February 24, 2021
The Weitz Firm, LLC

Rushing to the emergency room is the last thing anyone wants to be doing. Whether you or someone you love needs emergency medical attention, the last thing you want to do is worry about whether or not the medical staff is taking care of you or your loved one. Just like any other hospital or doctor’s visit, medical mistakes can occur. Our Philadelphia emergency room malpractice attorneys at The Weitz Firm, LLC want to share five common emergency room mistakes you may encounter. The more you are educated about a situation, the better you can recognize an issue to resolve it better.

1. Information Processing

When you enter an ER, you have to give as much information as you know. Once you give your answers, it is the technology’s job to process those answers to the correct places. Information processing systems are different and sometimes have coding systems errors embedded in the systems. Sometimes medical staff catches these errors before it is too late. However, that is not always the case, and it can cause serious injury for patients relying on adequate medical care.

2. Verifying Information that was Gathered

If you have ever been in an ER, you know that the questions are endless and often repeated. You tell the same story to five different medical personal. Unfortunately, things get lost in translation, or the medical staff doesn’t ask the right questions. Continuing medical care without proper verification of information can lead to medication errors, misdiagnosis, or other errors that can lead to further injury or aggravation of a current injury.

3. Inadequate Knowledge of Problems

As a regular person in desperate need of medical attention, it’s hard to remind yourself that doctors and medical staff are just human. Even though they have tons of knowledge and can work miracles, they are still human and can always make mistakes. In a recent survey of emergency room issues, inadequate knowledge was, thankfully, a very infrequent issue.

4. Inadequate Information Gathering

Much like the verification process, medical staff and personnel should be asking as many questions as possible to get all the information. Even though it is more likely a patient will withhold information, it is still possible for staff to forget to ask big questions vital to the situation. The study also found inadequate information gathering as very low in the frequency of error.

5. Misjudging Information and Prematurely Misdiagnosis

This category was higher in the frequency of occurrence, which is troubling because a misdiagnosis can lead to further injuries. The survey found that patients with abdominal issues were more susceptible to medical errors in the ER. As patients, we depend on our doctors to adequately assess the situation. As your attorneys, we are here to ensure that you get the answers and compensation you deserve for any mistreatment and emergency room error.

If you or someone you love is suffering from an injury due to an Emergency Room error, contact us for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or calling 267-587-6240.

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