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A tale of two hospitals

You should go back to the “I don’t trust a word you say” part of my earlier statement.
You are under no obligation to respond to anyone who won't quit till they have the last word, so let him have it, his posts are ridiculous, annoying and inconsequential.
 
The treating doctor in the ER was an MD that sits on the board of trustees for the hospital and graduated from a highly respected medical school in Philadelphia. The ER was NOT busy at the time, there were only a handful of patients - one being a child with an ear infection, one being my husband, and one being an elderly confused patient. They did not run troponin (cardiac enzyme) panels. Period. Had they run that simple blood work, they would have noticed the elevated cardiac enzymes.

There is zero excuse for that oversight.
You are the one who saved his life by being inquisitive and involving your cardiac nurse friend.
The staff at that hospital should be reminded of proper chest pain protocol.
Don't let this go. You might just save a few more lives by doing so.
 
Healthcare shouldn’t be like this. You shouldn’t have to double check doctors and hospital results with friends. You shouldn’t have to question level of care. You shouldn’t have to drive yourself/family 75 miles to get better care and competent care.

Healthcare is like this, hate to break that to you. YOU are a consumer of healthcare same as any other product or service. A good consumer does their homework. A good consumer doesn't settle for 2nd best. A good consumer of healthcare, same as with auto repairs, same as plumbing services; a good consumer finds out which doctors and which hospitals are preferred, because not all healthcare is the same. What I tell people, is that you get what YOU pay for. And for those who feel that government/taxpayer supported healthcare is going to be good enough. Well, you were lied to.

There shouldn’t be the disparate impact of your geography that can mean you live/die in medical emergencies.
Healthcare is not a right, and it is most often a business. So, like I said, you get what you pay for, so be the most informed consumer you can be. And just because the sign says "ER" does not mean it is as good as another ER. Same way not all fast food places are equal, not even ones which are part of the same chain.

Do your homework BEFORE you need those services.


Standard practices - such as checking cardiac enzymes for a patient presenting with crushing chest pain - should exist in EVERY hospital.
When you go to an ER it is for an emergency. Depending on the ER, depending on the doctor assigned, depending on how busy they are; you might just end up only getting a quick look at. ERs are not always staffed with cardiac specialists. If you aren't bleeding, not convulsing, breathing and not turning blue, or have bones sticking out. An ER visit my require you follow up IMMEDIATELY with your primary care physician, or a specialist.

Some hospitals and ERs may specialize in cardiac care. Same way some specialize in spinal injuries, burns, or even pediatric care. Knowing which hospitals that your local ERs may transfer cardiac patients to after they are stabilized is good to know. And if you feel you are having a cardiac issue, and you can drive yourself or be driven to a cardiac hospital, then a good idea to do that. Because when you call 911 and the EMTs respond, they are usually required in most circumstances to take you to the nearest ER. And the nearest one may be a CRAP hospital. So do your homework. Trauma centers are rated by "levels". Level I-V with level 1 at the top. When you call 911 you may be headed to a low level trauma center, and well.... good luck with that, and why you need to do your homework. Many cities don't have level 1 or level 2 trauma centers. Some states may only have one. I live in Southern California and we have lots of ERs/trauma centers, but only a few are level 1. Can you guess which hospitals I take my family to? Yeah, I did my homework, and I am willing to pay for the best, so there's that too.



What if we didn’t have a friend with 20 years of cardiac nursing experience that asked the right questions? And revealed we didn’t have the right answers?

You got lucky; I'm glad it worked out. But you could have asked more questions at the ER when they released you, and you should have called your own doctor immeadiatly too, and also requested a specialist. Hopefully you don't have HMO.... well, if you do... you have to push a lot harder for better care. What is it I keep saying? You get what you pay for. Want the government to pay for healthcare, well, ever been to the DMV or post office? Yeah, that!
Our healthcare system is SO broken. People die because of how broken it is. I’m grateful it wasn’t my husband this time, but it could have been.

Something needs to change. Fundamentally.
Do your own homework and be your own healthcare advocate. And be willing to pay for the best.

Good luck!
 
You are under no obligation to respond to anyone who won't quit till they have the last word, so let him have it, his posts are ridiculous, annoying and inconsequential.

You're the one who accused me of defending... something... and then go wandering off rambling.
 
You're the one who accused me of defending... something... and then go wandering off rambling.
whatever, dude, find another thread to annoy people. No one on this thread respects anything you said. Period. Have the last word if you must, I'm done with your silliness.
 
whatever, dude, find another thread to annoy people. No one on this thread respects anything you said. Period. Have the last word if you must, I'm done with your silliness.

Why are hard truths and mildly tough questions always so offensive to people?
 
Our healthcare system is SO broken. People die because of how broken it is. I’m grateful it wasn’t my husband this time, but it could have been.

Something needs to change. Fundamentally.
I'm glad your husband eventually got the treatment he needed.

I would be reluctant to criticise an entire hospital on the basis of a single incident though. One the face of it, they clearly should have done better but it seems possible that you could have received good treatment at the first hospital and poor treatment at the second at a different time. I also wonder if there was a difference between your husband arriving on his own at the first hospital playing down the problem and you arriving with him at the second, obviously presenting it with more appropriate seriousness and with the advice from your friend. Not a defence of the bad care you received at the first hospital, just pointing out that it involves a complex set of factors.

I'd also question whether this is evidence of a broken healthcare system. Don't get me wrong, the system in the US has plenty of problems, and they ultimately come from some fundamental issues with healthcare in the developed world in general but again, one incident involving two hospitals doesn't really tell us anything about the system on it's own. Regardless of the system, you'll always get examples of better or worse care, at different locations, different times and/or from different staff.
 
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