The other day my wife woke up with covered head to toe with hives, her lips were swollen and her face was puffy. I gave her some benadryl and took her to the immeadiate care center, which is like a big doctors office. They gave her I.V. steroids and antihistamines. Then they called an ambulance to transport her to an Emergency Room. I asked why she needed an emergency room and was told that she might stop breathing and they weren’t equipped to handle that. By the time we got to the ER the swelling was down and she was fine. The ER doc came in 20 minutes later and sent her home. Was the ambulance ride justified? I feel like I was conned into getting a service I really didn’t need.
I don’t know how to answer this other than to say that your thread might have started off VERY differently had the opposite happened. Meaning, your wife wasn’t transported and she DID stop breathing. Sounds like they weren’t willing to take a chance. Were it my wife, I wouldn’t want anyone taking that chance, either.
Now, if she’d started getting remarkably better BEFORE the transport, I can see your question, but the way you phrased it, the immediate care folks weren’t going to wait around to find out. Sounds like the right call to me.
If they were concerned that she was going to stop breathing, then an ambulance ride was absolutely justified. After all, even if you’re CPR certified, it’s a little hard to do while you drive.
Nothing bad happened, fortunately, but it sounds like your wife had a severe allergic reaction to something (or at least, something that greatly resembles a severe reaction).
I think putting her in an ambulance was reasonable, they didn’t want her to stop breathing then and there, and with symptoms like that, it’s a definite possibility.
I don’t think the doctor would get anything out of calling an ambulance, would they? They wouldn’t have any other reason to call an ambulance aside from thinking it was necessary.
Yep, with the swelling, they were worried about her throat swelling shut and restricting her breathing. They wanted to be able to take action if that happened.
(Based on a personal experience.)
The only time I ever called an ambulance for my husband was when he had a similar allergic reaction. I didn’t want to take the chance that he get worse on the way to the hospital, plus, he was on the verge of passing out as it was and I knew I couldn’t pick him up and get him into the car.
I’m a little surprised they only kept her for an additional 20 minutes after seeing the doctor. When Mr. Luna had his episode, we were in the ER for a good 8 hours.
IANAD, but I am trained as a Wilderness First Responder. One of the things we learn is that systemic allergic reactions are a very big deal. From your description, your wife was having a systemic reaction. People die from this. Frequently.
The ambulance ride was completely justified.
She’s lucky that it just went away and she was fine. But no responsible health care provided would bet on that happening.
I agree the ambulance ride to the ER was def. better than hanging around “a big doctor’s office” sort of setting.
The ER would be qualified to incubate her, hook her up to Oxygen and prepare for the worst should things start to go down a very bad road.
The ride was justified. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary, if you understand what I mean. If it were me or someone I cared about having those symptoms, I’d certainly want ambulance transportation just in case the patient did stop breathing…because what is a layman going to do if the patient takes a turn for the worse? The medically trained staff weren’t willing to take a chance on that happening.
The ambulance was absolutely appropriate. I have worked in a number of Doc-In-A-Boxes as well as Level I ER’s (full range of care, etc) and many/most workers, aside from the Docs, in the ‘minor emergency’ places freak when things get serious/life-threatening. They are just not used to the what-to-do, and rarely even have the ventilators or meds appropriate for worst-case stuff.
I have had a number of folks die right in front of me from anaphylatic reactions (damn peanuts & kids!) and that was with full ER efforts. Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. Period. Glad it all worked out this time - make sure to think carefully of why it might’ve happened, of course. The first Doc just might’ve saved a Life, ya know?
I think Ionizer puts it in perspective. I had a friend develop hives so fast it was frightening. I almost wrecked my car driving him to the hospital. You could actually see the grapefruit sized welts forming like in a science fiction movie.
I used to get periods of hives till I was about 35. My lips would swell up like, to use a politically incorrect term, Ubangi, and my face was so swollen. My eyes would be almost shut. One time I came to work and my boss thought I had been mugged 'cause the hives swelled my eyes so much the blood vessels burst and gave me two black eyes.
But I never had any issue breathing.
That’s the difference between then and now. I would’ve been rushed to the hospital now. But back then, they didn’t care. I was covered in hives and my feet would be swollen.
But I never had trouble breathing, not once.
This isn’t to say others couldn’t have that issue, but it’s just a case of going over to the side of caution.
People will see a hive, panic cause of all the hype on TV and hyperventilate thinking they are gonna die. Then this leads them to not be able to breathe, which of course makes people think of anaphylaxis, though it’s not the allergy but hyperventilation.
They used to give me a weeks supply of steriods and it was cool. You could actually see the hives just quickly dissolve and I could feel it too.
As for the ambulance ride, I would say this is very appropriate. The OP didn’t say but if it was the first time this happened to her, you can’t afford to take a risk. Eventually you’ll be able to tell how hives are gonna react and if they’re going to cause breathing issues.
It would be considered appropriate.
You could, of course, have refused it.
It’s unlikely the Immediate Care profits from the ambulance service, so it’s a bit hard to make an argument they were “conning” you into a service. That implies to me they are upselling you into something you did not really need.
I’m going to agree with everyone else about the ambulance and say that I’m glad your wife was OK. This is my opinion, but I don’t think that hospitals will try to con anyone into ambulance rides unnecessarily because that ambulance might be needed for a true emergency. If they sent her in an ambulance it’s for a very good reason.
Dude, your wife was having a severe allergic reaction (you might want to research “anaphylactic shock” to get some perspective), and you’re worrying about the ambulance ride? Get a grip, please. My husband has asthma and allergies, and while his are very mild and well-controlled, I’m still scared that he might have a bad reaction to something someday. I won’t be worrying about an “unnecessary” ambulance ride if that ever happens.
I agree with everyone else here that the ride was necessary. Who you should be pissed at is yourself, for trying to save time by going to urgent care. UC is for strep throat and urinary tract infections- a potentially life-threatening situation is going to be sent to an ER, every time.
Ok thanks for the responses. I guess the main reason that I thought the ambulance might not be needed was that the staff did not seem to be all that concerned. We spent 10 minutes waiting to be admitted, another 10 minutes waiting for the doctor and another 5 minutes for someone to put the I.V. in. We did call her doctor when we noticed the hives. The doctors advice was just to take her somewhere and have her looked at. From what I’m reading the best advice would have been call the EMTs now!
Trust me, if she had shown the slightest signs of difficulty breathing the pace of stuff happening would have ramped up immediately.
I walked into the Northwestern ER in Chicago once, got as far as gasping “I’m having a reaction to food --” when I was bodily picked up by two people, laid on a gurney, and wheeled back for immediate swarming by medical personnel. Insurance info? They didn’t even ask my name for ten minutes. The focus was entirely and completely on making sure my breathing didn’t get worse. Fortunately, what they gave me worked rapidly and I walked out about two hours later feeling oddly strung out but also so much better. And breathing easily. That’s the good news aspect of this sort of thing - when the drugs work they work very fast and very well.
They probably were acting calm in the office because there’s nothing to gained by acting in a panic. Your wife was stable and being medicated, but that could have changed at any moment. None of us was there, so it’s hard to say exactly what was most appropriate, but a few hives isn’t an emergency (usually), a LOT of hives can be, but isn’t always, and any problem breathing is an emergency.
A fully equipped ER can intubate someone, put her on a respirator, perform CPR, has more medications to use… sounds to me like the Urgent Care Center was taking appropriate measure to stabilize her as much as possible prior to transport. And I’m happy the problem resolved quickly. But yes, I have to agree with everyone else that this was a case of better safe than sorry. I have seen friends and relatives wind up in intensive care from things that start as “just hives” (including one who suffered significant heart damage from lack of breathing too long) and a certain number of people do die each year from allergic type reactions and anaphylactic shock. It’s nothing to take lightly.
When I had breathing difficulties and had my husband drive me to the ER, I got as far as the intake desk, where I gasped for breath. I didn’t quite get picked up bodily, but I was hustled into a treatment area and hooked up to oxygen and had an IV started before they’d let me try to give them any info. Medical personnel take breathing problems very, very seriously. This is because people will die of not breathing before they die of just about anything else.
Absolutely justified.