Dont waste your time when injured.....

[Ross and Alice]

No disrespect to anyone, but these areas we choose to ride are not metropolitan areas. As it is, there are enough problems with health care facilities in big cities or towns. These remote facilities probably have a very difficult time recruiting good people. And when they do, I would bet they don't stay long.

Food for thought, we choose a very dangerous hobby, we do it in very remote areas, and we don't always associate all the risks that go along with it. Just my .02 worth.

I understand your right honorable opinion.

Parump offers excellent living conditions, near a teriffic metropolitan area in Las Vegas at still relative reasonable real estate prices.

Good medical persons can be easily attracted.

No excuse what-so-ever for shoddy medical treatment and cavalier staff attitudes.

None at all.

A dangerous sport doesn't mean you compromise on good medical care.

[barefoot bob]

ya victor valley hospital is one step away from welfare central i hate that place the new one on bearvalley is rated in the top 100 and is a very nice facility, however if i need a life flight take me to loma linda or las huevos baby

[10Q]

Sorry to say, but not every doctor out there graduated at the top of their class. You hope and pray you get someone who was at least in the upper 50%. But even tho they have that pretty sheepskin hanging on the wall, they still might have been last in their class. You just never know.

[SandBox_Kid]

This is completely true, BUT....it's just sad that when you get to a doctor he tells you you are ok and you aren't. If he doesn't know for sure, he should at least be take extra caution and tell you to get checked out the next day to be sure.

That is unexcusable. I understand that not everyone wants to do their job to 100% like some of us...but if you choose a profession that invovles saving lives.....you shouldn't have any other choice but to be 100% on the job.

[EY3BA11]

i would hope my doc is 110% on the ball the day i show up!

[SandBox_Kid]

i would hope my doc is 110% on the ball the day i show up!

Nobody can give more than 100%.

.

It's all in how you look at it....and I meant the same thing.

[EY3BA11]

People can go above and beyond the call of their duty which is what i consider 110%

[Bound4Dirt]

I cannot stress this enough... After hearing about the death from thanksgiving weekend i cannot stress this ehough. IF HURT DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THE HOSPITAL IN PAHRUMP. I am a long time resident of pahrump and am gratefull for our new hospital. BUTT..... I went there after our minor roll at Dumont and not only got ridiculed by the nurses for going to Dumont but was also told ot was my own fault i got hurt. The nurse then continued to lecture me for having my 5 year old daughter in a rail. The doctor on duty spent less than 2 minutes with me then after the x rays of my hand came back he never even stopped in the room to tell me the results. Instead he stopped at the door on the way back to the football game on tv to tell me it wasnt broken. The next day i decided to get a second opinion from my fasmily doctor. My family doctor wanted to know why they only x rayed my hand when my arm flew out of the rail when we rolled.After getting a second set of x rays i found out my thumb was fractured and my collar bone broken which was never checked by the emergency room in Pahrump.

That same weekend a friend of ours crashed a quad at dumont and broke his left arm and in the crash bounced his face off the handle bars of his quad(yes he had a helmet on the bars wend through the front opening) he hit his face hard enough to break the throttle controls off the bars and was told in Pahrump not to worry about his nose and that they couldnt do anything for his broken arm and sent him to vegas.... dont waste your time go straight to vegas

File a complaint with the state board. His insurance will go up with just an investiagion being done. This can be done online.

[Bound4Dirt]

What do you call a doctor who graduates last in his class? A doctor!

[blu2xtreme]

Had a similar deal two years ago, here in Vegas. I was thrown ( some say jumped from fear of crashing )from my ATV at Dumont and hit really hard, hurt like h**l , everyone said tough it out. When we got back to town I went to a quick care and they took chest xrays and told me that it was just bruised ribs, take motrin. A few days later I start passing out and my husband took me to the hospital and ended up with a ruptured spleen and emergency surgery within the hour, only after nurses telling me how dangerous ATV are. Then after the surgery and receiving 6 units of blood ( we only have 8 units in our body ) , the surgeon almost had my husband and I convinced to sell our ATVs. Luckily we came down from our fear and remembered all the good times riding has given us. We do have all the kids wear full gear head to toe now, and I now have a Rhino with harnesses so I can't fall out. For us, we learned to make sure we are checked out even for smaller wrecks and my hubby has taken his riding down a notch, since we aren't kids anymore.

[GraywolfGraphics]

I didnt start this thread to do Doctor Bashing but as a warning to fellow duners. I have had several personal dealings with this new hospital and in my opinion every visit has been a waste of time. I agree MOST doctors do a good job and are proud of their job. But 2 bad diagnoses in one day when a nurse told me they only had 5 PAITENTS IN THE ER ALL WEEKEND come on. I dont know what the outcome was of the other 3 paitents was that weekend but at the most that is a 40 percent failure rate. Id be fired at my job for results like that and im just in communications not life preservation.......

[OGP]

AMEN!!!!!

It is a terrible thing that has happened to this family. I understand that many others have had BAD experiences with medical facilities, but let's not forget that doctors and nurses are just as "human" as we are. No one can be PERFECT 100% of the time. No one! I, personally, would not be here today if not for the WONDERFUL staff that all did their job & saved my life. And yes, it was here in Vegas!! So before we do any more doctor bashing, let's take a minute to think about all of the good they do EVERY DAY! Once again, what happened in this case is tragic and they have a right to be angry. I don't dispute that. All of these stories here about second opinions, how about some credit to those doctors who actually "found" what the problem really was. Lets not forget how bad things would really be if these people were'nt here to help us. My .02 cents.

Were not here bashing all dr.s and nurses. we are hear bashing the incompetent dr.s and nurses that shouldnt be dr.s or nurses and should be greeters at walmart.

[rich807]

I heard that many of the Docs in the Pahrump hospital are ones that rotate back and forth between there and the Vegas hospitals. Moral of the story is you can get bad service anywhere.

A good lesson to take away from this is not totally just "stay away from Pahrump" but to seek out a 2nd opinion as soon as you get back to your family doc or to another medical facility you're comfortable with after any appreciable accident.

Also, I agree 100% with Ross' comment above, there's absolutely zero excuse for not completely examining patients with impact injuries. Terry should not be dead today, he had a ruptured spleen from his fall that was on the x-rays and they missed it.....again, zero excuse for that.

[Its2boyz4me]

I heard that many of the Docs in the Pahrump hospital are ones that rotate back and forth between there and the Vegas hospitals. Moral of the story is you can get bad service anywhere.

A good lesson to take away from this is not totally just "stay away from Pahrump" but to seek out a 2nd opinion as soon as you get back to your family doc or to another medical facility you're comfortable with after any appreciable accident.

Also, I agree 100% with Ross' comment above, there's absolutely zero excuse for not completely examining patients with impact injuries. Terry should not be dead today, he had a ruptured spleen from his fall that was on the x-rays and they missed it.....again, zero excuse for that.

You are exactly right about the 2nd opinion. That was our plan on Monday to see his regular Dr. (The hospital said to follow-up in 4 days which would have been Tues). We didn't obtain any other opinion prior because we thought all the syptoms Terry was having was from so many broken bones. We never thought he was bleeding inside and going to die from all this. You expect when you obtain professional help that they are thorough but my family has learned the hard way.

I know a few of you felt that others were bashing this hopsital and some took offense to it, but from the stories everyone has posted here....it appears that there are some serious issues with this hospital that need to be investigated. We all know that were are problems in any job field, but when someone is careless with someone elses life when that person trusted them...that's just not right!

Again I want to THANK ALL OF YOU that have taken the time to post a thought for my family, it was nice to see all the things people wrote.

Take Care and enjoy your Holiday, you never know what might happen.

Christy

[SandBox_Kid]

Apparently you don't want to get hurt in Pahrump period....

PAHRUMP VALLEY: Emergency personnel charged

Sheriff alleges men failed to provide aid to gunshot victim

Two emergency medical technicians in Pahrump are facing felony charges after police say they failed to render medical aid to a man with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Carrol L. Meeks and Rod Fernandes were arrested Nov. 30, six days after the death of 64-year-old Linus Windler.

According to the Nye County sheriff's office, Windler called 911 to report that he was having trouble breathing. When the EMTs arrived at the man's trailer home, they heard a gunshot, police said.

Meeks and Fernandes went inside and found Windler with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

According to police, the EMTs told officers at the scene that Windler was dead, but one of the deputies noticed that the man was breathing and had a pulse.

Police said deputies had to repeatedly order Meeks and Fernandes to treat Windler and take him to the hospital.

Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo said the man went without treatment at the scene for at least 30 minutes. By the time the ambulance carrying Windler arrived at Desert View Regional Medical Center, almost an hour had passed since the EMTs first arrived at the scene, DeMeo said.

Windler's trailer is four miles away from the hospital.

Windler was pronounced dead within half an hour of arriving at the hospital.

DeMeo said that in a recording of radio traffic from the call, emergency personnel can be heard reporting that Windler was dead at the scene. A short time later, a deputy can be heard rescinding that information, DeMeo said.

The sheriff said he would not release the recording without a court order.

Fernandes and Meeks were charged with on one count each of felony criminal neglect of a patient and felony neglect of an older person. They are each free on $10,000 bail.

DeMeo said he has never heard of a case like this in his 33 years in law enforcement. "And I used to work as an EMT at a trauma hospital, too," he said.

Reached for comment Monday evening, Pahrump Fire Chief Scott Lewis said there was a lot he would like to say about the case but he was "under a total gag order."

Pahrump Town Manager Dave Richards refused to discuss the arrests, the employment status of Meeks and Fernandes or how long the two men have worked for the Pahrump Valley Fire-Rescue Service.

A source close to the town's fire and ambulance service said Fernandes and Meeks, who is known simply as C.L. by his friends and coworkers, have been with the department for about 10 years.

At one time, Meeks was the service's second in command, but his current rank was not immediately available.

DeMeo said the case should not reflect on Pahrump's emergency services as a whole.

"This is so out of the ordinary," DeMeo said. "The Pahrump Valley Fire-Rescue Service is good. They're extremely good."

[THE BOMB]

Wow, first off I would like to say how sorry I am to hear about Christy's and her family's loss. The medical issues in the Vegas valley area are some of the worst case in the country. I know a nurse that works at Pahrumps hospital (part-time) and never heard her say anything bad about the docs (doesn't mean it can't happen). But, she has told me about numerous cases of the Paramedics there being very incompetent.

I have been involved in EMS/ER Nursing for over 25 years. I worked in Pennsylvania, Texas and now Nevada. This is the worst area I have seen. This is also the fastest growing area in the country. Be advised that anything I say is in no way an excuse for poor health care or someone not doing their job to fullest. My wife and I both work in busy ER's. We've seen it all from dead babies to mutilated trauma victims. Also we are constantly abused and taken advantage of from the misfits of society (homeless who fake chest pain just to get a 3 day stay, drug abusers who punch and kick and spit at us, my wife and I have had our lives treatened more times than anyone would believe). You've heard of the 6-12 hour waits in the ER to see a doctor.....well, it's just going to get worse, and swearing and treatening the triage nurse isn't going to get you seen any faster. We don't have any open beds!!! We have people who are admitted to the hospital and have to be kept in the ER for days, Too many people -not enough hospital personnel! 8 Thousand people move here a month! Las vegas area doesn't even come close compared to Cal. in pay. Traveling nurses come here and find out they have to take care of ICU patients in the ER and they walk out the same day. It's not like this in most parts of the country! The burn out rate here is incredible!

Nove of this is any excuse for poor diagnosis. But as someone mentioned getting a good doctor is hit and miss! I personnaly know more good doctors than bad. Insurance company's have played a huge role in this. Many dictate what tests they deem are truely neccessary and what aren't (arm chair quarterback/what they will and what they won't pay for). Of course management comes down on the doctors who order "excessive tests" and they get hit from both sides. These physicians have to walk a fine line in doing what is right (and not getting sued from a misdiagnosis) to having upper management coming down on them and losing their positions......yes we have bills and families too.

Don't know what the answer is, but local government needs to be more procative with healthcare and less with casionos (but hospital don't make money for politicians!). So there you go.

Christy, I think the doctor who misdiagmosed your father should be investigated. Did he order a CAT scan? X-rays will not show internal bleeding. Somethings cannot be seen in the first few hours or even the first day, even with x-rays or CT's. In those cases we either admit (24 hours), if we have a high level of suspician, or we have the patient follow-up the next day.....4 days seems like a long time for this type of injury. Alot of times it's a subjective thing...you have to go by prior experineces/gut feeling, not everything in life is black and white. Remember doctors and nurses are human beings and it's not easy to be perfect 100% of the time. I haven't meet a perfect human being yet. The majority of health care workers really care and want to do their best! This is a very difficult job and if you aren't a person who cares about other people, you won't last long!

Lastly, I want to again say sorry to Christy for the loss of her father. Let's hope we never hear about a story like this again!

[barefoot bob]

its just like the schools in alot of ways these labor unions here in cali have a stranglehold on everything and teachers who are not teaching . or should not even be in a classroom are trying to teach are screaming for more money as were taxed to death. health care proffesionals take an oath to take care of us peeps. i dunno about you but i expect albiet DEMAND that they hold up to there oath. or they should recieve dier concequences. that goes for police or any other job that involves human beings public saftey or health .

from what im hearing i wouldnt let that pahrump er check my dog. im not trying to sound all uppety and militant here. however what is said here and in newspapers is wrong. it should be dealt with severly.including what sounds like malpractice .life flight me to loma linda . that is really a bad thing when you have to shop for the best hospital by the rate of pay. how truly sad

[Richard Cheese]

Wow, first off I would like to say how sorry I am to hear about Christy's and her family's loss. The medical issues in the Vegas valley area are some of the worst case in the country. I know a nurse that works at Pahrumps hospital (part-time) and never heard her say anything bad about the docs (doesn't mean it can't happen). But, she has told me about numerous cases of the Paramedics there being very incompetent.

I have been involved in EMS/ER Nursing for over 25 years. I worked in Pennsylvania, Texas and now Nevada. This is the worst area I have seen. This is also the fastest growing area in the country. Be advised that anything I say is in no way an excuse for poor health care or someone not doing their job to fullest. My wife and I both work in busy ER's. We've seen it all from dead babies to mutilated trauma victims. Also we are constantly abused and taken advantage of from the misfits of society (homeless who fake chest pain just to get a 3 day stay, drug abusers who punch and kick and spit at us, my wife and I have had our lives treatened more times than anyone would believe). You've heard of the 6-12 hour waits in the ER to see a doctor.....well, it's just going to get worse, and swearing and treatening the triage nurse isn't going to get you seen any faster. We don't have any open beds!!! We have people who are admitted to the hospital and have to be kept in the ER for days, Too many people -not enough hospital personnel! 8 Thousand people move here a month! Las vegas area doesn't even come close compared to Cal. in pay. Traveling nurses come here and find out they have to take care of ICU patients in the ER and they walk out the same day. It's not like this in most parts of the country! The burn out rate here is incredible! Nove of this is any excuse for poor diagnosis. But as someone mentioned getting a good doctor is hit and miss! I personnaly know more good doctors than bad. Insurance company's have played a huge role in this. Many dictate what tests they deem are truely neccessary and what aren't (arm chair quarterback/what they will and what they won't pay for). Of course management comes down on the doctors who order "excessive tests" and they get hit from both sides. These physicians have to walk a fine line in doing what is right (and not getting sued from a misdiagnosis) to having upper management coming down on them and losing their positions......yes we have bills and families too.

Don't know what the answer is, but local government needs to be more procative with healthcare and less with casionos (but hospital don't make money for politicians!). So there you go.

Christy, I think the doctor who misdiagmosed your father should be investigated. Did he order a CAT scan? X-rays will not show internal bleeding. Somethings cannot be seen in the first few hours or even the first day, even with x-rays or CT's. In those cases we either admit (24 hours), if we have a high level of suspician, or we have the patient follow-up the next day.....4 days seems like a long time for this type of injury. Alot of times it's a subjective thing...you have to go by prior experineces/gut feeling, not everything in life is black and white. Remember doctors and nurses are human beings and it's not easy to be perfect 100% of the time. I haven't meet a perfect human being yet. The majority of health care workers really care and want to do their best! This is a very difficult job and if you aren't a person who cares about other people, you won't last long!

Lastly, I want to again say sorry to Christy for the loss of her father. Let's hope we never hear about a story like this again!

you can also thank the illegal aliens for that wait in the ER too

[GraywolfGraphics]

you can also thank the illegal aliens for that wait in the ER too

Havent you seen the news.... That is the one problem Pahrump is trying to handle and we are catching flack for it.

[barefoot bob]

of course you will catch flack the legal ones want the illegal ones so they can take it all back

[Its2boyz4me]

Wow, first off I would like to say how sorry I am to hear about Christy's and her family's loss. The medical issues in the Vegas valley area are some of the worst case in the country. I know a nurse that works at Pahrumps hospital (part-time) and never heard her say anything bad about the docs (doesn't mean it can't happen). But, she has told me about numerous cases of the Paramedics there being very incompetent.

I have been involved in EMS/ER Nursing for over 25 years. I worked in Pennsylvania, Texas and now Nevada. This is the worst area I have seen. This is also the fastest growing area in the country. Be advised that anything I say is in no way an excuse for poor health care or someone not doing their job to fullest. My wife and I both work in busy ER's. We've seen it all from dead babies to mutilated trauma victims. Also we are constantly abused and taken advantage of from the misfits of society (homeless who fake chest pain just to get a 3 day stay, drug abusers who punch and kick and spit at us, my wife and I have had our lives treatened more times than anyone would believe). You've heard of the 6-12 hour waits in the ER to see a doctor.....well, it's just going to get worse, and swearing and treatening the triage nurse isn't going to get you seen any faster. We don't have any open beds!!! We have people who are admitted to the hospital and have to be kept in the ER for days, Too many people -not enough hospital personnel! 8 Thousand people move here a month! Las vegas area doesn't even come close compared to Cal. in pay. Traveling nurses come here and find out they have to take care of ICU patients in the ER and they walk out the same day. It's not like this in most parts of the country! The burn out rate here is incredible!

Nove of this is any excuse for poor diagnosis. But as someone mentioned getting a good doctor is hit and miss! I personnaly know more good doctors than bad. Insurance company's have played a huge role in this. Many dictate what tests they deem are truely neccessary and what aren't (arm chair quarterback/what they will and what they won't pay for). Of course management comes down on the doctors who order "excessive tests" and they get hit from both sides. These physicians have to walk a fine line in doing what is right (and not getting sued from a misdiagnosis) to having upper management coming down on them and losing their positions......yes we have bills and families too.

Don't know what the answer is, but local government needs to be more procative with healthcare and less with casionos (but hospital don't make money for politicians!). So there you go.

Christy, I think the doctor who misdiagmosed your father should be investigated. Did he order a CAT scan? X-rays will not show internal bleeding. Somethings cannot be seen in the first few hours or even the first day, even with x-rays or CT's. In those cases we either admit (24 hours), if we have a high level of suspician, or we have the patient follow-up the next day.....4 days seems like a long time for this type of injury. Alot of times it's a subjective thing...you have to go by prior experineces/gut feeling, not everything in life is black and white. Remember doctors and nurses are human beings and it's not easy to be perfect 100% of the time. I haven't meet a perfect human being yet. The majority of health care workers really care and want to do their best! This is a very difficult job and if you aren't a person who cares about other people, you won't last long!

Lastly, I want to again say sorry to Christy for the loss of her father. Let's hope we never hear about a story like this again!

To THE BOMB....please see your inbox for a long letter of explanation

So you all know they didn't do anything except a few x-rays of his ribs and shoulders. The didn't do any other body exams even though on his intake sheet states his whole left side is hurting. They didn't even write down all his meds except that he was on blood thinners. My father was also a diabetic and had high blood pressure. His first vitals were 115/53 with a pulse of 81 and his discharge vitals were 103/47 with a pulse of 99....and they thought this was stable how? I do not know. They even called on Monday, the day after he died, and they were quite "put out" for having to call and see if something happened to him and after I told him he had died last night, the lady's exact words were " OH OK, the coroners office had just called and we can't release without your consent so do you consent to the release of his records?" YES these were her exact words. Wanted to kill the DAM lady, she knew he had passed and wanted me to explain to her that he was dead

To you again that think people are bashing here......this is why, when a Dr allows things like this to happen and then the staff is heartless when they call a family that has lost a family member in this matter. They need to have a reality check and make sure they aren't careless with someone else's life again.

And once again to all that have posted kind words, THANK YOU.

Christy

[SandBox_Kid]

To THE BOMB....please see your inbox for a long letter of explanation

So you all know they didn't do anything except a few x-rays of his ribs and shoulders. The didn't do any other body exams even though on his intake sheet states his whole left side is hurting. They didn't even write down all his meds except that he was on blood thinners. My father was also a diabetic and had high blood pressure. His first vitals were 115/53 with a pulse of 81 and his discharge vitals were 103/47 with a pulse of 99....and they thought this was stable how? I do not know. They even called on Monday, the day after he died, and they were quite "put out" for having to call and see if something happened to him and after I told him he had died last night, the lady's exact words were " OH OK, the coroners office had just called and we can't release without your consent so do you consent to the release of his records?" YES these were her exact words. Wanted to kill the DAM lady, she knew he had passed and wanted me to explain to her that he was dead

To you again that think people are bashing here......this is why, when a Dr allows things like this to happen and then the staff is heartless when they call a family that has lost a family member in this matter. They need to have a reality check and make sure they aren't careless with someone else's life again.

And once again to all that have posted kind words, THANK YOU.

Christy

Hang in there Christy....I know from experience that these are very trying times.

[THE BOMB]

Christy's right, don't ever go to a small hospital unless you're in the middle of frickin no where, at least for trauma that is! Go to Las Vegas (UMC or Sunrise both do a good job with trauma). Take an ambulance when in doubt, even if you have to wait...bad things can happen during that drive in. In Christy's case this would have not mattered, the staff in the ER had more than enough time and warning signs to treat appropriately! Anything we can do to help, Christy, let us know.

Greg & Julia

[Its2boyz4me]

Christy's right, don't ever go to a small hospital unless you're in the middle of frickin no where, at least for trauma that is! Go to Las Vegas (UMC or Sunrise both do a good job with trauma). Take an ambulance when in doubt, even if you have to wait...bad things can happen during that drive in. In Christy's case this would have not mattered, the staff in the ER had more than enough time and warning signs to treat appropriately! Anything we can do to help, Christy, let us know.

Greg & Julia

Greg you are right about the "ride to the hospital", we were worried about issues with the ride, he about passed out 4 or 5 times just getting out of Dumont trying to get to the paved road and that's why we went to Parhump instead of heading home ( home would have been at least a 2 1/2 hour ride safely ). We just wanted to get those drugs to make him comfortable. Again thanks for all the nice words everyone has sent our way.

Christy