How to Choose an Emergency Room? Maybe.

CNN has been running a series called “Empowered Patient”. The latest installment is entitled How to find the best ER for your child. I feel that this article is seriously out of touch with the way most Americans interact with the health care system in general, let alone the Emergency Department of a hospital.

Most of us choose a hospital based on one of two criteria: it is the hospital our insurance will pay for; or it is the hospital closest to the scene of the accident. Even those of us who have thought about choice of hospital before needing the Emergency Department — it’s not just a “room” anymore — realize that in a real emergency, the kind that could actually result in death, the closest care is usually the best care. In a “sort of” emergency, we have the luxury of considering other factors, such as “how am I going to pay for this” or “what is the hospital’s reputation” or even “do they have a pediatrician on call”.

That being said, the author does have a few good tips for dealing with any medical emergency, not just those involving children: keep a list of current medications (better yet, throw it all in a bag and take it with you); bring something to entertain yourself and anyone who will be stuck waiting with you if you have the time to do so; if you have a chronically ill family member, it is a good idea to keep a “hospital bag” of stuff including the patient’s medical history; if you are leaving a child in someone else’s care, make sure they have a “consent to treatment” form or letter with your signature on it; if you suspect poisoning, bring the poison with you; and finally, call your regular physician on the way to the hospital. Assuming, of course, that you have one.