When leg meets car
As they used to say in the intro of Hart to Hart, “when those two met, it was moider!” Well not quite that bad, but this week has certainly been an interesting one.
On the Wednesday before last, while walking back from the office to collect my car, I was knocked down while crossing the road. I say knocked down, in fact when the car hit me I went flying into the air, hit and smashed the windscreen, bounced off it landing on the bonnet leaving a nice dent, then rolled off onto the tarmac.
A few seconds later, I was standing up and the driver and I were trading, “are you OK’s?” and “Sorry about your car. Sorry about your leg!” and a kind passer by then offered me a lift to the hospital two minutes up the road as by that time my leg was really beginning to ache.
I hobbled into the Emergency Department and registered, then sat there for 20 mins or so until a nurse triaged me, then waited another 40 mins to be seen by another nurse who took my vitals and gave me some painkillers. Another hour or so and I was seen by a Doctor, who was excellent and judged that i’d not broken anything but most likely sprained some ligaments in my right knee and sustained a lot of bruising and swelling. Another 40 mins or so and it was off for 3 x-rays and after another short wait a couple of minutes chat with the Doctor and three different kinds of painkillers to take home with me.
In all, the treatment and the staff were excellent, the only downside was the hanging around for 4 hours to get it, with not so much as a book to or leaflet to while away the time. There was one poem on the wall, supplied by some kind of public art project, which was thematically based around a peacock which was screaming and wailing, blood was involved. Just the kind of cheery fare you need when you’re waiting to have your injuries assessed!
So, what i’m really interested in knowing, should I have any American readers is how much that little lot would have cost had I pitched up at an ER in America. We’re talking assesment by a nurse, a consult with a doctor, 3 X-Rays and a weeks supply of 3 different painkillers to take home.
Here in the UK, under the NHS I may have had to wait 4 hours to get it, but it didn’t cost me a penny (other than my taxes of course!)
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