When Patients Have No Patience
EMERGENCY SERVICES, GERMANY, HOME, IGNORING & INATTENTIVE, IMPOSSIBLE DEMANDS | HEALTHY | JULY 29, 2020
Sometimes, when we go to patient’s homes to get them to the hospital, we can’t bring them to the closest one because it’s full. This patient was set to go to the closest, but it was not possible.
Patient’s Wife: “So, you’ll bring him to [Hospital], right?”
Colleague: “Ma’am, [Hospital] is currently full.”
He opens the website that shows the availability of hospitals in the area.
Colleague: “See? It’s red. We could bring your husband to[List Of Different Hospitals in the area].”
Patient’s Wife: “But he has always been treated at [Hospital]! They know him there!”
Colleague: “They might know him, but that doesn’t mean they can magically fit him in the already full hospital.”
Patient’s Wife: “This is outrageous! My husband’s sick and you refuse to get him to the hospital!”
Me: “No, ma’am. We simply can’t get him to [Hospital]. But we’re offering you hospitals in the area that’ll surely treat him just as well. Just give us the physician letters from the hospital and the other hospital will surely know how to proceed and properly treat him.”
Patient’s Wife: “I demand you call the hospital and ask if you can bring him!”
My colleague and I look at each other and sigh. He starts calling the hospital. He explains the situation to the woman sitting at the ER desk. He then puts her on speaker.
Woman At The ER Desk: “Ma’am, we are pretty busy here. The paramedics could bring him here, but he would have to wait a very long time until he’s being treated.”
Patient’s Wife: “I don’t care! He has to be at [Hospital]!”
My colleague and I shrugged and decided to just drive the patient to the hospital. We dropped him off, apologizing quietly to the ER staff for giving them more work. A few hours later, as we passed by the ER to pick a patient up to drive them home again, we saw the woman loudly complaining to the ER desk and asking why it was taking so long for her husband to be treated. My colleague and I just looked at each other, shook our heads, and moved on with our days.
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