How Much Medical Knowledge Do You Understand?

The pharmacist was wrong, when he/she refused to give the Rx back to the patient. In some situations, where an Rx can't be filled ( for whatever reason), I think the patient should go to the ER for at least a few tablets to cover them until they can get back to their regular doctor.

Problem with the ER is that you can sometimes sit there for hours, especially if your condition is not life threatening. Another option is to see if your community has any walk-in urgent care clinics. Many of them are open at odd hours when most of the doctor's offices are closed, in the evening, and on the weekends.

Really?
I mean, it IS an ER?

Here that is a department that provides initial treatment to patients with illnesses/injuries that may be life-threatening and requiring immediate attention.

All the other is done at the outpatient sections of the various clinical departments.

Walter- In the US, if a person has a problem that needs immediate attention, and his doctor is unavailable, often he goes to the ER. In addition, there are many people who do have neither doctors nor medical insurance, who frequest the ER for less than life threatening problems.

The ER works on a triage system. That is, the most important problems are handled first. So you could have a situation where a person is in distress, but if the ER suddenly is beset with trauma patients, heart attacks or strokes, etc., the guy with the sprained ankle will sit until the more serious stuff is handled, even if he was there first.

One thing that I have learned. In my commmunity, there is an Emergency Squad, a volunteer service that will take you, by ambulance, to the ER. The folks on the Squad have been trained in basic emergency services.

Naturally, if the person has something life threatening, the county ambulance is called. If you want speedier service, it is better to call the Squad, than have someone drive you to the hospital. You get much quicker service that way.

Thanks.

(Here, if a doctor is unavailable [= praxis closed), there either some others noted where you can go (at office hours, weekdays) or you call the "on-futy service", which will give you name/phone number/address of the nearest doctor on night or 24/24 duty. (Which hopefully is someone who knows a bit about your illness - but otherwise they'll usually send you to stay in hospital.)

Thanks, Miller, I don't remember hearing of any exercises. It's been years since this has bothered me, but I'll keep your words in mind in case it returns. It is an alarming feeling, especially the first time. Can you describe them? (Should we Google???)

I tend towards dizzy spells. My borther, who is an audiologist, told me to put my finger straight out in front of me and focus on it. I once had a spinning room come to a gentle stop by doing that!

Hmmm, Phoenix... would that work if drinking were involved? (Honestly, I'm so tempted to Google Dr. Miller's exercises!!!)


Walter, this is probably more than you want to know , but here goes...

Emergency rooms are open at all times, 24/7, and are always associated with a hospital. They are sometimes used/misused by people as their only source of health services. Usually those are indigents with state health coupons or or people with no health insurance, but anyone can go there and some do when nothing else is open. (The stories would make your hair curl.)

Doctors' offices are open at what is considered "regular times" -- 8am-5pm on weekdays -- with possibly one open evening and mornings on Saturdays. Sometimes it can be hard to get an appointment in a hurry.

To deal with the "gap" between those, we are served by Urgent Care clinics which are (here, at least) associated with the large non-profit medical systems that run the hospitals. These "walk-in" clinics are open for extended hours (7am-10:30pm on weekdays and 7am- 6:30pm on weekends & holidays). They take all sorts of patients but mostly flu & respiratory infections, severe cuts and broken bones. Urgent Care Centers cannot handle major illness or trauma cases but will try to stablize a patient until an ambulance or medi-vac helicoptor comes and transports the patient to one of the three emergency rooms in the nearby city or even to Seattle where there is a major trauma center. Because we have so many islands and areas isolated by bridges and bodies of water, this area uses a lot of medi-vac helicoptors.

A new hospital is being built nearby and several years from completion.

That's the rundown on this community, other places in the USA are different. Healthcare is, to a large extent, a function of where practicing physicians want to live. If it is not as desirable a location, there are not so many doctors and the healthcare is not as extensive.

The so-called dizzyness is also called vertigo. I've read this is caused by small segments of salts ( otoliths ) that are dilodged in your ear and eventually end up in the liquid canals of the ear.

It's a common occurrence as one ages and one medication used to reduce the dizzyness is Dramadine. In place of a medication, there are excercises you can do with your head, to train your brain, so you don't feel dizzy.

Good idea to Google " vertigo" and labyrinthitis .[/quote]

Yeah, you WOULD bring that up!!! LOL


First time I got it, I thought... What's this? I haven't been drinking!!! It felt like what in college we called "The Whirlies." In my case I'd recently recovered from a respiratory infection. I was also told about those tiny salt crystals that can form in the ear over a lifetime, especially if there was a history of chronic infections. I imagined a tiny dark cave in my ear and lovely little crystaline stalagmites that became broken. What odd bodies we've got.

Most of the elderly do develop these little salt deposits and as a result, many individuals become unsteady on their feet and prone to falls.