Car Accident Yesterday

[Der Cute]

My car got smooshed. (Airbag dust tastes bitter like fire extinguisher dust does. Just sayin').
My muscles are stiff, around my neck, and I don't feel any bleeding or bones or stuff. I would kind of like to go to a place and get xrays/checked over. But it's Xmas EVE! My thought is to do it within 24 hours of a crash to show that I didn't get drunk and fall down TODAY, then claim it.
Go to ER anyways?

[It's me]

Yes, go to ER. Even though you feel okay(ish) you could have internal hemorrhaging, and could have a concussion. Pressure build up in the skull can be fatal. Also prompt attention to soft-tissue damage is needed in order to minimize long-term affect of the injuries.

[Der Cute]

Part of me wants to argue that I'm ok everything's fine just neck, but you're right. I'll go. But the ER? I feel bad taking a seat there when I'm not dying/bleeding/gunshot wound.

[It's me]

Part of me wants to argue that I'm ok everything's fine just neck, but you're right. I'll go. But the ER? I feel bad taking a seat there when I'm not dying/bleeding/gunshot wound.

ER is for things that can't wait for an appointment. Some things (coughs, rashes and warts) can wait. Car accidents can't. Go!

[Sapphire Silk]

My car got smooshed. (Airbag dust tastes bitter like fire extinguisher dust does. Just sayin').
My muscles are stiff, around my neck, and I don't feel any bleeding or bones or stuff. I would kind of like to go to a place and get xrays/checked over. But it's Xmas EVE! My thought is to do it within 24 hours of a crash to show that I didn't get drunk and fall down TODAY, then claim it.
Go to ER anyways?

It's completely up to you, and whether or not you think you need medical care. My default is when in doubt, go. But that doesn't mean you should or shouldn't. It's an individual decision based on how you feel.

If you tell the ER you were in a car accident, they will believe you regardless of when you go.

Did you file a police report? Get the other guy's insurance info?

Hope everything is OK.

[Der Cute]

Oh this was ALLL on me. Lost traction spun, hit wall, spun, hit other wall, air bag, car unhappy..me unhappy.
Police report, ticket (yay) and called in a claim within hours of the accident.
I'm kind of thinking that a visit will also solidify me; if I have minor whiplash, ok, bit more, ok let's deal with it. If I develop something next week, I wouldn't know if this or what would the culprit be.

[Pixilated]

I hope you decided to go to ER because ... this was a very freak accident but I've never forgotten the story: couple in vehicle spins out and overturns on icy road. Both walk away. A week later, guy notices his neck is stiff and painful and finally goes to ER. Diagnosis: a broken neck. At any point during that week he could've severed his spinal cord ...

Sometimes things that don't seem like much turn out to be very much ... much. Hope everything turned out OK for you!

[Der Cute]

No, didn't go. No stiffness or pain at all! It's weird. I was rear-ended once and that hurt more than this does/did.
Now comes the fun part of car repair logistics. Wheeeee! not.

[Seshat]

Please at least go to your family doctor. Car accident injuries can be subtle.

And yes, going to an ER is warranted for any emergent (ie, 'it just happened' or 'it just became serious') situation.

Sure, if you can get an appointment at your family doctor or your local urgent care, that does take the stress off the ER. And go right ahead and use them if they're available.

But on Xmas Eve, they're probably not. And a car accident certainly 'just happened' - it's emergent, it does need to be checked, it warrants at minimum speaking with the triage nurse.

[Flygon_Trainer]

Long time lurker, go to the ER or at least see a good chiro. My mother developed degenerative spinal discs after a car accident, things stack up over time and if you wait too long your car insurance will want to claim that any injuries later on were unrelated to the car accident.

Go to the doctor. Pronto.

[PepperElf]

Part of me wants to argue that I'm ok everything's fine just neck, but you're right. I'll go. But the ER? I feel bad taking a seat there when I'm not dying/bleeding/gunshot wound.

Remember, they'll do triage anyway - meaning they'll sort out who needs attention NOW and who can wait a little longer. So someone who is "dying/bleeding/gunshot wound" is going to get seen first anyway.


Besides, if there's internal bleeding you'll want to know before it gets bad, right? They can tell.


And with airbags they can also damage you too. Yes they cushion you but sometimes at the cost of other parts of your body. Guy on my first ship lost his eye to one.

[Seshat]

Remember, they'll do triage anyway - meaning they'll sort out who needs attention NOW and who can wait a little longer. So someone who is "dying/bleeding/gunshot wound" is going to get seen first anyway.

Der Cute - and anyone else -

Talk to any of our nurses; or read the sticky threads in this forum.

I drafted the sticky threads about the uses of the various types of medical resource; but the nurses, pharmacists, and other medical experts who hang around here corrected my draft.

But PepperElf is correct: you can and should always go to the ER when something happens that might be urgent, and urgent care/your family doctor is closed or unavailable.
You should also always go to the ER, or call a paramedic, if in immediate danger of losing life, body parts, or one of your senses. (EG: eye injury, or you tried to cut off a finger with a chainsaw, or you have arterial bleeding.)

The ER nurse will triage you, and if you ask, may (depending on legal/hospital policies) be able to tell you whether your situation warrants waiting for an ER doc, or whether you can go home and contact your family doctor for an urgent appointment.
Again: the triage nurse might not be able to tell you this; legal may have said 'the triage nurse is not actually a qualified diagnostician, will not have path results, yadda yadda, so she can't directly send people home'. So if she refuses to directly say 'you're okay, go home and see your doctor in the morning', please be polite and remember that.

BUT: rest assured, she has a specific set of criterion to follow when she makes up her queue. Losing one's life, losing a limb or other major body part/losing a sense, losing a lesser body part, at risk of developing systemic diseases, at risk of infecting other patients with something ... you can probably make some good guesses as to what goes first. It's the sensible list.

But if you're not sure where in that queue you go - well, SHE is trained to it, you aren't. So let her do her job.

That said, if you're not sure if you're an ER case, and your family doctor or an after-hours/urgent care clinic is available, try going to them. If they think you need the ER's facilities, they'll send you straight there and (unless they have Morons In Management) contact the triage nurse with the heads'-up.

[Der Cute]

Yesterday I was frustrated as all get out. I went downtown Seattle to get to a clinic (easy from the bus stop, walkable). I got lost. A lot. Walked over 2 miles to get there. As soon as I walked in and told them it was for a car accident checkup, I was told "We don't do that here. None of these (name) clinics here do that. Here's a card for you to find a doc to work with you." Oh I was PISSED. Time, effort, go. (Nurseline gave me the info, no I didn't call ahead, I just went, now I know and have learned to not go there). So I said fuck this, I've planned on getting some treatment, it was pretty bad on Thursday. So I decided to go to the ER, after calling a bunch of walk in clinics who didn't want to deal with me or were closing in 10 minutes. So, off to the ER. And I was admitted quickly and seen quickly. There weren't many patients, waiting room was empty and so were the treatment rooms. On a Friday with a full moon, no less. Did xrays and all that, no fractures at all, just inflamed tissue.
I feel better that I went, but still kind of guilty that I went to the ER and wasn't hurt badly. While I was there, there were two triage calls. And I made a point to not say the words busy or quiet. (I have a superstition that if you're in a gas station/er and you say those words, you are jinxed and will then get a stampede).
From here on out it's just heat, ice, ibuprofen and conscious relaxation techniques.

[Pagan]

Glad you're ok!

Oh this was ALLL on me. Lost traction spun, hit wall, spun, hit other wall, air bag, car unhappy..me unhappy.
Police report, ticket (yay)

I don't get how it was your fault or why you got a ticket?

[dalesys]

I don't get how it was your fault or why you got a ticket?

Probably: "Driving too fast for conditions..."