California's emergency rooms handled more than 12 million patient visits last year. They're open 24/7 for everyone who enters their doors, but it's your personal story that counts. Please tell us how your community hospital ER helped you, a family member or a friend in your time of need.
Our son Michael is 47 years old, has Downs Syndrome, and lives
at home. We have a great primary care doctor, but lately
medical emergencies have made it necessary to go to the ER
STAT. The doctors and staff at our community hospital emergency
room are professional, helpful and reassuring. It is comforting
to me as an aging mom and caregiver to know that our hospital
ER is there when we need it. We don’t want it to close or to be
compromised in any way. We intend to be an advocate for keeping
our ER open!
My mother had been in pain for sometime in her abdomen and in
her back. Eventually, the pain became so bad that I took her to
St Mary’s emergency room. The helpful ER nurses and doctors
took my mother’s pain seriously and she got her first pain
relief in several months. She was referred to a doctor who did
some additional exploratory tests and discovered my mother had
intestinal cancer. Unfortunately, it had already metastasized
to her bones.
If we had not had an emergency room to go to where we received
great care, my mother would not have gotten the pain relief,
nor the critical diagnosis or treatment, she needed. St Mary’s
is full of heroes.
The sea of masks in my ER waiting room was pretty startling. I
was struck by the number of concerned faces looking at me,
especially since many had been waiting for 4 or 5 hours to be
seen. Their weariness was palpable. ER physicians and nurses
worked tirelessly throughout the day and night to provide care
to the record numbers of patients who were frightened by this
looming public health crisis. We were lucky however. We got to
see the relief on parents’ faces when we explained their child
did not have the H1N1/Swine Flu virus. We’re proud of the care
we’re able to provide to our patients and our communities when
they need us most.
I was having back and chest pain, and difficulty breathing. I
went to urgent care. They assessed me and said I was having a
heart attack. I was quickly transferred to the emergency room
at Sharp Grossmont, where within one hour, I was in the Cath
lab receiving life-saving treatment. I owe my life to the great
staff at the urgent care center and my community hospital ER.
Without them, I would not be here today. Access to emergency
services is critical and they must be protected.
I’m 72 years old. Recently, I had to go to my community
hospital ER because my blood pressure shot up to 200. While I
was there, my blood pressure rose again to a dangerous 219/99.
If I had not had access to the emergency room medical staff at
Eisenhower Medical Center, I might have had a stroke. They were
there when I needed them most.
“I owe my life to the great staff at the urgent care center and
my community hospital ER. Without them, I would not be here
today.” Read more
stories
Hospitals care for millions of patients each year, but it’s the
individual stories that matter the most. Please share your
hospital emergency room story with us.
