<p>StickerShock, Re third world country, I was joking!!! and I do know things are bad. My father died recently and I was appalled by the nurses and Drs. treatment at a very good hospital. And appalled by a lot other people and incidences.</p>
<p>I do still think you are safer at a hospital ER if you are feeling really sick and can make it. My reasons are too many to go into here. My experience has been that anything that smells like an MI gets first attention.</p>
<p>Great ideas about the kid’s hearts. I do have athletes and except for a brief period when they played softball I haven’t thought much about an EKG. My PET PEEVES have been helmets for football and soccer. FOOTBALL IS GETTING A LOT OF ATTENTION NOW. Soccer is not.</p>
<p>I’d also like to see helmets for my D’s lacrosse games. Those balls are like rocks!!!</p>
<p>I agree about the ER, as the staff there has seen it all, done it all. But on some of the med surg floors, with one nurse caring for 18 patients, for example, patients get overlooked all the time. ANd not because the nurses are not skilled – it’s just not humanly possible to give good care when the patient load is so high. </p>
<p>StickerShock: Great point about the EKGs. I know at least one member of my team at Princeton was required to get an EKG after their hart was found to be a little large; no chances were taken, and they weren’t allowed to do anything athletic until they were cleared.</p>