ModlrMike said:
Too bad for him we have centralized health info and his previous visits pop up when he registers and the new ER.
Everything is electronic now. System Control,
fish finders AVL, CTAS, Modat, black boxes, SSM, AMPDS, SIREN ( Simulation for Improved Response for Emergency Networks ) , UhE, and Tritech visiCAD. Hospital Destination Coordinators. Even the paperwork went electronic. ePCR they call it. All in the name of progress.
The downtown ERs had a passage near the triage nurse unofficially known as "skid row" or, "the hall of shame".
Nurse: "Sir, you say you've been snorting cocaine for three days and now you feel your heart is beating too fast and you would like us to help you. To tell the truth, I don't see why I should. If I'm mistaken, correct me. Did we sell you the cocaine? Did we push it up your nose?"
Usually with guys like that, the nurse would point at the door and say to us, "Don't take another step. We're on diversion. Can't accept any more patients. Your dispatcher should have told you." Even if you picked him up around the corner.
We were used to alcoholics, but when the cocaine overdoses came, it was overwelming.
We would have preferred to bring our nurses nice, clean, sober, non-violent, sane, solid citizens, but ...
Speaking of alcoholics, one night we took one of our favorite frequent flyers into Toronto Western. He used to tell us stories about all the places he had been in the Merchant Marine. Everybody liked him. One night, presumably drunk, he staggered onto Bathurst St. and was killed - by a drunk driver. We took him into TWH for the last time. Most of the nurses started crying. That was something you did not see very often.