Holiday Vacation Time Makes Emergency Departments Dangerous And Instances Of New York Medical Malpractice Common

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The healthcare profession is one of the few professions which are constantly working, including during the holidays. In that degree, it is a very laudable profession in that healthcare workers are pulled away from family while the rest of us are celebrating. But they are working because accidents can happen any time on any day, which is why they are needed twenty-four hours a day.

Yet, this does not mean that you are getting the most experienced healthcare workers in the emergency room. Like all professions, seniority is a big factor in selecting vacation time and time off for the holidays. While some holidays are more restricted as to this, most are not. The most experienced healthcare provides get first bite at the vacation schedule and will usually take this time of year off. This leaves lesser experienced professionals to man the emergency department during the holidays.

Like all professions, the most experienced professionals are generally the best. The skill and knowledge of an emergency room doctor with 25 years experienced is significantly more than one with 5 or less years. Yet, the holiday emergency rooms could be completely manned by other healthcare providers with less than 5 years because all of the other experienced healthcare providers picked that from vacation time first. While there may still be a senior healthcare professional or two on staff, that does not always health a crazy emergency room.

This can result in serious and significant medical errors when there are less-trained and experienced healthcare providers rendering treatment. This includes many common mistakes due to inexperienced healthcare providers:
failure to diagnose heart attacks;
improperly triaging patients;
failing to diagnose a stroke;
medication errors;
communication errors;
medication errors;
failing to read imaging studies properly;
dropping patients;
surgical errors; and
related medical mistakes.

Holiday emergency departments are always better than trying to outlast the injuries or treat it yourself, but they can be dangerous places due to the medical errors which are known to occur and can cause very serious personal injury.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com. You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.