[Texasbelle]

This is tragic and shameful but not uncommon. I was in the ICU waiting room at a local hospital last week. There was a family sitting next to us who told the story of their mother being taken to a local ER with chest pain. She waited in the waiting room for well over an hour with chest pain. When her pain and symptoms got to the point of unbearable and there was still no sign of her being seen soon, her family took her outside to the parking lot and called 911. They told 911 the lady was having chest pain, where she was, and an ambulance immediately came. The ambulance picked her up and took her immediately inside the ER to a bed where it was discovered (duh) she was having a major heart attack.

I think the moral to all of these stories is there is beginning to be a lack of empathy in healthcare and don't drive yourself to the ER. Call 911.