"Poor ED treatment"

I fell at home after slipping on a wet floor. I managed to crawl onto a carpeted area but soon realised that I was unable to get up and I had extreme pain in my back.

A family member called an ambulance which duly arrived and as I had moved a few feet in the home, the ambulance personnel decided that I could get onto the ambulance trolley myself. After a great deal of pain relief, I managed to get onto the trolley.

I was taken to Joondalup Emergency Department (ED) where I was seen by a doctor in ED. They told the nursing staff they could get me up even though I had not had an X-ray. The nurse asked the doctor if they should wait until after the X-ray as they were assessing me for damage to my spine. The doctor agreed. After the X-ray, the doctor came to tell me that apparently it did not show any damage to my spine, so the doctor told me all was well and I would be able to get up and go home. I advised them that I did not feel I was able to get up and that I was in a great deal of pain.

The ED consultant then came to see me and reiterated what the junior doctor had said, that the X-ray was fine and I could get up and go home. I told the consultant I did not feel that I could get up, that I was in a great deal of pain. They said that they would get the physio to help me up and get me home.

The physiotherapist came and after assessing me (I felt more thoroughly than the doctor had assessed me) tried to get me up. In extreme pain, I got off the trolley and stood up with the aid of a walking frame, but the pain was so bad I felt that I was going to faint, so the physio sat me back down and said we would try again later.

I was given some stronger painkillers at this point and after a period of time, the physio returned to get me up. I mobilised to the toilet with a zimmer frame, at this point I was in a great deal of pain and mobilising was difficult. I returned to the bed and shortly afterwards the junior doctor came back to tell me that as my mobility was not too good and as I had been quite miserable with the pain they were sending me for a CT scan. To do this they made me get up again and go to CT in a wheelchair, with no assistance, and climb on and off the CT table - with no assistance. Then the same doctor came back to the bedside and told me they were sorry but I had a spinal fracture to T11 and that I would be seeing the orthopaedic registrar. I was given a catheter and bloods were taken and I was given some intravenous fluids.

The orthopaedic doctor came to see me and told me that I was to be admitted on strict bed rest and was not to mobilise at all, that the fracture was quite complex and that I may need spinal surgery to stabilise the fracture.

I feel that the treatment I received in ED whilst being assessed fell short of what I would expect for a patient with a spinal injury. I am thankful that once I was admitted to the Orthopaedic Ward I was well cared for, but I am also thankful that the treatment I received in ED did not lead to any catastrophic consequences for me.

I think there are definitely lessons to be learned both from the Ambulance service and the ED medical staff. I was in hospital on strict bed rest and strong painkillers for ten days, and will be in a back brace for three months. I do not have much faith in the medical assessment or treatment of my injury by the medical staff in ED.