Why Did My Pain Get Dismissed by a Doctor?
How I didn’t get proper medical care in the ER after a major car accident
Last July, I was involved in a head-on collision. I was driving to work (I work at my local hospital) when a young woman at a stop sign pulled out in front of me as I was nearing the intersection, going 40 miles per hour.
I hit her head-on before I had a chance to hit my brakes.
My mind checked out for a moment, and as I came to, the air was thick with residue from the deployed airbags, and I had a hard pain in the middle of my sternum.
Police and ambulance arrived, as did my husband after I called him. I was cared for by the EMTs. They explained every step to me as they removed me from my car. My husband, Mike, finally arrived and grabbed my purse and cell phone to bring me later. He stayed behind to talk further with the police as I was taken to the emergency room of the same hospital I was driving to for work. Paramedics called into the hospital ahead of time to let them know they were on their way.
As my gurney wheeled in through the sliding doors, there was nobody around to receive me. It was like a ghost town. The paramedics decided to take me to the check-in desk, and I was finally processed through and laid in a hospital bed in a room by…
