Burning Down

WTF, that is insane. I've never heard of that happening here - not to say that it doesn't, but I've always been put through pretty quickly. I know they triage people in the ER of course, but that's insane. A heart attack patient would be taken in right away here. Hell, even I saw a doctor and got an X-ray within three hours when I went to the hospital with a broken finger. I know that there is a huge difference in wait times in urban vs. rural hospitals though, especially here. Some rural hospitals don't even have ERs.

The main problem with waiting times here is that hospitals are often clogged up with hypochondriacs who come in convinced they have the fucking bubonic plague because they sneezed once. More outpatient clinics and urgent care centres are opening up here to help alleviate any congestion.

Trollheart

It looks like Canada is in a league of its own then. See Engine's comment above. As far as your second paragraph goes, this is how it works in Ireland (well, in Dublin anyway): if you come in uner your own power (car, taxi, bus whatever) you go to the waiting room and you then have to wait many hours before being called into the actual A&E where a doctor will see you, I think straight away. If you come in in the ambulance you go directly in to A&E on a stretcher, are quickly transferred to a steel trolley

where you will remain until either the doctor sees you and sends you home or you get a proper bed.

It's pretty much the same wait then really, though they give priority to the emergency patients, which is why you'll see people out in the WR saying "I've been here for ten hours" and the reply from the harrassed nurse will be "Sorry but we have to see the ambulance patients first." It sucks but that's how it goes.

But it's mad to think that every time --- every time --- in the last two months that we went into the hospital we were waiting a minimum of seven to ten hours before any doctor saw my sister, and anything up to 24 before she got a bed, if one was deemed necessary (on some occasions she was just told she could go home, cue another 5/10 hours wait for an ambulance...)

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Scarlett O'Hara

If you go to A&E here you have to wait minimum of 1-2 hours and it can take up to 12 hours to be seen. I have had many health issues in the past 8 years and have had to go with Ambulances which tends to get you seen faster (one of the times I had a seizure). I spent many days in the women's unit due to my endless cysts and Endometriosis pain and it took a long time before I got my surgery. Luckily the nurses from the Women's Unit would get me right up to be admitted rather than 3-4 hours in emergency to be then sent to the Women's Unit anyway.

The health services are free, everything is covered (ultrasounds, CT scans, etc) but you have to pay $80 each time you go by ambulance unless you pay $40 a year to be a member.

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djchameleon

wow 80 bucks is so dirt cheap for an ambulance ride.

Some people get billed close to 1,000 dollars for an ambulance ride.

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

Trollheart

Well in Ireland you're not charged for the ambulance. Do they charge you for calling out the fire dept too?? Surely these are community services paid for by, in our case the State, in yours, well, the state I guess? No?

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Engine

Haha, no an ambulance is not paid for by the government in the US. You get a huge bill, no matter what your financial situation. Poor people can appeal to the government to help them pay for it, or just refuse to pay and ruin their probably already ruined credit.

Local fire departments are a government service and they seem to respond to fires quickly, depending on the wealth of the locality. In the grey area are police departments, which are paid for by the state but do not necessarily respond quickly or even at all.

EDIT: the US and Ireland are both free-market capitalist societies on paper but in reality you have to consider land area, and especially population size. You can't compare Ireland to the US in terms of government programs, but you can apparently compare it to those of the state of Indiana, which of course has to answer to the federal United States Government, unlike Ireland. Look at this.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

Janszoon

That is some very attractive web design right there.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Engine

That's what you get for free.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

Scarlett O'Hara

Well, considering how little our population is, it's considered a lot. However in saying that, ambulances are run on donations and are not supported by the government completely.

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djchameleon

I don't know about other places but our fire dept is actually mostly volunteer and the small budget they have is from our state budget or maybe our city budget. I'm not quite sure but I know they don't get much money. It is so bad in our area that we end up getting volunteers from near by towns as well to respond to our fires.

Oh okay sounds similar to our fire fighter dept in my area's situation.

__________________

Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.