Part 2...

It was dark out…I made my way through the sliding doors of the Urgence. I couldn’t really stand on the leg.g, it was super swollen from my knee down into my foot…lots of pressure and numbness. I stepped up to the desk that is enclosed in plexi and stood, waiting for the woman to tell me she was ready for me for intake. There were 2 chairs I could have sat in but I know the rules…she did not want me in a chair even if I was bleeding out! until she gave me the go ahead. Eventually, I got checked in.

The waiting room was packed! and hot! some people with masks, some not. I found a seat and waited for step 2. The sliding doors to the inside heart of the ER slide open and slide closed, everyone watches, hoping to hear their name from a nurse so they can move out of this waiting phase.. Eventually the handsome male nurse called me in for triage…I was resigned to the wait. He sent me right off for an Xray…I needed an MRI or ultra sound but that area was closed on a Saturday night. I told him, I can’t walk there so he put me in a wheel chair and left me in front of the nurses station…oh the pain! I needed to get the foot up! Eventually I was begrudgingly wheeled to Xray …a boy was with his mother were in front of me.

The boy was perhaps 13 and looked like he had been in a fight. He was bruised and bloodied up all over especially on his face. 

The Xray tech took me in and had me turn this way and that then handed me the printout Xray…( typical here, they always give you your own print out…I have many!) ( an aside…Here, there is no protection from the Xray for you, the patient. In the US they load you up with lead coverings…never here…it’s just you and the harmful rays) ….then he wheeled me back to the waiting room where I waited and waited and waited and waited. Pompiers (firemen) kept arriving with people on stretchers…wheeling them up to the sliding doors and having to wait for entrance…everyone turning to look and access. 

Meanwhile, we, the waiters tried to pass the time...

-There were the card players… a woman with a busted foot with husband and young long haired son.

-A 20 something couple  The girl had a cut finger…she and her boyfriend giggled and cuddled and shared phone screens for hours.

 -the girl all in black, very thin with black hair. She sat down and bent over in pain, her boyfriend kept pulling her back up straight…eventually he disappeared.

 -the handsome older couple who read their books …. the man in waves of pain…his hands would shake and he held his head. The wife , very concerned. 

-the stern young woman in a pink sweater,  reaching under her sweater grabbing her arm and chest…looking like she was about to have a heart attack. They took her right in. 

 -the mother and  20 something son ...the son , a  huge ragamuffin…he was in a lot of pain…back pain..he had a bad cough and would moan like a wounded animal every time he had to cough 

-all kinds of young men came in dressed in soccer clothes with sports injury…

-the local sports guy celebrity  limped in and everyone whispered.

-the tough old battle axe with her Pirates of The Caribbean style son…( in his 30’s) and her meek friend that needed treatment of some kind. When finished, the weathered woman whistled for him like a dog and said…"Aller!”)

-the man with the cut fingers and his happy wife…he was a bit loopy and provided some comic relief for people in his proximity.

-there were book readers…5 of them, including myself, although, I could not concentrate on Rome in the first century AD..

Lots of people had X rays and were trying to decipher them…how hard could it be? 

but through all of this, they were not calling anyone in and no one was coming out. People have to come out to let people come in. A couple of men complained, loudly, standing at the doors…a nurse would waste 10 minutes explaining and arguing…Too much talk not enough action here in France. 

Stretcher after stretcher was wheeled in..all women, young and old…we all waited.

Everyone, except the readers, were on their phones…It was an odd scene but it was what I expected. They will give you paracetamol if they think you are in pain, but no ice, no treatment before you get into the inner sanctum , that is why I brought an ice pack and knee brace and something to keep my leg up. They don’t care how uncomfortable you are…you do not exist to them till you go through those doors.Also, no one is allowed to accompany anyone in.

At one point, after no one being called in for about 2 hours I thought I would lose my mind….this is crazy! Why am I waiting around here…I could be here all night…there’s not a thing you can do about it.

The other hospitals are either too far or worse… I think I walked into a a very bad waiting situation thinking I could get in and right back out. I always forget everything is super slow here.

The boy that looked like he was in a fight was suddenly called…I don’t think anyone could believe that they called someone..Then they called me! I got up and said a big OUI! and followed the doctor ( I thought she was nurse)

slowly as I could barely walk…I was showed into a general ward with about 10 beds with curtains between. She took my Xray and disappeared. 

Ok so this is almost over…The old woman in the bed next to me ( behind the curtain)  was singing a nonsense song that mimicked the loud heart monitor…She had one dusty blue slipper on, one slipper off on the floor…she was alone…I needed to get out of there.

The dr came back and examined my knee. She had eyes like a doe ….dark brown and soft….she explained I needed an ultrasound and she gave me a prescription for that, meds and crutches…She also apologized for the wait.

I made my way out and down the corridor to exit…I was barely moving due to the limp. I passed the Xray guy taking a break looking at his phone. He didn't even look up at me. …All of a sudden a big wrestler like guy comes up next to me and puts his arm out like he was the father of the bride escorting me down the aisle…let me help you to your car….He was so strong…Holding his arm was working so he grabbed me around the waist and almost picked me up and got me to my car. Merci! You are so kind….That was so nice of him.

I entered the Urgence at 5:20…I exited at 11:30…6 hours for nothing, Had I gone during regular hours they would have sent me over for the UltraSound….since it was not open, I now have to go back. 

What if there existed an actual emergency room that took you in and took care of you right away? Why doesn’t someone fix this problem? Why do we accept it?