2012-06-28, 04:31 PM
It honestly depends on how serious the other people's injuries are, for waiting in the ER. I, myself, have experienced a long wait, but it was jut unfortunate that I was the one with the least-threatening injury. Was a while ago, though.
At the end of my Grade 10's year right as the Summer break began, I was at the pool and bashed my head on the side of the ... edge of the pool. Quite a bit of blood, and it split my head open a bit (just a gash, no big deal). So, loving parents that they are, they brought me to the hospital's ER. I went up, and then had to wait for a good 5 hours (they gave me some serious bandages, though). I looked at the others waiting, and after a few conversations, I saw why my wait was going to be long.
1. One person's cheek had a hole in it, clean through and everything, due to a dog (somehow) managing to bite it.
2. Another had recently walked and fell on broken glass, barefoot, and needed some serious work done.
3. One person's fingers appeared to have been almost severed, and was seen right away, delaying the rest of us a bit.
4. and 5. Two others seemed to have a broken arm / leg, but was in stable enough condition to wait a bit.
The real kicker was the person who came in at the 3 hour mark of my wait. This teenage girl, about 16 years old, was at an end of year party and has managed to drink herself unconsious. Apparently it was an unsuporvised event, and the owners of the house were in deep trouble, but she was admitted right away and was treated for a severe case of alcohol poisoning.
TL;DR : The wait in a Canadian ER really depends on two factors: a) how injured YOU are, and b) how injured everyone ELSE is. 6+ hours for something that you could die from? No, they are smarter than that.
At the end of my Grade 10's year right as the Summer break began, I was at the pool and bashed my head on the side of the ... edge of the pool. Quite a bit of blood, and it split my head open a bit (just a gash, no big deal). So, loving parents that they are, they brought me to the hospital's ER. I went up, and then had to wait for a good 5 hours (they gave me some serious bandages, though). I looked at the others waiting, and after a few conversations, I saw why my wait was going to be long.
1. One person's cheek had a hole in it, clean through and everything, due to a dog (somehow) managing to bite it.
2. Another had recently walked and fell on broken glass, barefoot, and needed some serious work done.
3. One person's fingers appeared to have been almost severed, and was seen right away, delaying the rest of us a bit.
4. and 5. Two others seemed to have a broken arm / leg, but was in stable enough condition to wait a bit.
The real kicker was the person who came in at the 3 hour mark of my wait. This teenage girl, about 16 years old, was at an end of year party and has managed to drink herself unconsious. Apparently it was an unsuporvised event, and the owners of the house were in deep trouble, but she was admitted right away and was treated for a severe case of alcohol poisoning.
TL;DR : The wait in a Canadian ER really depends on two factors: a) how injured YOU are, and b) how injured everyone ELSE is. 6+ hours for something that you could die from? No, they are smarter than that.