TL;DR - if you have any other option for emergency help, and I do mean any other option (voodoo priest, Aunt Sue the Doula, etc.), take it. Don't let EMTs bring you here.
Gather round, friends, for I have a harrowing tale to share.
I was taken by ambulance to Swedish Mill Creek ER. While it was lovely that they immediately put me in a room, the happiness stopped there.
The EMTs took me in because I was experiencing generalized aches, specific sharp pains in essential areas, a massive headache, dangerous dehydration, mental confusion/fogginess, weakness, and balance problems. I was not in a good way. I had to ask where I was twice because I couldn't hold on to a thought for more than a few seconds.
The doctor spun through for a few seconds and ordered two tests. COVID and a urine test.
I sat in my little room alone for 90 minutes while they were running the tests. No nurse checked up on me, no one offered me so much as a pillow or a glass of water. The lights were glaring, and I was growing more and more distressed.
Finally, the doctor returned, told me it was a UTI and handed me a PAPER PRESCRIPTION for a generic antibiotic before bolting from the room. Who does paper anymore? What a hassle.
Ah, but the worst was yet to come. Kelsey the "Nurse" returned with my discharge papers. I was shocked. I was a literal wreck, and they were turfing me to the curb because now I knew what was causing this crisis.
I was in a worse state than when I arrived because I'd spent all that time sitting in a hot room being ignored and getting emotional about that fact. I asked if they could help me resolve any of the symptoms that brought me there. The answer? No.
I thought I had misheard. I came to them for help because the EMTs agreed I was in crisis. Instead of help, they gave me a piece of paper and kicked me out. At the very least, toss me some ibuprofen and maybe put a saline drip in until my lips weren't so dry they cracked, and my skin was less papery.
When I tearfully asked Kelsey for help, her response was, "what other tests do you want us to run?" WHAT??? This is not about tests, this is about offering a small amount of succor to someone in a bad state who came to you for help.
I pushed. Tearing up. She doubled down. Told me to drink some sleepy-time tea (what???), and find a Tylenol when I got home.
I gave up. I stumbled to the parking lot, where an uber picked me up and brought me home.
Maybe there is some dipshit policy that they can't help people out in less it's a stroke or heart attack. If so, change it because your poor service turned me into a vocal critic determined to hold you accountable for this travesty. Looking at the rest of the comments, there is likely a class action to be had.
Swedish - FIX YOURSELF. read more
