his attitude and gets his name and talks to his supervisor while entered and checked in. After they made sure I wasn't dying, they sent me back out into the waiting room.
We then decided that we should have gone to Jewish. We figured that I could be in and out of Jewish before they even take me back at University. We got up, politely told them that we were leaving, and proceeded to Jewish Hospital Emergency Room. As soon as we walked in the door, the guy at the desk leaned over to see my face which I was holding an ice pack over. He directed me to be checked in immediately, and told my dad to fill out the paperwork. They even gave me a wet towel to wipe the dried blood off of my face. After checking me in, they put me in a hospital bed, and the doctor came to see me relatively soon after. That's how patients should be treated.
My doctor, nurse, and nurse's assistant at Jewish Hospital were awesome, but there were 2 strange interactions. The woman who took me back to the bed, gave me a hospital gown to put on. I asked if that was necessary because my injuries were only neck up, but she insisted. I'm not a modest person, but I do expect some level of privacy sometimes. This woman stood there and unfolded the gown then held it up for me to put on. I though she was being pushy, but then I figured out that she was probably trying to look at the rest of my body for other wounds. She wanted to make sure I wasn't a battered wife which is reasonable. The other awkward moment was when another woman who was sweeping the floor in my curtained off area looked at me and said "what happened?" I bluntly said "I got hit...in the head...with a gun." Then she said "Ooo is that what they call pistol whipped?" I didn't really appreciate her candor, but thanked her nonetheless, and now I can't tell people that I got pistol whipped without laughing.
They did a cat scan of my head to check for fractured bones because the doctor was concerned about my jaw. I ended up getting 3 stitches on the left side of my head, and the cuts on the right on and behind my ear weren't really that bad. The swelling was really the worst but it's much better by now.
The moral of the story is...
If you have insurance and aren't dying, do not go to University of Louisville Hospital.
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hmmm, sounds like leaving was a good decision. im glad u got taken care of properly. i hope you have time to relax & recover for a bit b4 heading back into your normal, pretty hectic routine. take care Nat <3
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you the other side of the coin from the perspective of university hospital. We have strict security because every day we get victims of violence, beatings, shootings, stabbings and gang related attempted murders. sometimes when the victim doesnt die, shooters come to the hospital looking for the victim to try to finish the job and will shoot anyone that gets in the way. we have had to have the swat team called in due to opposing gang violence after drive by shootings. staff and patients should not have to fear for their lives while we are saving lives. i have personally seen menatlly ill family members come in with guns to kill, staff, doctors, or other patients. yes, even short women and elderly men are violent. while it is a shock to the average person, we work with the sickest and most traumatically hurt people in the state, ones other hospitals cant care for. im sorry your experience was scary but it was most necessary and yes for smaller wounds like you had, going to jewish was a better idea. but if you are ever badly traumatically hurt, you will see what makes us the best hospital in the state.
ReplyDeleteNever go to University, they will kill you with negligence ON PURPOSE to save money.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but comment on your ignorance. You must have walked through the entrance of the ER that is clearly labeled "AMBULANCE ONLY"...that would have been ok, if you had chosen the ambulance at the time of your assault. And why is it the hospitals fault for you walking all over the damn place with blood all over you? Exposing people to your nasty blood. Sounds to me like you should have said, "hey, maybe i should not look like a fool and ask for a towel...since my blood is dripping all over the place." Real sanitary...ass hole.
ReplyDeleteAnd lastly...you do realize that the University Hosipital is in the ghetto, right? So seeing bloody people beat in the head with a gun is kinda normal right...why do you think you're so special that safety for the facility should have stopped with you and your father. Are you retarded? You're not special. Everyone has been through that thing...and one day you'll realize that. Be careful what you say about that ER...they are the only Trauma Center in this city...next time you or a loved one gets beaten, they'll be in that ER...wouldn't want karma to come around and bite you in the ass for talking such shit about the place.
Do yourself a favor...and realize that just because you might be some pretty little waitlifter...doesn't set you above the thugs on the street...
U of L is by far the most unprofessional hospital I had ever visited. I went to U of L one night in order to have my broken hand looked at. In one exam room, someone (most likely a staff member) had rigged the IV drip bag onto the overhead light. The bag is supposed to be mounted onto an IV stand, not tied to an overhead light! Then during the examination and splinting of my hand, I was tended to by an obvious hack. This "Dr", with large studs in his ears, tattoos, dressed in clothes that were more appropriate for some trendy night club rather than a hospital setting, was probably some intern who just didnt give a shit about his job. He proceeded to set my broken hand the wrong way. A nurse actually had to correct him in how he doing the splint. Next, he wrapped my hand and the splint in a way that a drunken person would do it. Next day, I decided to Google on how to set a broken hand. I made my own splint and wrap, and a few weeks later, my hand healed up just fine, with full movement and hardly any knuckle deformity. I feel sorry for whoever else is treated by this moron, the sad day that he actually gets his internship completed and is beginning to commit malpractice on his patients.
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