ER did great job: Vaccinations can ease patient load
I read with interest the letter from Mr. C. Shane Neal of Aug. 24, (ABQ’s overwhelmed ER system in a state of emergency).
I too had a visit to the Lovelace Women’s Hospital ER around the same date, but with a totally different experience. I don’t believe that either of our visits indicates the state of the entire hospital system.
I arrived at the Lovelace Women’s ER around 11:30 on Aug. 15. I was seen within an hour, had a CT scan shortly thereafter, and was taken back for care within about two hours. I was seen for a chronic condition with pain so severe it could not be treated with medications I had at home. I was dizzy and nauseated.
In the triage area, I had kind, nice and empathetic providers. Once taken back to the ER for assessment and treatment, the female doctor I saw was efficient and thorough. She obtained the information she needed from my electronic medical record and moved forward with orders. The ER nurse was fantastic. Sweet, funny and working fast, she drew blood work and set up IV lines quickly. She reminded me of the nurses in Vietnam who just kept working no matter what was thrown at them. She comforted me and who knows how many more hours she had to go in her 12-hour shift.
I was discharged a few hours later. I thanked them and am thanking them again for their kind care. I believe I was seen quicker than Neal due to the luck of the draw of going to the ER when I did and with the random conditions of other patients also there.
The patients my wife and I saw in the ER had injuries including a very bruised and swollen arm and a potentially fractured ankle. There were several people doublemasked who could have been sick due to COVID. My wife was told in the ER waiting room and in the ER itself to leave “for her own safety” as they were also treating patients with COVID. The staff could not have been nicer.
The rapid reform Neal calls for that needs to occur is for our community to get vaccinated. The nation has seen a shortage of nurses and other providers for years, but they are in even greater demand today.
I was admitted to the Lovelace system last year and to me, they are the same wonderful system they’ve always been.