Generally, hearing that you got hit by a car doesn't ellicit much surprise in these parts. People just shrug, offer their sympathy and their own stories of the multiple times a car has hit them on a bicycle.
This case was a little more extreme, however, because Bret was on his scooter. Someone was making a turn across the street and didn't see him. Bret careened into the car's tire well, knocking him out for a tiny bit. When he came to, he had no shoes and saw that his scooter was wrecked (we laugh about the shoes part).
The doctor that saw Bret immediately following the accident did not order any scans, did not listen when people tried to translate, and refused to give him any medication. He prescribed low dose asprin. "Oh, did you just get hit by a car? Here's some asprin. Walk it off." When Bret said he couldn't walk because his ankle was messed up, they put a sports wrap on it and gave him some crutches. Then they told him to get lost. Unbelievable.
Everyone involved was pretty peeved and thought that doctor was pretty much a complete failure, so the next day we went to a private practice clinic. The doctor told Bret he should have a cast, even though the x-ray showed that nothing was broken. It made walking a lot easier for Bret. He's also getting some kind of therapy for his back, neck and shoulder. Bret is happy with the new doctor. He actually listens when Bret or Caleb speak. Amazing.
All in all, things are fine, but I'm still disgusted by how negligent that idiot was towards someone who was just HIT BY A CAR going 30 km/hr. I hope people have better experiences in emergency situations than we did.
interesting, socialized medicine isn't all it's cracked up to be. big surprise :) hope brett gets to feeling better soon! nice to have you back to blogging!!
ReplyDeleteThe doctors here are very hit or miss. I do have to add that private clinics here all accept National Healthcare cards, and cover the same percentage. It's just a tiny bit more expensive. But it doesn't matter because the lady who hit Bret is paying for everything, or at least her insurance is.
ReplyDeleteI still feel lucky to have healthcare here, because I definitely didn't after I graduated college and it cost me about 250 dollars to get a checkup at the dentist and if it weren't for planned parenthood, I wouldn't have had yearly checkups that are crucial for women.
I think something got passed in the US that says people under 30 can stay on their parents health insurance, so I hope I have that when I go back to America, otherwise it's back to no healthcare whatsoever...
Thanks for reading! :)