Ottawa Civic ER wait time is 1:20mins right now

Unfortunately that’s not usually the case - we’ll still typically be working through the evening (except maybe in some small rural ED - but they have other challenges)

The reason I like more manageable nights is 1) I can spend a more reasonable amount of time to actually sort things out with patients (the story is often the most important part of my assessment - but I almost never have the time I’d like because there’s 2 * category 2s and 5 * category 3s waiting to be seen, and those patients that haven’t been seen yet typically account for a high proportion of harm)

2) thinking about my decisions rather than rushing & making them knee jerk,

3) doing things that we should probably get done before a patient goes to the ward - but often don’t get done re: time (ascitic drain with culture, non standard nerve blocks, call the family member for a collateral story / update, etc)

4) being able to stop to pee

Source: Emergency Doc for 8 years

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