So last night I got my first experience of the Canadian Emergency Room. Stupid stupid reason. I managed to take the top completely off my index finger knuckle yesterday (I'm sure it was Rob4BC's fault as I don't remember doing it). Anyway, I could not stop it bleeding. After 3 1/2 hours of pressure and ice and still bleeding we called TeleHealth (the Canadian equivalent of NHS Direct), who recommended I got to the ER.

So Mount Sinai hospital in Toronto. Friday night. ER. You do the math. I felt so stupid being there with a cut finger. Only took three hours to be seen, which I was reasonably impressed with for such ridiculously minor issue. Lots of bandages and a tetanus shot (which currently hurts like buggery) later and I'm sent home. Unfortunately it's still bleeding slightly and the doctor said it'll take over a month to heal. Argh. Still, at least my first ER experience wasn't for anything terribly serious.

Sorry to hear about your finger, but glad it's still in one piece and you survived the experience.

Sharon

yes me too (as boxerdog said)


and those tetanus shots are horrid..they hurt like hell!!!

i hope your finger gets better fast! must have been a tad painful and a darn nuisance.

can you tell me...what is Telehealth...? is it a phoneline for medical issues..?

thanks!

Yeah, TeleHealth is the phone service of registered nurses who you describe symptoms to and they go through their tech support flowcharts and finally tell you to take your computer back to the store you bought it from. Sorry go through their flowcharts and try and help you self-treat if possible or go to the ER if they can't find an answer on their system. Ontario has one, Alberta has one, I'm sure other provinces have an equivalent.

You just have to assume that when people in Toronto say 'the Canadian equivalent' it really means 'the equivalent for Toronto', hey Ben.

In BC, we have: http://www.bchealthguide.org/

Well, I was pushing and you were pulling - I don't know where you put your finger!

Sorry to hear about your further tribulations, but sure was a nasty cut and sure is annoying to have to go through all that and the jab just for Ikea shelving!

Hope it heals soon.

Keep going Rob...your're giving the game away nicely...I thought you were maybe at one of Ben's role playing nights

hey thanks for that!!!!

i have a health thing happening at the moment..and i think that link will be very useful! cheers!

maple leaf - there is a printed version of it as well (just in case your i-net might be down or so?). ask at your local bc access centre or your pharmacy for your free copy.

The telehealth equivalent in Newfoundland is 'healthline': http://yourhealthline.ca/en/ . I had to avail of ER services a couple of years ago but trumped you somewhat by requiring a coastguard medevac after buggering over on a remote Island and cutting myself open to the bone. I can tell you that Cottage Hospital ER care in Newfoundland, at least for relatively minor injuries, is the best I've experienced bar none. The big city ER in St John's is not so bad either. My FiL dropped a Harley Davidson on his leg this summer at 11:30pm at night & he was seen and fixed up in about 3 hrs which for a Saturday night wasn' bad at all!