Full Hospital ED's.

A question from Lauren on the post for our first night and being stuck on stretcher.

In the Sydney Australia metropolitan situation this is what happens.

There are two ways you arrive at hospital with us either walking in or on the stretcher.
If you aren't dying, don't need a bed, are not a danger to yourself or others and will be safe to sit in the waiting room then that's where you'll go to wait for the Dr.

We have rules on Nurse to pt ratios, there is a finite number of beds and if it's full at the Inn then we start lining up in the hallway.

Yes if we are able we will decide to transport to another hospital, we're very lucky to have 4 Trauma 1 hospitals, 7-8 other hospitals within a 25km radius of the city center (my work center) for this option but as a rule if one's busy so are the others.

From 10am to midnight we have off-duty officers on o/t who will arrive with a vehicle that has just empty stretchers and will take over your pt as long as they are not being cardiac monitored because remember they only have 3 stretchers and two officers. These are called ART (Ambulance Relief Team) or the baby sitters.

A current plan in development is that after ART knock off a duty crew will go and pick up the vehicle and return to take over other pts to allow those crews to get back to station and that this crew will be rotated during the shift to allow them some rest.

It's our system, if you need to be monitored/observed and your care has not been transferred to a hospital nursing staff member then it is my job to continue care for you. That can include, IV access, drug & fluid administration, phlebotomy, toileting, take around to x-ray and back, 'There, there' protocol (reassurance) everything a nurse may do and I always can call on a staff member to guide, assist or to escalate care (pt crashes).

Yes as an officer it's a pain in the arse but for the pt it must be reassuring, you don't get just chucked onto a random hallway bed and possibly lost in the crowd.

Hope that clarifies 'stuck on stretcher'

See you at the big One.

Taz