No Easy Fix for Emergency Rooms

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By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lack of staff, space and equipment hobbles the U.S. emergency medical system and almost no steps have been taken to improve things despite numerous warnings, emergency room professionals told Congress on Wednesday.

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The reports found, for instance, that emergency medical services got only 4 percent of Department of Homeland Security first responder funding in 2002 and 2003.
The Institute committee also found that between 1993 and 2003 the number of emergency department visits grew by 26 percent, while the total number of emergency departments declined by 425 -- with 198,000 fewer beds.
"The message here is that the safety net is fraying," said Dr. Steven Krug, a Chicago emergency room doctor who testified on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Read the rest here


Think we'll see any changes from this?

 

[MMiz]

I love to see numbers, and the article paints a very clear picture of the state of emergency medicine. I wish a solution was just as clear.

 

[Stevo]

So what happens if pandemic influenza comes, or someone sets off a biological weapon, or giant earthquakes or hurricanes hit?

"We are neither prepared nor capable of responding," Washington Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, chairman of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Preparedness, Science and Technology, told the hearing.

you rot in some superdome, while the NG outside shoots anyone on sight trying to escape

~S~

 

[Jon]

Gee... this has been the party line for longer than I've been around... nice to know things change fast...