Your cardiac patient requires continual nitro sprays under his tongue. One reason for the backups is calls that are not emergencies. One example of non-emergency calls is the traffic stop where the driver complained that his child was seriously ill in an attempt to avoid a ticket for not having his kids in car seats. Another example is an uninsured man who is found wandering the streets who claims he just wants to get out of town, but the police say that he needs to go the emergency room. These unnecessary trips tie up manpower and resources, driving up health care costs for everyone else.
Hospitals are handcuffed, too.
Under Florida law, ERs cannot turn patients away and cannot refuse care. According to statistics, one out of every three patients now uses the emergency room for basic, primary medical care like sniffles, sneezes and sore throats. The emergency rooms are packed with people without insurance, who don't have a doctor or, for whatever reason, can't or won't make and keep an appointment. As more non-emergencies clog our emergency rooms, wait times for real emergencies are getting longer and longer. Copyright 2001 by NewsChannel2000 .