Chapter 4 ER Experience

Safety Tip:

Check Your Belts And Hoses: Modern automobiles are remarkably reliable - they will absorb a lot of neglect and abuse and still get you to your destination. The weakest links in the reliability chain are coolant hoses and the belts that convey power to alternators, water pumps, and other components external to the engine. These too have improved dramatically, but they should be checked periodically.

Chapter 4: The ER Experience

The ambulance slowed and pulled into the emergency entrance at the hospital, and I was instantly reminded of the devastating pain as the stretcher was lifted down to the ground and rolled inside. Immediately, I was thrust into the frantic pace of activity in an ER of a major city hospital on a Saturday afternoon. Everything seemed to be a blur as I listened to the EMT communicate to the hospital personnel my condition and as much information as he had. I was wheeled into an open bay and quickly surrounded by people asking questions and connecting lines to me. 

It seems as if I was asked the same questions at least ten times by different people. Sometimes someone who had just ask me the list of standard questions was still standing there when the next person walked in and starts asking the same questions. I honestly felt like saying, “Ask that guy, he has all the answers.”

“Can I get something for this pain in my leg?” I asked. “We are going to get you something in a few minutes sir,” someone said.  “Are you allergic to any medications?”

 When Dr. Peck arrived and started examining me, he explained that he had just completed setting my son’s wrist. “He is a brave young man,” the doctor said.

“Is he doing ok,” I asked. “Yes, he should be done shortly”.

 “So he will not need to be admitted?”

 “No, he will be going home tonight.  Let’s see what going on with you.”

During the next ten hours I was x-rayed, CAT Scanned, prodded, poked and rolled around the hospital more times than I care to remember. My diagnosis was multiple fractures to the right pelvis and a possible dislocated right femur.

Next Week: The Joy of Traction