Waiting time has always been the number one complaint against hospital emergency departments (EDs). In an attempt to address the waiting issue, hospitals recently began allowing patients with nonemergency conditions to "schedule" their ED visits through the Internet and then wait at home until their "projected treatment time" in the ED.
If an emergency department (ED) patient with impending sepsis is discharged, returns hours later in septic shock, and dies or develops organ failure, "you're likely to get sued," warns Bruce Wapen, MD, an emergency physician with Mills-Peninsula Emergency Medical Associates in Burlingame, CA.
Head trauma is a common presenting problem among emergency department (ED) patients. It has been estimated that 1-2 million Americans sustain traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually.
Behçet's disease, while rare in North America, should be considered when appropriate, in light of the extensive travel and immigration patterns around the world.
