- Joined
- Sep 6, 2014
- Messages
- 5,043
- Reaction score
- 6,395
- Location
- The Land of OCC, NY, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- C?ID=31688
Background - Homey hasn't been feeling great for a few weeks, so I went to see my doctor yesterday morning. Homey's chosen primary care doctor is about as far off the grid as possible, using tools like blood pressure cuffs with stethoscopes and actual glass thermometers. Homey likes being off the grid with his medical records. Anyway, my doctor didn't like something found during the exam, and sent me off to the local hospital's ER with a "stat" test order and having called ahead to reserve a table for one and brief the ER doctor.
Before they take you to the ER, they have a screening room where they pull incoming vitals...probably for legal documentation for than diagnosis. The tech put the electronic blood pressure cuff on my arm, and I told her that she was wasting her time because the machine would not be able to read my pressure due to known conditions. After 5 minutes of inflate/deflate with no readings, she changed cuffs...then changed arms...then changed machines. Last time that I went through this, I was hospitalized for 11 days because the number it finally got a lock on was high enough to only give me 10 minutes to live. This time, I laughed it off, and even mentioned to the tech at one point that all of her technology was useless on me since I am from another planet. (I have a *very* weak heart function and low blood pressure/circulation, and the machines can't lock onto my pulse.) OK, so she charted that the patient has no measurable blood pressure, and moves onto the next test. Out comes the digital thermometer. I told her that she was again wasting her time, since my oral temperature is lower than the minimum range threshold for those machines. Two different cart machines and a portable electronic thermometer later, she charted that the patient had no measurable temperature and finally led me into the ER.
TL;DR - The ER staff repeated this same fiasco for the next 20 minutes using the same brand/model machines. If I wasn't conscious and talking to them, I probably would have wound up in the morgue based on their lack of readings!
When I finally got to see the ER doctor and (male) nurse, I asked if they had an old-school blood pressure cuff and liquid thermometer available. Believe it or not, there isn't one of either in the entire ER department!
Long story short, the people providing health care in our hospitals are mindless sponge-minions, enslaved by electronics and incapable of performing even the simplest medical tasks without technology. If something like a solar flare were to wipe out all electronics, our neighborhood hospital would not even be capable of diagnosing a fever because they wouldn't even have a working thermometer. Just something to keep in mind when stockpiling your bunker with survival essentials, because society is doomed from what I saw yesterday.
Oh, and to add insult to injury - I was asked by *four* different medical records people to confirm my pharmacy as part of the check-in process. The ER doctor sent an e-prescription to my pharmacy...but they never received it! So, I have to go to my regular doctor today to find out what the prescription was for and re-send it. New Yorkistan has decided that paper prescription pads are no longer permitted for most medications, so you also can't get medicines without filing electronically!!!!!
Before they take you to the ER, they have a screening room where they pull incoming vitals...probably for legal documentation for than diagnosis. The tech put the electronic blood pressure cuff on my arm, and I told her that she was wasting her time because the machine would not be able to read my pressure due to known conditions. After 5 minutes of inflate/deflate with no readings, she changed cuffs...then changed arms...then changed machines. Last time that I went through this, I was hospitalized for 11 days because the number it finally got a lock on was high enough to only give me 10 minutes to live. This time, I laughed it off, and even mentioned to the tech at one point that all of her technology was useless on me since I am from another planet. (I have a *very* weak heart function and low blood pressure/circulation, and the machines can't lock onto my pulse.) OK, so she charted that the patient has no measurable blood pressure, and moves onto the next test. Out comes the digital thermometer. I told her that she was again wasting her time, since my oral temperature is lower than the minimum range threshold for those machines. Two different cart machines and a portable electronic thermometer later, she charted that the patient had no measurable temperature and finally led me into the ER.
TL;DR - The ER staff repeated this same fiasco for the next 20 minutes using the same brand/model machines. If I wasn't conscious and talking to them, I probably would have wound up in the morgue based on their lack of readings!
When I finally got to see the ER doctor and (male) nurse, I asked if they had an old-school blood pressure cuff and liquid thermometer available. Believe it or not, there isn't one of either in the entire ER department!
Long story short, the people providing health care in our hospitals are mindless sponge-minions, enslaved by electronics and incapable of performing even the simplest medical tasks without technology. If something like a solar flare were to wipe out all electronics, our neighborhood hospital would not even be capable of diagnosing a fever because they wouldn't even have a working thermometer. Just something to keep in mind when stockpiling your bunker with survival essentials, because society is doomed from what I saw yesterday.
Oh, and to add insult to injury - I was asked by *four* different medical records people to confirm my pharmacy as part of the check-in process. The ER doctor sent an e-prescription to my pharmacy...but they never received it! So, I have to go to my regular doctor today to find out what the prescription was for and re-send it. New Yorkistan has decided that paper prescription pads are no longer permitted for most medications, so you also can't get medicines without filing electronically!!!!!