Injured man dies after rejection by 14 hospitals

[JakeEMTP]

This diversion crap really pisses me off. If I were king, no ER could go on diversion until the hospital had cancelled all elective surgeries that day.

Ah, but that is where the hospitals make their revenue. That will never happen.

[crotchitymedic1986]

I am well aware of that. In my humble opinion, when you go on diversion, you are saying "the hospital is overwhelmed". If the hospital is overwhelmed, they should be in crisis mode, and all elective procedures should be cancelled, so that staff can be diverted to assist with the crisis. If you are holding patients in the ER because you have no beds, you should not have "nonurgent" patients occupying beds upstairs. Tell them to come back next week for their elective procedure.

But diversion does help you identify which hospitals are the most poorly managed.

[itku2er]

Our little hospital goes on diversion alot because it only has 6 ER beds. The sticks you gotta love that!

There are only 20 beds on the med surge floor and 4 in ICU. Surgery there is only on a scheduled basis all emergency surgeries that are needed take like 1 hour to get people there and going.

[crotchitymedic1986]

I can relate itk, but its still poor management. Every Mcdonalds has to have a plan for what to do when a bus full of people unexpectedly pulls off the interstate for a meal. Every hospital should do the same. If you are on diversion on a weekly basis, the CEO is poorly managing that facility.

[itku2er]

He is too consummed with making a $500,000 wellness center that isnt practical for the area. Go figure that one out.

[WolfmanHarris]

CTV News: Hospital Goes on Code Orange

I first heard this as an interview with the ER chief who declared it on CBC Radio. After the ER got overloaded and ground to a halt he met with some other staff and decided that this required contribution from around the hospital to solve. He declared "Code Orange: Medical" and made sure the OR knew that it wouldn't affect them so continue with scheduled surgeries but it forced administration to take an active role in solving that problem.

[crotchitymedic1986]

I find it very ironic that every hospital has a 1000 page disaster plan that a team worked for months or years to create, but they choose not to handle the daily disaster of patient flow.

[CBEMT]

You might be right. After the 4th or 5th refusal you would think they would have used the old, "You're breaking up. I can't copy you well. We'll just see you in 5 minutes," trick. Can you hear me now?

In all seriousness, I'd bet any money it's a cultural thing- near-absolute adherence to authority and all that.

[DartmouthDave]

Hello,

I have work in the hospital setting and with EMS.

Diversions are needed sometimes when the ER is too full with ER patients as well as admitted patients waiting for a ward or ICU bed.

Also, diversion only applies to EMS. People still walk in to be seen while on diversion. Some of whom may be quite sick.

Cancelling all elective surgeries isn't an option as well. Elective surgeries can be quite serious and urgently needed, say you AAA needs repair? Or, somebody needs a new hip so she can get up and around again.

The answer is simple, more beds are needed for long term care and skilled nursing care (i.e. chronic vent units). More medical, surgical and geriatric wards are needed. So, that you do not have a log jam of patients effecting EMS.

DD

[CTXMEDIC]

I can relate itk, but its still poor management. Every Mcdonalds has to have a plan for what to do when a bus full of people unexpectedly pulls off the interstate for a meal. Every hospital should do the same. If you are on diversion on a weekly basis, the CEO is poorly managing that facility.

So if you happen to be the only level 1 facility for 400 miles, your boss is an idiot when you start stacking patients. Got it. :roll: