Even if you are one of the people in Washington lucky enough to be very healthy, there is always the chance that you may need to seek emergent care from time to time. An unexpected illness or condition or even an accident may send you there. In some cases, you may need to accompany a family member or a friend to an emergency room. Just like in other parts of hospitals, mistakes can and do happen in ERs, making it important you find a way to take control of your case when you are there.
Prevention Magazine recommends that you go to the emergency room with as much information as possible. This may be difficult depending on the circumstances but when time allows, collecting medical information, records, test results and more may be a good way of ensuring ER personnel receive an accurate picture of your overall health. This may well help to reduce the chance of an error being made in your case.
Another very important thing is to ask questions. If you are not able to do this, someone else should do so on your behalf or you on theirs depending on who the ill or injured party is. The more that hospital staff are asked, the more you can know.
This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to give residents in Washington State an idea of some of the ways they can take control of their health and safety when seeking medical care at a hospital emergency room.