jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Bob Saget bumped his head and thought nothing of it. He went to bed and never woke up. Comedian Steve Allen was in a minor traffic accident and bumped his head. He died shortly afterwards. These are not isolated examples.

If you bump your head, go to the ER. Maybe you'll be okay if you don't, but maybe you'll be dead.

anotherview Loc: California

Good advice.

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

Great advice!

My son was riding his motorcycle when a lady ran a stop sign & hit him. Despite wearing a helmet, he had massive head injuries & never woke up.

jdtonkinson Loc: Red Wing, MN

Our heads are quite fragile. Good advise Jerry.

jdtonkinson Loc: Red Wing, MN

Steve,
So sorry to hear that. That must be so devastating. People running Stop Signs & traffic signs kill innocent people frequently

kerry12 Loc: Harrisburg, Pa.

about 8 years ago I slipped on the ice and hit my head on the macadam. I went and got checked out. Fortunately no concussion or fracture. But I'll tell you what I do have. I have had a constant ringing in my ears ever since. Still, it could have been worse.

one_eyed_pete Loc: Colonie NY

I think you're better off going to one of the seemingly hundreds of new Medi-Quick facilities, perhaps even if you have to wait until the next morning.

Four weeks ago the wife and I had a god awful horrific 14 hour experience at the ER. The day after the ice storm we were out and about, roads and walkways were very clear except for an occasional small icy spot. Unfortunately as the wife was getting in the car she found a spot about 12" in diameter and went down hard on her right shoulder. On a scale of 1 - 10, her pain level was 50. I took her to the ER which was less than 1/2 mile away. After about 30 minutes they took her for an x-ray and brought her back to the waiting room. They said her Humerus was completely fractured. After five more hours of excruciating pain they brought her back to an exam room. After several examinations, questions, more x-rays, finally some Hydro's and a sling (put on incorrectly) 9 hours later they sent us home and advised we should follow up with an ortho doctor.

I thought it might have been better if we'd called an ambulance, not true. Four people came in by ambulance after us (two complaining of chest pain), yet they didn't get to an exam room until after my wife. One of the chest pain patients ended up in the room beside my wife 3 hours after her. It was late at night and cold and the waiting room was overflowing with people complaining of seemingly non emergency issues such as a rash on his calf or 3 women with a nauseous tummy. Not to get political but this looked like a preview of free health care.

therwol Loc: USA

The problem with a Medi-Quick facility is that they're limited in what they can do if there is a serious problem. If there is a suspicion of some bleeding in the head, the only thing they can do is call an ambulance to take you to an ER for a CT scan. They don't have CT scanners on the premises. They also don't have neurosurgeons or an operating room on the premises. In the case of a fracture that requires surgery, all they can do is put on a splint and call an ambulance. They can't be responsible if someone decides to leave and drive themselves to a facility with more resources. As for what happens when an ambulance arrives in the ER, the person in the ambulance will likely be triaged faster than someone who is assigned to the waiting room for hours. What happens after that is up to the circumstances in the ED, busy or not busy. Heart attacks and strokes coming in or people who call an ambulance because they can't get a ride. From recent personal experience, ERs are overwhelmed with long wait times because of people coming in thinking that they may have COVID. (In some cases they do, but people are jamming up the ERs with colds.)

GeneV Loc: Lampasas, Texas

I was lucky. Several days before Christmas 2020 I just finished putting lights around the trunk of a tree in our front yard using a step ladder. On the way down I miscounted the steps and stepped off the second step instead of the last step. I fell backwards and my head hit the ground. The ground won.

I got up and went about my business. Had a Merry Christmas.

On the 27th of December at breakfast my speech became slurred and I couldn't hold my fork. My wife called 911 and before I knew it I was in St. David hospital in Austin. Actually, I didn't know it. The diagnosis was a Brain Bleed.

On the first of January I was transferred to St. David Rehab Center, just across the alley. There I did all sorts of fun things with buttons, colored blocks, etc, and spent a lot of time learning to keep my balance and walk. Thankfully it didn't affect my speach.

That lasted until January 15, when I got to come home, followed by two months of home rehab. Now I'm, say, about 95 percent back to where I was before my misstep.

The moral to this story, if you go up four steps on a ladder, be sure to count them on the way down.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

I’m glad I have a VA hospital to go to. When I go to the ER I get right in. The longest I have ever had to wait was probably 15 minutes.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Couldn’t agree more. While both my wife and I have had a miserable experience in the ER within the last year, they have one thing the immediate care facility doesn’t - a CT scanner, and usually an MRI, and there’s no way to diagnose a bleed
caused by a head injury without imaging. And if you’re having a heart attack, they don’t have a cath lab, and if a stoke, they don’t have either the imaging or tPA. If you’re in serious medical difficulties, call 911 and go to the ER in an ambulance. As for the miserable experience, they are overwhelmed with idiots who don’t believe in medical science and are unvaccinated against Covid, but run to the ER and suddenly trust medicine again when they acquire it, denying responsible sick people the care they need. Remember, those ER doctors and nurses have been dealing with this non-stop for two years.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Sorry to hear that and I can relate. Did exactly that this afternoon, but luckily landed on my hip instead of my head. Nothing broken (I don’t think), but I’m pretty sore. I’ll be counting those steps from now on.

Rich2236 Loc: E. Hampstead, New Hampshire

Being my age, 85, I live in a split level condo... There are 7 steps to the front door landing and 7 steps to the basement garage entrance. I COUNT EVERY STEP EVERY TIME I GO UP OR DOWN. At our age, things happen...So, take every precaution you can!

home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

even more so if you are on blood thinners

medphotog Loc: Witness protection land

Thanks for giving the VA a "shout out" and for your service. Having given them 40 years (at 5 stations) I can attest they do a great job. I know someone will probably chime in with their favorite VA "horror story" but considering the constraints of the budget and an ever growing population of Veterans they're doing the best they can. BTW, may I ask which hospital? I was TDY'd to Cochran many moons ago. (Easy to find my way around, it was built with the classic 1950's "H" construction and I'd worked 2 similar constructed hospitals)