Dear Editor,
I have been suffering from shortness of breath and minor
heart issues attributed to this making my heart slow or stop beating.
This has caused me to be hospitalized at KRMC several times over the past 12
months, having three stints put in and a pacemaker.
Again, Tuesday morning, I was fighting severely for breath and plummeting blood
pressure, so I made my way to the ER at KRMC approximately 8:30 a.m. where I
was quickly taken to an exam room and a staff of professionals examined
me. Again, a familiar level of concern came over their faces and a
barrage of familiar questions were thrown at me leading them to a decision to
keep me in the ER for more tests.
The tests never happened. I stayed in the ER until mid afternoon with
almost no further communication with KRMC staff. I was finally moved to
another exam room, then another exam room, etc. This went on until 4:45 p.m.
Wednesday afternoon.
Overnight, I was awakened numerous times to check on me as my pulse was shown
to be 30 or under several times and my respiratory rate had slipped to just
three breaths per minute according to the computer generated information they
were viewing. On one occasion, I didn’t even have the energy to form the
words to say I was OK until they gave me oxygen and sat me up in bed.
I was never admitted but promised a list of tests that never took place
and was awaiting further guidance from at least one of my doctors (Primary
Care, Cardiologist or Pulmonologist). At 11:45, not being able to eat
until I had completed some of the tests that had been promised to take place at
6 a.m., I am extremely hungry and frustrated that I still had not seen any of
my doctors.
The nurses in what appeared to be a different section of the ER exam department
now almost 30 hours after arrival, kept saying they are expecting my doctors at
any minute. So, I began calling my cardiologists office, primary care
office, etc., none of them had even been notified of my hospitalization,
therefore, I should not be expecting a hospital visit from them.
I began asking more and more questions of the staff and nobody was able to
answer any of them. They had even unwrapped my leg wounds (separate issue)
that had been under treatment for 19 months of wound care across the hall
against my better judgment but they promised they would rewrap them
appropriately. They never did. They even withheld all of my daily
medications for the entire 36 hour stay.
I finally left AMA late afternoon Wednesday. They seemed so
‘shocked’. They never even put in an order to Wound Care to come rewrap
my leg wound either. I left with just a gauze wrapping after it had
remained open for 12 hours. Not good at all.
Does KRMC have an ongoing protocol of communication between nurses and
doctors in the ER and other departments that should be alerted? I do have
my doubts.
Randy N. Warner
Dolan Springs
