Increasing Wait Times for Emergency Room Care

When an unexpected injury incident takes place, the severity of the situation may require emergency care. Some types of unintentional injury incidents that tend to be serious and often need rapid medical treatment include massive head trauma, extensive bone fractures, or excessive bleeding, to name a few. In an emergency situation, medical professionals have to think fast and act quickly to protect injured patients. Making the right decisions in a pinch is something that emergency personnel is trained to do because fast action gives their patients the best chances of survival or minimizing the extent of physical bodily harm.

Patients that are brought to the hospital by way of ambulance usually get treatment in a timely and expedited fashion. When a trip to the emergency room is made without the ambulance, there may be some delay in getting treatment depending on the condition the patient is in and what their ailment is. If a patient goes to the emergency room and is not seen in an appropriate amount of time, and this causes their condition to worsen, leading to advanced harm or death, then legal action may be appropriate. In certain situations, delayed treatment can be a form of medical malpractice.

A legal professional trained in medical malpractice can help you if you were injured or lost a loved one to medical errors. For help with a medical malpractice claim in Florida, please consider reaching out to connect with the Tampa medical malpractice attorneys at Fulgencio Law.

Long Wait Times in Emergency Rooms Can Have Deadly Consequences

If negligence is the reason that you had to wait far too long for the treatment that you needed, it may be possible to have your damages recouped by filing a medical malpractice claim. In an emergency situation, time is of the essence. Waiting too long to treat someone who is very ill or who has substantial injuries could be the difference between life and death or lifelong impairment.

Yet, it seems that the time it takes to get the care necessary to treat different issues in emergency rooms across the country has been on the rise. One study out of the Harvard Medical Institute detailed just this growing problem of increasingly long wait times. And some states are worse than others. For example, Maryland has some of the most prolonged wait times in the country at 228 minutes. Florida’s average wait time puts it in the top 15 states with the longest wait times for treatment in the ER. In Florida, it can take up to 155 minutes.

Speak with an Attorney at Fulgencio Law Today

Whether it be a lack of staff, poor training, or subpar procedures, there can be many reasons why wait times may be excessive in the ER. If negligence on the part of a medical care provider or a hospital system is what caused your wait time to be so long, and as a result, you suffered complications, please call Fulgencio Law. You may be entitled to compensation. For a free consultation, an attorney at Fulgencio Law can be reached at (813) 463-0123.