Atgatt

[jasonu]

Simple solution. Tell the nurse "No, he was riding a motorcycle but this is a freak rugby accident." Then watch them hop to.
When I broke my foot high siding a scooter the nurse told me that motorcycle and alcohol related non-life-threatening accidents are treated last with motorcycles just sneaking in ahead of alcohol related.
It took nearly 4 hours to get treatment. Even then I was wheeled out of X-ray to make room for a rugby player who was still wearing wet mud. Broken collarbone, yes. More life threatening, no. Can't have left the pitch 20 minutes before he was getting attention from several orthopaedic specialists. Meanwhile I got an X-ray and a nurse putting on a cast just in case because there would not be an orthopaedic specialist to have a look 'til Monday.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

That sounds highly typical of the shit NZ 'healthcare' system. You should have seen the
(miss)treatment my Mother recieved last year when she got sick. There are several people in key positions in the Wanganui hospital I would like to shoot right between the eyes.

[nzspokes]

Pretty hard to die from a broken collar bone.

You know they were not checking for other injuries like broken ribs? That can kill you.

I broke 3 and was treated very urgently. Getting them put back in place was not fun.

[JATZ]

I broke 3 and was treated very urgently. Getting them put back in place was not fun.

Funny that... I broke 3 and it took 4 or 5 days to get an X-ray, even then I don't think the doc saw them unroll the missus pointed out one that looked like a lightning bolt.
But on the plus side the rest of my stay in hospital was great

[Big Dog]

You know they were not checking for other injuries like broken ribs? That can kill you.

I broke 3 and was treated very urgently. Getting them put back in place was not fun.

As a general rule, 30 seconds would not make much difference to the treatment plan.
If their squealing like a stuck pig their lungs are not compromised.
I don't have a chip on my shoulder about it. I was just amused that they interrupted the third and final X-ray after I was already positioned and just waiting for the operator to press the button and pushed me out into the hall way for 1/2 an hour so they could wrestle him into submission to get x-rays he didn't seem to want.
Stated reason being they have to meet a time to treatment KPI.

Maybe if I was still squealing like a stuck pig after that much Tramadol and trying to get up off the stretcher and trying to refuse treatment I wouldn't have been.
Or maybe if I had broken my foot watching the rugby I would have already been home and not had to sit through that.
I didn't get any pain relief because they said that if they gave me any they wouldn't be able to operate which was probable if it was broken from a crush injury as in this case. No operation for me though.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[awa355]

Will wearing gear make you think you are bulletproof? heard that argument before. I've turned up to Thursday rides in the old days with guys wearing jeans & sneakers 'cause they're not going to go fast, they'd wear leathers if they were going to go for a fast ride'. Then they ride as if there's no tomorrow because they are 20something alpha males trying to prove something. They already think they are bulletproof.

A bit like the opinions expressed when seat belts in cars became compulsory. "I'd fit belts for the passengers but I would just brace myself holding the steering wheel". "Have never needed a seat belt yet". "If you think you need to wear a seat belt, maybe you need to learn to drive".

I admit, I do not wear proper leg protection. Mostly jeans and overtrousers. Used to wear a kidney belt years ago.

[swbarnett]

Great so now with this new information goes the saying, forewarned is forearmed. Or in this case perhaps fore armoured.

Welcome to the human race. Sounds like you are catching up.

Forgive me if I expect professionalism from professionals. I'm just not as Cynical as you seem to be.

[swbarnett]

I do not wear proper leg protection. Mostly jeans and overtrousers. Used to wear a kidney belt years ago.

How is "jeans and overtrousers" not "proper leg protection"? I presume you're talking about textile pants with knee armour etc.?

[nzspokes]

Forgive me if I expect professionalism from professionals. I'm just not as Cynical as you seem to be.

Good luck with that.

[swbarnett]

Good luck with that.

It's stood me in good stead so far.

[eldog]

I have done the no helmet, no gloves, no boots - tee shirt, shorts stint just to see what it felt like - so cool. Then reason stepped in - ATGATT

OK I have , boots, gloves, textile, back protector and shock absorbing impact armour.

The support the boots and shock pads really helped when I needed it. There was damage to gloves and helmet which I cant account for.

Wearing the gear always helped me feel that I had covered myself if I made a mistake. It never makes me feel bulletproof, that was after the accident when I rode the bike home.

I didnt go to the hospital and only went to the doctors after it was suggested by another person i respect 'at least get an ACC number' in case of future trouble. He had had that problem.

The first doc didnt think it was worthwhile getting an xray of foot or shoulder. Later the second doc thought that and other things were strange..

I would suggest investing in what gear you think is appropiate and what you can afford. I saved for quite a while to afford the gear that protected me. I was willing to wait as I knew it would save me later.

boring but true.

[F5 Dave]

SW, Your avatar seems to be an eagle. Perhaps an ostrich would be more appropriate.

[Erelyes]

There is no place in a hospital for anyone that will pass judgement before offering treatment. How the patient got there is irrelevant. If I found anyone doing what you describe above a formal complaint would be lodged and I would hope they would be fired on the spot.

Dude. It's human nature to pass judgement. Perhaps her remark was in poor taste, perhaps not, but it ain't a fireable offence. Get off the high horse.

If a smoker comes in with lung cancer should they be turned away and left to die? After all, that's way more self inflicted than any rider going down without the gear.

Who said anything about them being turned away? They got scraped up, they weren't going to die, they took a seat and waited like everyone else. We've had miserably long waits for various A&E visits involving non-motoring accidents. And a very quick admission for my wife's gallstones (cholecystectomy resulted). A dude straight from the set of Baywatch with some nasty scrapes probably does have to wait, cos our health system can only attend urgently to the most urgent cases.

[MisterD]

Has anyone thought to note the opinions of those who crashed without the gear, leading to severe gravel rash? Like cancer from smoking, it's those who haven't yet got it who are most vocal about not needing to worry about it.

I don't know any smoker who says they don't need to worry about cancer, on the other hand I do know several ex-smokers who are irritatingly evangelical about the need to quit...and this thread is ringing that bell pretty loudly.

[swbarnett]

It's human nature to pass judgement.

Agreed. This is not the problem, however.

Perhaps her remark was in poor taste, perhaps not, but it ain't a fireable offence.

Poor taste or not, no matter how heart-felt or true their view is it is not to be shared with the patient or allowed to affect the order in which injuries are treated.

To do so is not just in poor taste but very unprofessional. If I said to a customer "dude, you didn't do XYZ so you can go to the bottom of the pile", even though their problem was worse than the others in my pile, I would be hauled into the bosses office with a "please explain". Do it twice and I would told to find another profession.

I may belittle them privately but that will never make it's way to the customer, even indirectly.

Get off the high horse.

My horse isn't that high. I just expect that we will be treated in a professional manner no matter the personal feelings of the professional we're dealing with. FFS, if I walked into a shop carrying a helmet and was told I would be served last because they didn't like bikers I would never darken their door again. I wouldn't have a problem if they held that view privately but served me like anyone else in spite of it.

Who said anything about them being turned away?

To be sent to the bottom of the queue simply because of a value judgement is almost the same thing.

[swbarnett]

SW, Your avatar seems to be an eagle. Perhaps an ostrich would be more appropriate.

Golden eagle to be precise. I use it because it's my favorite bird. Not because it necessarily reflects anything about me. Although I'm not saying it doesn't either.