Category: Emergency Medicine
A Misplaced Breathing Tube Can Be Fatal.
EMS performs intubations to help restore breathing to cardiac arrest patients. New studies show patients fare as well or better with less-invasive alternatives.
Nothing To Sneeze At: The $2,659 Bill To Pluck Doll’s Shoe From Child’s Nostril
The doctor was able to remove the shoe in less than a second. His bill: $926.98.
Be Prepared: Find the ER You Want to Go to Before an Emergency Happens
To be prepared in the event of an emergency, you can use Propublica’s updated ER Inspector to help you evaluate the emergency rooms near you.
Intensive care units in ERs would cut deaths, study suggests
Having an intensive care unit within the emergency department improved care and survival rates for the entire emergency department population.
As ER Wait Times Grow, More Patients Leave Against Medical Advice
Emergency room patients increasingly leave California hospitals against medical advice, and experts say crowded ERs are likely to blame.
Seattle “Health One” program to address non-emergency 911 calls
Specially trained team of firefighters and social worker will help people downtown with behavioral health or substance abuse Issues.
She Was Dancing On The Roof And Talking Gibberish. A Special Kind Of ER Helped Her.
Some hospitals opening emergency units that address the unique needs of psychiatric patients.
Hospital Charge for Fainting Spell: $4,700
Total Bill: $4,692 for all the hospital care, including a $2,961 ER admission fee, a $400 EKG, $348 for a chest X-ray, and nearly $1,000 for blood tests.
Orlando Paramedics Didn’t Go In to Save Victims of the Pulse Shooting. Here’s Why.
The Orlando Fire Department had been working on a plan to respond to a mass shooting. On the night of the Pulse shooting, the plan had already sputtered.
Will Congress Bring Sky-High Air Ambulance Bills Down To Earth?
If an air ambulance service is not part of your insurance network, the operator can charge the you for what the insurance company won’t cover.
Taken For A Ride: After ATV Crash, Doctor Gets $56,603 Bill For Air Ambulance Trip
While still lying in the hospital, the air ambulance company told him the ride would likely cost more than $50,000 and asked him how he planned to pay.
Most Hospital ERs Won’t Treat Your Addiction. These Will.
Despite an overdose epidemic that is killing nearly 200 Americans a day, the vast majority of hospitals do not offer addiction treatment to ER patients.
Building a better ‘code blue’
We found that some top hospitals had teams with members dedicated to responding to cardiac arrests around the clock. In others, team members had to drop their regular duties to response to codes.
Hurricane led to 1,139 deaths in Puerto Rico
The storm lashed the Puerto Rico last September, displacing tens of thousands of residents, destroying the electric grid and knocking out communications.
That ‘living will’ you signed? At the ER, it could be open to interpretation.
Doctors and nurse receive little, if any, training in understanding and interpreting living wills, DNR orders and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment forms, either on the job or in medical or nursing school.