Did you hear about the woman who died in a Brooklyn, N.Y. hospital waiting room? If you don’t believe it, click here to check out the youtube video.
Seeing is believing, but my jaw dropped when I heard that the psychiatric patient had been dead for more than an hour by the time hospital workers found her.
Not surprisingly, several hospital workers were fired as a result of the incident, according to the Associated Press.
Of course, a death that goes unnoticed in the emergency room is the big news that’s been reported. But what really struck me as well is the report that the woman had been waiting in the E.R. for almost 24 hours.
Now, I know that patients sometimes wait a long while in an E.R. But can someone please tell me 24 hours is by no means the norm? That is just plain scary.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Melanie // Jul 7, 2008 at 2:14 pm
It is always sad when people have to die or other tragedies happen before systems are changed. Let’s just hope that Kings County Hospital and other hospitals can do a better job not only providing medical care but “compassionate” medical care to those who need it most.
I have enjoyed reading the blog so far! Keep the articles coming!
2 ED physician // Jul 7, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Alas, I can tell you no such thing. While waiting room deaths are exceptionally rare ER waiting times are growing and growing and at many institutions 24+ hour waits are the norm. Psychiatric patients have it particularly bad as even after they are seen and stabilized they are frequently “boarded” in the ER for 2-3 days while waiting for an open bed in a psychiatric inpatient facility that accepts their insurance, can handle their medical problems, etc. Resources for these patients are scarce and with a looming influx of Iraq War Veterans psychiatric care in this country is set to experience a real crisis.
3 Stephanie Alleyne // Sep 28, 2008 at 12:23 pm
My husband died in the bathroom of the hospital. The hospital is allegedly one of the oldest hospitals in Boston and recognized world wide as one of the best hospitals. I still do not know the real cause of his death.
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