One of my friends where I used to work many years ago had an accident at work where he was carrying a huge pot of 350 degree (Fahrenheit) fryer oil for disposal and wound up taking the whole contents of the pot to one of his legs. (he slipped or something) So, he had 2nd and 3rd degree burns all down his leg. As we all know, if you don't treat burns right away, the risk of permanent damage becomes more likely. So, he went down the street to the biggest hospital in the city and went into the ER. Despite having those horrible burns, they didn't care, they just gave him the forms to fill out and told him it would be about a 2 hour wait. (probably wouldn't have gotten to him before the guy in there with a slight cough and runny nose) So, he went to a much smaller hospital in the suburbs and they had real nurses working in the ER that realized the severity of the accident and got him immediate treatment. That's why I'm never (unfortunately) surprised by anything that happens in a big city hospital in the U.S. Our health care system leaves much to be desired.
