Syracuse Personal Injury Law Blog
Emergency rooms are frequently chaotic environments. Patients are rushed in for emergency treatment for serious injuries or illnesses. As a result, doctors and nurses are responding quickly to patients’ needs and performing emergency procedures. However, due to the fast-paced environment of emergency rooms, errors are frequently made, causing patients further injuries and harm. Emergency room physicians are frequently required to make quick decisions. Sometimes, instead of helping the patient, ER doctors make the wrong decision, resulting in a patient’s condition worsening or death because of an emergency room error. If you have been injured or a loved one has died because of an ER error in an Upstate New York medical facility, contact one of our experienced medical malpractice attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano. We serve clients throughout Upstate New York and have offices in several convenient locations. Our extensive experience in the field of medical malpractice is reflected in the results we have obtained for our clients.
The typical emergency room is understaffed. Many doctors are overworked and do not have adequate time to spend properly diagnosing each patient. Also, many test results are not reviewed thoroughly because of the staffing situation and patients may fall through the cracks and are being discharged improperly. Additionally, overcrowded emergency rooms sometimes lack the proper staff. Patients may have to wait too long in the waiting area without receiving the care they need, and as a result, they may suffer a heart attack or have their health condition worsen because they cannot be seen in a timely manner. Doctors and nurses work long shifts, and they often suffer from exhaustion. When staff members are fatigued, they can’t think clearly or use their best judgment. As a result, doctors and other ER staff may overlook symptoms or misdiagnose conditions causing patients further harm. Patients may be passed from doctor to doctor or nurse to nurse multiple times over the course of a shift. Because there are often so many people involved in a patient’s care in an emergency, from the EMT to the nurse, technician, and surgeon, miscommunication sometimes occurs because someone left something out of a patient’s chart or forgot to pass along important information.
The truth is that doctors are not the only ones who make critical mistakes in the emergency room. Paramedics, nurses, technicians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other medical personnel involved in a patient’s care frequently make mistakes. This creates numerous opportunities for errors, even from well-meaning medical professionals. To make matters worse, many people who visit the ER have urgent medical needs. Errors in this context can lead to serious complications or death. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that a decrease in the number of hospital emergency rooms over the last several years has put more strain on the remaining emergency departments. As a result, there is more crowding, a faster pace, and more opportunities for doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel to make mistakes in the emergency room. Medical staff members, regardless of their workload, are legally obligated to avoid mistakes by not rushing or cutting corners when diagnosing and treating emergency room patients.
Emergency room errors are estimated to occur in 5% to 10% of all emergency room visits in the United States. With over 140 million emergency room visits each year, which equates to more than 10 million emergency room errors. Given that many patients who visit an ER are already in a weakened state due to illness or injury, emergency room errors can put these patients at an even greater risk of severe injury or death.
Malpractice can occur as a result of a misdiagnosis, delay in diagnosis, surgical errors, anesthesia errors, medication errors, and improper patient discharge are some of the most common errors that occur in emergency rooms. Unfortunately, such emergency room errors occur for a variety of reasons.
As previously stated, many hospitals do not staff their emergency rooms adequately. This is not an excuse, and patients still deserve the best care possible from that medical facility. Individual medical practitioners, however, may be doing their best in these circumstances. The ultimate responsibility for an emergency room error may rest with a medical organization or hospital that improperly or inadequately staffed the emergency room. To prove this, or any other type of medical malpractice case, expert representation and a thorough investigation of hospital records and available evidence are required.
Fortunately, patients who are injured as a result of emergency room errors may be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against doctors, staff, or the hospital itself to receive compensation to cover medical bills and other damages, such as the cost of emergency room treatment and any future medical costs, damages for pain and suffering, and damages for loss of income, particularly if the emergency room error resulted in a loss of function related to one’s job and damages for loss of quality of life.
Emergency room errors may be statistically unavoidable. But no one should sit back and accept these outcomes. If you believe you or a loved one was injured due to a preventable emergency room error, you should contact Upstate New York’s most knowledgeable medical malpractice attorneys for over 30 years, DeFrancisco & Falgiatano. We represent injured clients and their families throughout Upstate New York, including Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, Buffalo, Elmira, Binghamton, Auburn, Ithaca, Oswego, Norwich, Herkimer, Delhi, Cooperstown, Cortland, Lowville, Oneida, Watertown, Utica, Canandaigua, Wampsville, Lyons, and surrounding areas. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form to discuss your case.