I walked into a waiting room packed with frustrated, visibly sick people who had clearly been there…read morefor hours. One girl who had arrived around the same time as me had completely given up and was asleep on the floor. I had already passed out before getting there due to severe dehydration and illness, which is why I was brought in by ambulance in the first place.
I came in dealing with intense vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and extreme weakness. Given how serious my condition was, the care I received was incredibly disappointing. After my IV was placed, I was not properly monitored, and the IV tubing ended up filling with my blood. This caused me to pass out again, making an already frightening situation even more traumatic.
It was nearly impossible to get anyone's attention when I needed help. My fiancé and I would stop doctors and nurses passing by to ask for assistance, only to be told we needed to wait for our assigned nurse or they would simply look confused and walk away without helping. That was absolutely unbelievable.
After getting sick and having severe diarrhea, no one offered assistance, not even something as simple as wipes. I ended up sitting in soiled clothes for almost two hours until my fiancé had to ask a security guard to watch me so he could run to the car and grab clean clothes.
Trying to get more IV fluids felt like pulling teeth, and several staff members were unnecessarily rude to my fiancé, even though he was just trying to help me. I spent about four hours stuck in an uncomfortable wheelchair while feeling incredibly weak and sick. At one point, I was so desperate for help that I was begging my fiancé to take me somewhere else.
Accessibility was another major issue. None of the doors, including the bathroom doors, had handicap accessible buttons, so every trip to the restroom was a struggle for both me and my fiancé.
I will say the doctor I saw was kind and professional, and I appreciated that. Unfortunately, that was one of the only positives. The emergency bed was uncomfortable, the blankets were thin, and the entire hospital felt freezing.
To make matters worse, when I was finally discharged around midnight, no one even offered a wheelchair to help me get to the car despite knowing how weak I was. I had to slowly walk, hunched over and barely able to support myself, while my fiancé helped me every step of the way. At that point, I just wanted to get out of there.
Overall, this was one of the worst ER experiences I've ever had. The ambulance staff were far more compassionate and helpful than most of the ER staff. If I could give zero stars, I would. I was just passing through on a road trip and never expected to be treated this poorly. No patient especially one arriving by ambulance after losing consciousness should feel ignored, humiliated, or left without basic care
