What happens when rush into A&E with a life threatening illness?

[TrayBakers]

It seems silly to ask the question because presumably most people presenting at A&E are there because they feel they might have a life threatening problem, hence the word 'emergency' in the name of the department.

But I've always wondered how the reception staff deal with or spot genuinely time sensitive emergencies. I know it's not their job and that's what triage is for. But triage in my local hospital can take an hour, by which time anyone who is suffering a genuine medical emergency could be beyond help.

If someone were to run inside the department with a loved one and start calling out for help, would the reception staff immediately call for the doctors?

I remember one particular night that I found myself in A&E, a gentleman arrived crying out because of severe chest pain. They just asked him to wait in the waiting room. He continued crying out loudly whilst waiting to be triaged. He could've been in the throes of a heart attack.

Incidentally that same hospital has been named recently because someone died whilst waiting to be seen.

Does the TV version of bursting through the doors and being greeted by doctors thing ever happen? Or does that only really happen if you've called an ambulance to get there?

It's just something I've always wondered.

I've gone into A&E twice and triaged straight away to resus. DH and DD also. All were life threatening events and I have no complaints where A&E triage and diagnosis are concerned. A&E saved our lives that's for sure.
Waiting for beds afterwards was a bit slow but that's not the fault of the doctors, nurses and support staff that work in A&E.

Doesn’t it just! :(

@x2boys same here with my son, also no history of diabetes anywhere in the family. Could have written your post!

Went to A and E with meningitis symptoms in 2016 and was seen within about 2 minutes of arrival and on a drip about 10 minutes after that. My bum never hit the seat in the waiting room.

Another time I went in with a dog bite..Blood was spurting out of my finger and they didn't even check me in just directed me straight through then followed me to take my details while it was being cleaned and dressed before being sent back to waiting room to wait. apparently they didn't want my blood all over their reception desk

Otherwise always been the usual triage and long wait

I was taken to A&E in an ambulance due to a severe asthma attack. I received treatment in the ambulance and my condition had stabilised by the time we got to the hospital. Paramedics said my stats were very low and they got to me “just in time.”

I waited two hours in A&E to see a consultant, which I didn’t mind because I was stable.

I’m sure it would have been very different if I hadn’t already had the treatment on the ambulance, though.

I had an anaphactic reaction once and was triaged and seen within seconds.

Asthmatic DD was left for 2hrs struggling to breathe, because the nurse had triaged her and said her O2 levels were fine and it was probably a panic attack. When a doctor finally listened to her chest she was straight away given a nebuliser and steroids. Her O2 levels were still good.
DS was left sat in A&E for most of the evening, he was vomiting, feverish and had had a seizure, he was sobbing when he was finally seen by a doctor. He had sepsis, he's fine now, but they just wouldn't listen to us at the time, it was terrifying.

I shuffled into A&E clutching the ECG paperwork showing I was having a heart attack (glad I asked the GPs to provide me with a printout before I left)
lady at reception stared at me in horror when I got to the front of the queue and explained why I was there, asked how I’d arrived (not by ambulance!) and I was told to take a seat. Sat down for no longer than 5 seconds and was taken through for another ECG then rushed straight to resus. I was in hospital for over a week

I took my son in once when he was having an allergic reaction to something - he was totally covered in welts and his tongue was swelling up. Went straight through and given big dose of anti histamines and steroids with no waiting at all.

It was the first reaction he’d ever had so was a bit scary.

He continued to have them randomly for 6 months and it turned out to be “post viral urticaria” and it’s now 18 months later and he’s never had it again.

This was Aus though and we don’t have long waits even if it’s not life threatening.

You’re stating the obvious that should happen. I asked if you’d read all the experiences on here when it did not happen?

Other patients may notice an elderly person losing consciousness quietly, or assume they just asleep. And will those patients act? Will they be listened to? Have you actually been in a crammed A&E waiting room lately? It can be genuinely disturbing. Not many in any state to look out for others.

So, ambulances can ring ahead and warn them they are bringing in a more major issue.

When I took Dad in for a fall with head injury, on blood thinners, the receptionist (without me knowing) had him immediately added to head scan list and triage was, virtually, immediate. In there the nurse confirmed he'd already been added to head scan list.

The scan was quite fast, within 2 hours, and this was with him appearing fine.

I think when the scan came back clear, he dropped down the emergency ranking, as it was a further 6 hours before we saw a doctor to glue his injury and report the clear scan.

So, yes, certain flags are made at reception. I also think triage is possibly triaged to some extent.

I was in a and e with a family member this week who had a chest infection and was really struggling to breathe. We walked in and the receptionist seemed able to move her to the front of the triage queue - we were called in within 2 mins and she was on a nebulizer within 5!. It was very busy the board said a 6 hour wait to see a doctor BUT if didnt take anywhere near that.

Once her breathing was stable she was sent back to the waiting room but within the 3 hours we were there she had xrays, blood tests ecgs, fluids and antibiotics and was found a bed and admitted. I couldnt fault it at all.

a few years ago i had sepsis and went in by ambulance - i was met at the door by a doctor and nurse which i thought was odd at the time as i only went to the walk in clinic feeling dizzy and they had immediatley called an ambulance - i had no idea how ill i was at all!

He had sepsis, he's fine now, but they just wouldn't listen to us at the time, it was terrifying.

It really is terrifying, @FollowingSeas. It feels kind of surreal to be in the right place but not have the severity picked up. I don't think I've ever felt so helpless.

Before reading other peoples comments on here I would of assumed, based off my own experiences that you just got aae to straight away. But reading other peoples experiences is making me doubt that now

Earlier this year I went to my GP who sent me straight to hospital as I had low oxygen. I only waited around 15 minutes in A&E before I was hooked up to an oxygen tank. Was around 4 hours till I got on a ward.

I've been in the past with a suspected broken foot and was seen almost straight away too.

When my sister was a baby, my mum took her to a&e and she was whisked away because a nurse walking past noticed she was turning blue.

I think there are different things that people go to a&e for and the staff are trained to pick up on certain works/illnesses.

Broken bones. Serous but not the same as someone who can't breath or is unconscious.

I hope your son is doing ok now?
It was terrifying at the time but two years in my son is doing well now .

Broken bones. Serous but not the same as someone who can't breath or is unconscious.

I don’t agree, when it comes to neck or spinal injuries. Twice in our experience, when one of our family has gone to A & E with neck or back pain after a fall, they have had to sit in the A & E or Minor Injuries waiting room for 3 - 4 hours before triage. In DH’s case, he was taken by ambulance on gas and air and morphine to A & E, only to be sent to the Minor Injuries unit. When the staff grade doctor got to see him, he said “I don’t do speculation - you need to lie flat on your back on that trolley until you’ve had an x ray!” He insisted on a porter take DH to x ray straight away, even though none were supposedly available!”

The GP in our family came with us, to tell A & E he was worried DD had a slow bleed on the brain (after falling ten feet, flat on her back into the concrete basin of a reservoir) and she needed a CT scan of the head and neck. We all sat about three hours in the waiting room just for triage by a nurse. Why, when a GP brought her in?

Broken bones. Serous but not the same as someone who can't breath or is unconscious true, but you can't tell if a bone is broken from being on the other side of a reception desk or indeed from sitting on a chair in triage, nor if there are other internal injuries, reasons not to move the limb or the head. I went in with one presentation and it was only when I collapsed on the floor it was realised to be more serious. I have often wondered if I'd had conservative management of that injury early on if it might have worked out better.

We had similar recently when we took in my toddler for laboured breathing. The triage nurse came calmly round the reception desk and led us to a room, where my daughter was hooked up to oxygen and heart rate monitors, and the Dr was in to see us within minutes. We hadn't explained to the nurse why we were there, but she could obviously tell from looking at her that there was something seriously wrong. Scary, but good to know the system works when it needs to.

I went to A&E pregnant with chest pains. Was asked at the check in desk if I had a known heart problem (yes) and told to take a seat.

Approx 0.5 seconds after my arse cheeks touched the chair I was called through for triage and treatment.

For some reason yours has really upset, you must have been really frightened.

Call 999 as you are making your to A and E if you can so that they can alert them of the incident alternatively if possible use the entrance that the Ambulances use and scream until you get attention. You would have to do this at our local A and E as the staff are behind a screen and there is a screen to complete before you can get triaged.

The only good thing about our local A and E is children do not have to wait are allowed straight through to the admissions.

It’s varied massively in my experience.

my mum suffered a massive heart attack and was seen and sorted immediately.

same year my husband had a stroke and I was told it was a migraine and they wanted to send him home. If I hadn’t put my foot down I dread to think what would have happened.

most recently I brought my (at the time) 9 week old in as his eye had dropped to the side and fixed. I got laughed out of a&e. Took him back a few hours later as I knew something wasn’t right. Whilst there he had a massive seizure and spent 4 days in intensive care on a ventilator. 2 weeks in hospital in total to find he had a rare genetic disorder. We’ve been back and forth since September as sometimes we are unable to control the seizures and they’ve been amazing.

in 2011 I had sepsis - we knew I had sepsis yet I was left in the waiting room for 4 hours. My temperature was 42 degrees and they didn’t seem to care.

the NHS is in a sorry state sadly, but the majority of the staff I have come across have been doing their best:

It does happen. But there are set criteria. My father was rushed in with sepsis and it was exactly like the TV shows..Ambulance doors thrown open, umpteen people doing all sorts, orders being barked, rushed through to a specialist room etc etc.

I went to a GP in the hospital (out of hours service) and she told me to go to A&E. It was a short walk, and I was dealt with very quickly.

I was brought in an ambulance once with a bad asthma attack and a doctor was waiting for me at the door.

I was undergoing a stress test on a treadmill (as an outpatient) and was told to stop immediately and sit down. They suspected I was having a heart attack. I just remember people running into the room and rushing me to A&E. That was really like on TV.

I live in Ireland.