Sometimes people can’t help themselves. They engage in behaviors that are certainly not in the best interest of their health, but they do them anyway. And plenty of people seem destined to land themselves in a hospital emergency room.
There are others living lives where not much is happening out of the ordinary. And then they feel compelled to rush to the emergency room, seemingly for nothing. Others, meanwhile, have the weirdest things happen that land them in that very same place.
An r/AskReddit thread posed an important question: “To anyone who works at the ER, what is one thing you wish people would STOP coming to the ER for?” These are some of those stories. Important note: This is a thread of people’s opinions. If you believe you need medical attention, seek it immediately. If the visit was unnecessary, you can work out the embarrassment afterward. As one Redditor said, “Never make decisions about your life based on Reddit posts.”
You should know better
Whether it’s adrenaline junkies, basic healthcare mistakes, motorcycles, or drinking too much, there are plenty of ways people can end up in the ER. People who work there wish individuals would handle these situations better:
“I’m just glad and surprised no one has said panic attacks yet. When I first started getting panic attacks, I went to the ER twice because I thought I was dying and didn’t realize what a panic attack actually was at the time.”
“Had a kid come in after falling off her motorized bike, no helmet of course. I kinda got onto them about it. Mom asks ‘What age can they stop wearing a helmet?’ I blurted out ‘until the day you die of old age. I still wear a helmet every day. Brain damage doesn’t care about your age.’ The mother was truly shocked.”
“Sick notes… employers wanting a doctors note/sick note because a staff member called in sick. Depending on time of day and day of week they’ll come to an ER because everything is closed, and they’ll get fired if they don’t provide said note.”
“ER doc: had a mother call for an ambulance because 5 year old had scraped her elbow. Asked why she called the ambulance and was told she was on Medicaid and didn’t have any bandaids at home so needed free ones. I gave her a whole box and told her that was not a good use of the ER or ambulance services.”
Probably not emergency-room worthy
When it comes to your health, “this is an emergency” might be an unwarranted yet logical conclusion. Sometimes we don’t know exactly what to do, and the emergency room seems like the only answer.
“When they bring all four kids into the er cause they all have cough and sore throat all at once.”
“The sniffles and a cough.”
“My daughter had a blocked, inflamed, and infected gallbladder. We had to wait behind a guy who said he had a runny nose and anxiety.”
“One guy told me when I asked him what brought him to the ER, that he had a hangnail on his toe. I guess I did a bit of a double take and he said, defensively, ‘my feet are important to me.’”
“To get a pregnancy test. Because they don’t want the embarrassment of buying one.”
“Bringing their child to the ER because they have to have immunizations to go to school so let’s get them in the ER at three in the morning.”
“If you take your kid to a hospital during cold and flu season, they’re going to be sick by the time they leave the waiting room even if they weren’t when you arrived.”
“Head lice”
“UNMEDICATED FEVERS. Please, please give your poor kid some Tylenol.”
“you need a medication refilled”
“You had a stomach ache yesterday, but now the symptoms have gone away (why are you here???)”
“Also I have heard patients come in for feeling ‘buzzy,’ ‘weird I don’t know I can’t explain it,’ ‘feeling off.’ Like what the hell does that mean. I end up doing a big work up since it’s so vague and everything comes back normal.”
“my grandson has a splinter in his foot.”
“Broken toes – nothing can be done”
Unexpected reasons
You’ve probably heard the term “life gets lifey,” or something along those lines. Things happen. We need medical attention, and the ER seems the best place to go. These are some of the more unexpected ways someone can find themselves at the hospital emergency room:
“I was a caregiver and had to take my grandfather to the ER multiple times because he would apparently get super constipated, not say anything then all of a sudden be in a ton of pain and then we would go to the hospital and turn out it was because he hasn’t gone in days but that was because it became impacted, so much more serious.”
“This. My answer is homelessness. With all this wealth and advancement it amazes me society still has this issue and refuses to address it well with meaningful solutions that are available.”
“The worst are the ones who call 911 because they think they’ll get into the ER faster. Sorry, triage exists for a reason lol. Enjoy your 6 hour wait because people are literally dying.”
“I had to go for hiccups once. It was so embarrassing. But I had them for 3 days and I couldn’t sleep. I was losing my mind.”
“I can’t afford insurance. I make too much to qualify for government healthcare but don’t make enough to buy my own. The ER IS my primary doctor.”
“I asked my brother in law this once. He said viagra. Young men, clearly not the target audience for the drug, would take it to try to have a spicier night with a lady friend, then go to the ER when the drug didn’t stop working after four hours.”
“You are supposed to seek treatment for an erection over 4 hours though. There can be permanent damage and it really can be an emergency.”
“Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome. PLEASE JUST STOP SMOKING WEED.”
“I went to the ER for what ended up being a UTI once. I felt so stupid, but as it turns out, my body straight up doesn’t tell me if I have one, and it had gone straight into a kidney infection. I was in absolutely excruciating pain that I had absolutely no idea why I was having, and I figured maybe I was dying at the time.”
Watch this helpful video:
When it comes to our health, it can be challenging to know exactly what the best course of action is. After all, most of us are not medical professionals.
This Redditor shared some helpful advice on what you might expect when visiting an ER: “But understand that if you’re not dying, others may be, and you’ll have a wait. Understand that not all services are available in the ER. Treat patients and staff with basic respect (while advocating for yourself or your family as needed).”
