In COVID Hot Zones, Firefighters Now 鈥楶ump More Oxygen Than Water鈥
Firefighters are often thrust into front-line health emergencies. During the COVID pandemic, they鈥檝e paid an especially high price.
Emergency Medicine
141 - 160 of 279 Results
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What Happened When the Only ER Doctor in a Rural Town Got COVID
Hospitals across the country are struggling as staffers get infected with the coronavirus. It's especially tough for small, rural hospitals, where even one doctor out sick can upend patient capacity.
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After Kid鈥檚 Minor Bike Accident, Major Bill Sets Legal Wheels in Motion
It was a surprise even in a family of lawyers. The process called 鈥渟ubrogation鈥 began with one Nevada family鈥檚 health insurer denying their claim for an emergency room visit after 9-year-old fell off his bike.
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Need a COVID-19 Nurse? That鈥檒l Be $8,000 a Week
A shortage of nurses has turned hospital staffing into a sort of national bidding war, with hospitals willing to pay exorbitant wages to secure the nurses they need. That threatens to shift the supply of nurses toward more affluent areas.
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Parents Complain That Pediatricians, Wary of COVID, Shift Sick Kids to Urgent Care
Referrals of children to urgent care clinics or emergency rooms have become so prevalent that the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with interim guidance on how practices can safely continue to see patients. The academy recommended that pediatricians strive "to provide care for the same variety of visits that they provided prior to the public health emergency."
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‘All You Want Is to Be Believed’: The Impacts of Unconscious Bias in Health Care
One woman shares her experience trying to get care in a Bay Area hospital for COVID symptoms. At nearly every turn, a doctor dismissed her complaints. Is bias part of why people of color are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus?
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‘No Mercy’ Chapter 3: Patchwork of Urgent Care Frays After a Rural Hospital Closes
Fort Scott, Kansas, went without an ER for 18 days, after the local hospital shut down. Documenting local trauma during that 鈥渄ark period鈥 helped investigative reporter Sarah Jane Tribble unravel some of the complications that come after a rural hospital closes.
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鈥榊ou鈥檙e Going to Release Him When He Was Hurting Himself?鈥
Daniel Prude鈥檚 family knew he needed psychiatric care and tried to get it for him. Instead, his encounter with police hours after he was released from Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, proved fatal.
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With No Legal Guardrails for Patients, Ambulances Drive Surprise Medical Billing
Studies show that at least half of ground ambulance rides across the nation leave patients with 鈥渟urprise鈥 medical bills. And a $300-a-mile ride is not unusual. Yet federal legislation to stem what鈥檚 known as balance billing has largely ignored ambulance costs.
By Laura Ungar -
Veteran鈥檚 Appendectomy Launches Excruciating Months-Long Battle Over Bill
An uninsured Colorado man owed $80,232 after two surgeries 鈥 the second to correct a complication from the first. After months of negotiating with the hospital, he still owes far more than most insurers would pay for the surgery he had.
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‘Is This When I Drop Dead?’ Two Doctors Report From the COVID Front Lines
Two emergency room doctors, one in New York and the other in Houston, discuss their cities鈥 coronavirus outbreaks 鈥 and responses.
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Essential Worker Shoulders $1,840 Pandemic Debt Due To COVID Cost Loophole
Carmen Quintero had symptoms of COVID-19, couldn鈥檛 get tested and ended up with a huge bill. She also was told to self-isolate and assume she had the coronavirus 鈥 which is hard when you live with elders.
By Sarah Varney -
Injured And Uninsured, Protesters Get Medical Aid From LA Doctor
A Los Angeles ophthalmologist's offer on Instagram has ballooned into a loose network of physicians providing medical care to protesters who were injured while rallying against police brutality and racism. While clashes with the police have died down in some parts of the country, some protesters are seeking care for festering wounds from days-old injuries.
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Fighting COVID And Police Brutality, Medical Teams Take To Streets To Treat Protesters
Off-duty medical professionals joined protests in Denver and elsewhere sparked by George Floyd鈥檚 death to treat injured protesters, risking injury themselves.
By LJ Dawson -
For EMTs, There鈥檚 No 鈥楻ule Book鈥 For Facing A Pandemic And Protests At Once
Emergency medical technicians, who have been on the front lines against the coronavirus, also play a key role in helping provide care during protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.
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Tear-Gassing Protesters During An Infectious Outbreak ‘A Recipe For Disaster’
Health researchers are among the voices calling for police to stop using tear gas and pepper spray on protesters, because these chemical irritants can damage the body in ways that can spread the coronavirus and increase the severity of COVID-19. One example: Tear gas and pepper spray can sow confusion and panic in a crowd, causing people to rip off their masks and touch their faces, leading to more contamination.
By Will Stone -
Postcard From The Border
COVID-19 Overwhelms Border ICUs
Some California hospitals near the Mexican border have received so many COVID-19 patients the past few weeks that they have had to divert some to other facilities. Hospital officials say most of the infected patients are U.S. citizens or legal residents who live in, or recently traveled to, Mexico and came to the U.S. for care.
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Nearly Half Of Americans Delayed Medical Care Due To Pandemic
Of those who went without seeing a doctor or other medical provider, 11% experienced a worsened medical condition, according to the poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In addition, nearly 40% said stress related to the coronavirus crisis has negatively impacted their mental health.
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Bill Of The Month
COVID-Like Cough Sent Him To ER 鈥 Where He Got A $3,278 Bill
A dad in Denver tried to do everything right when COVID symptoms surfaced. Still, he ended up with a huge bill from an insurer that had said it waived cost sharing for coronavirus treatment. What gives?
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Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care
Emergency department volumes are down 40 to 50 percent across the country. Doctors worry a new wave of cardiac patients is headed their way 鈥 people who have delayed care and will be sicker and more injured when they finally seek care.
By Will Stone and Elly Yu, KPCC