Re: Madeline follow up

[Guest guest]

Just some input/insight here about what the attending orders/does not order. When I was at MCG hospital here doing my clinicals, nothing gets done without a physicians request...so unless that is that particular hospitals standard operating procedure/protocol, its not that way everywhere. It doesnt matter what procedure is done, a physician has to approve it first. It may be that particular ERs protocol though b/c I have never had an EKG done or blood drawn when I go in for an asthma attack..in more than one hospital. The only time Ive gotten a chest x-ray is if Ive had a fever in accompaniement with the other symptoms. Even the EMTs & paramedics on the ambulances are working under doctors orders..all of our protocols are written and signed off on by doctors who serve as medical directors.

I am glad you are feeling better though..sorry bout the A/C being dead.

Ann

Madeline follow up

Hi all. I am feeling much more stable today. Saw my awesome doc again today. I wish he could camp in the ER and be there for me 100% of the time. Maybe I'll win the lottery and offer to hire him on a full time basis! Anyway, my numbers look better today than yesterday. So, I am on the upswing and avoided a steroid bump this time. Hooray!

As for the ER, I had a conference today with the director of the ER and the patient representative. It was fairly productive. They were actually interested in hearing my suggestions. I do understand that an ER doc has to know a little bit about a great many illness and disease processes. They are not specialists in any field. Especially asthma and other breathing diseases. However, all hospitals have a Respitory department. Those guys have a much much much greater knowledge base. My main suggestion was that respiratory should be called automatically. The same way they automatically draw blood, get a chest xray, and do an EKG. Those things are not ordered by the attending physician. They are automatic protocol for shortness of breath and chest pain. Then the respiratory tech should confer with the doctor and the doctor should take the respiratory techicians advice in

treating the patient. I have recently had a respiratory tech tell the doctor that I wasn't moving enough air to breathe. It didn't really help. The doc erroneously thought he knew more. My other two suggestions were that they use a non-aerosol cleaning solution and that they provide some sort of waiting area that asthmatics and other sensitive people can use to wait when exposure to the general public in mass is not a good idea. They do have smaller almost unused waiting areas in the pediatric areas that could be utilized.

I hope the implement some of this. However, I have just about made up my mind that I will not be visiting their ER again. I will just bite the bullet and drive over an hour to an equipped ER. Pain in the bootocks. I will just have to not wait and leave for the ER earlier that I would normally.

Madeline

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Lungs_on_Vacation/