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Maybe "self-medication" isn't such a bad idea after all (especially when dealing with a socialized healthcare system)... Several treatments are available to combat the heart arrhythmia "atrial fibrillation," but all require medical supervision, which John Griffin, 69, said he tried to acquire at the emergency room at New Zealand's Waikato Hospital in April, only to be met with delay and frustration. Griffin went home that day, took notice of his neighbor's 8,000-volt electric security fence and, with boots off, in a fit of do-it-yourself desperation, nudged it with his arm. He got quite a jolt, he said, but he walked away, and his heart returned to natural rhythm. The medical director of the Heart Foundation of New Zealand said that Griffin was lucky and sternly warned against the "procedure." [New Zealand Herald, 5-2-2017]
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Posted from newsoftheweird.com
Humor
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Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
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Good God! Couldn't they hear the arrhythmia? And couldn't find someone qualified to do it? I do like your sense of humor though, Jack!
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Fixes for Atrial Fibrillation are neither immediate, nor guaranteed. They may have suggested to keep him for 2-5 days to schedule a procedure and he got angry and left. Basically you treat the cause (usually potassium or magnesium depletion), give blood thinners, then can try cardioversion or scarring areas of the heart as a last resort. Still no guarantees of sixes, sup they are kept for monitoring.
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You are right. Sometimes we don't know the whole story. However it would seem they would have a doctor qualified to make that decision.
I had a heart attack at a young age. I knew all of the symptoms and sought immediate attention. I still remember the ER doctor and how panicked he looked. He was more freaked out that I. Luckily my wife was a nurse there in duty. She called for a good cardiologist to come and see me. I knew the ER doctor and that might have been why he was so concerned!
I had a heart attack at a young age. I knew all of the symptoms and sought immediate attention. I still remember the ER doctor and how panicked he looked. He was more freaked out that I. Luckily my wife was a nurse there in duty. She called for a good cardiologist to come and see me. I knew the ER doctor and that might have been why he was so concerned!
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