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| - The good news is I'm not dead! The bad news is a lot of people who were also waiting with me looked like they were about two steps away from that...
I had a terrible cough this autumn that resulted in a lot of side pain. Assuming it was a broken rib but wanting to make sure, I waltzed in around noon on a bright and sunny Thursday afternoon. It's important to note that they have you sign in at "stage one", and this was helpful because you note the time you arrived, which helped me know how much of my life I was wasting the rest of the afternoon.
If communal germs and potential health risks ain't your jam, emergency rooms are not for you. From the pencil you use to sign in, to the very tiny communal waiting rooms with people barfing here and there and everywhere, to the bathrooms with no automatic door open (yo, for someone whose problem was pain in my side, these heavy doors were not amusing), even the out-in-the-open shelf for everyone's pee....it's a village, my friends, and you're going to be very close to everyone by the end of your journey.
So I was there for about 3 1/2 hours. If you are not someone who is familiar with Canadian health care and/or the English language, I am quite certain you will be lost and confused at multiple points. It's very self-directed care - know where to go, know what to ask, remember what you're doing, etc.
My biggest complaint was that after registration (step two), I told the woman, "I'm just going to use the restroom before I go in," and she said, "Ok!" Then I went into the waiting room, a nurse came in and handed me a cup for urine sample -UHM I LITERALLY JUST WENT. They don't have water easily accessible so if you have time before you go in, grab yourself a snack, some water and a book - and a phone charger, their phone charger station is a hot mess.
I would have liked if they kept people who were CLEARLY actively bleeding or ill in a separate room from the rest of us less-severe cases, but, I spent $0 and I got an xray and some pain meds so...you take the good with the bad.
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