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Emergency rooms need urgent care.(THE CONSUMERS UNION PERSPECTIVE)
The nation's emergency rooms are facing their own crisis.
The Institute of Medicine, a prestigious health-science group, issued a three-volume report in June 2006 titled "The Future of Emergency Care." It's grim reading. Between 1993 and 2003, visits to emergency rooms increased from 90.3 million to 113.9 million. Over the same 10 years, 425 ERs were shut down. It's no wonder that those that are left are jammed, leading to extremely long waits and patients parked on gurneys in hallways waiting for a bed.
The institute also found that, on average, every minute of every day an ambulance somewhere in the U.S. is "on diversion," meaning it's sent to a more distant hospital because the closest one is too crowded or too busy. That delay can mean the difference between life and death for stroke, heart attack, or bleeding victims.
WORTHY IDEAS
Congress is showing an interest in fixing the problem, and Consumers Union strongly supports legislative action. The institute's proposals are common sense and would be cost-effective to put in place. Among them:
* Create better regional coordination and communication to direct ambulances to ERs with enough capacity and the right specialists on duty.
* Ensure that all new or remodeled hospitals use "best practices" in designing their emergency rooms.
- ADVISORY/Consumer Reports and Consumers Union Introduce Two Reports On Widening...
- Press release article from: Business Wire August 1, 2000 700+ words
...Trudy Lieberman, Director, Consumers Union Center for Consumer Health...Health Policy Analysis, Consumers Union Washington Office Bob Cosby...cared for in clinics and emergency rooms? Consumers Union's "The Health-Care Divide...
- California Group Says Most State Emergency Rooms Unprepared for Bioterror.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News November 7, 2001 700+ words
...Business News Nov. 7--The state's emergency rooms don't have the money or the capacity...Association. Most of the state's emergency rooms lost money last year, and many expect...Along with the escalating losses, 18 emergency rooms in the Sacramento area have seen a...
- Overcrowded emergency rooms threat to health care.
- Newspaper article from: Day (New London, CT) October 6, 2006 700+ words
...decade, while the number of emergency rooms has declined 12 percent...five years alone, most emergency rooms have had double-digit...data on who's visiting emergency rooms; why; whether they have...
- New Nursing Standards Affect California's Emergency Rooms.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News January 27, 2004 700+ words
...having to turn ambulances away from emergency rooms for hours at a time because they don...said the new rules are forcing their emergency rooms to turn away ambulances, diverting...patient care and overwhelm nearby emergency rooms. Emergency rooms in Santa Clara ...
- California's Emergency Rooms Face Financial Trouble, Study Finds.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News November 7, 2001 700+ words
...than 82 percent of California's emergency rooms suffered financial losses in 2000...Because of financial difficulties, 60 emergency rooms have closed over the past 10 years...over and above those experienced by emergency rooms. The lack of insurance for 7 million...
- Sacramento, Calif.-Area Emergency Rooms Strain to Cope with Patient Overflow.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News March 24, 2001 700+ words
...News Mar. 24--Sacramento's emergency rooms are bursting at the seams and more...years as more people have turned to emergency rooms for non-urgent care. Many people flooding into emergency rooms need treatment that could be provided...
- California Lawmakers Seek to Stanch Flow of Emergency Rooms' Red Ink.
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News February 13, 2003 700+ words
...Feb. 13--With hospital emergency rooms in California hemorrhaging...into Los Angeles County's emergency rooms and trauma centers. While...epicenter of the crisis, emergency rooms are being overwhelmed around...
- Legislation Would Benefit California Hospitals Emergency Rooms.(Knight...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News LaMar, Andrew July 18, 2000 700+ words
...SACRAMENTO, Calif.--California's emergency rooms, victims of hospital cost-cutting...help prevent hospitals from closing emergency rooms considered critical to a community...authority to block closures of local emergency rooms. "Given the political realities...