60-hours in the Hospital Emergency Room!

Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 in Other
Tamara has headed down to Adelaide with Jessica to be with her family down there. Her Grandfather had some falls a few weekends ago and had a stroke. He was taken into the hospital down in Adelaide on Saturday morning, and didn't actually get up to a hospital ward until Monday night, 60-hours later!

We haven't been told fully how the stroke has affected him, but we do know that he has suffered a few other falls since being in the hospital. From what we have been told he is still confused, has lost some of his memories and tires about 20-minutes into a visit. This is the same man that I took out for lunch back in August and wrote a bit about in my post "Lunch with Pop".

Something that really bugs me is how he could possibly have had to spend 60-house in the emergency room waiting to see doctors and have tests! It seems that with it being the weekend they couldn't (or wouldn't) do the tests needed. During that time if there was still pressure building in the brain the effects of the stroke could have become much worse, for all I know (since I'm not there with more information) it could be worse then when he first got to the hospital because of the delay.

(Sorry, this is a rant coming...)

He is a war veteran who because of his service is supposed to be entitled to special treatment (they call it a "gold card") in situations like this, and instead he just gets left in an emergency room for 60-hours. His wife brought in his medications and told the staff at the hospital what they all were and how he was supposed to take them and she was just dismissed by the staff. Then only a few hours later a doctor came along and started to ask questions about what medication he was on, even though the staff had already been told.

To say that it's pathetic would probably be an understatement. My wife, who worked as a nurse before we were married, was disgusted by the treatment that he received and the way that they were treated there. I wish that I could remember the name of the hospital, but as soon as Tamara heard the name she got worried because it has such a bad reputation. It looks like it is a reputation that is unfortunately deserved...

Anyways, sorry for the rant, I'll leave it at that for now...


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- Unforgiveable!

troutdude on Wednesday, July 19, 2006
This is absolutely inexcusable. I think I'd find an attorney. I'll be praying for a full recovery.
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