Poor treatment

I am not sure whether we in Jordan have in place a proper procedure for emergency medical situations.

The other day, I witnessed a disturbing case: a waiter at a café in Shmeisani accidentally cut his right hand while washing a glass and sustained a deep wound. He ran out of the café screaming in pain. His hand was bleeding profusely. 

His colleagues first took him to a nearby pharmacy for some emergency treatment as he was clearly in pain and still bleeding. The pharmacist told his friends that the wound was too deep and they had to take him to a hospital. That was at about 7 pm.

According to his co-workers, who took the bleeding man to the nearest hospital in the area, to their utter surprise and disappointment, the hospital refused to admit until he showed that he was financially capable of paying for the emergency treatment and the needed surgery.

Despite the pleas of the co-workers to have the hospital carry out the surgery needed and promises to pay the medical costs in due course, the hospital refused to admit him. 

Faced with this agonising situation, the injured man was driven to another hospital, while still bleeding, where he was rejected under the pretext that there were no beds available. 

Meanwhile, the injured man continued to bleed and cry in pain. 

His friend took him once again to the first hospital, this time taking with him a few hundred dinars. The bleeding man was finally admitted for treatment at 11pm, nearly four hours after he sustained his injury, after a down payment of some JD400 was made.

Even then, the hospital wanted the friend of the injured man to find a surgeon on his own, since it was late in the hour. Finally the poor man was operated on by a surgeon who frequents the café. 

The surgery took several hours, according to the co-worker, as the tendons of the injured hand had been completely severed. 

The question is why do hospitals in the country refuse treatment even in a life or death situation unless money is given in advance?

Something should be done to change this policy so that in an emergency, treatment is carried out first and then the money is collected.

It is understandable that hospitals want to make sure they are paid in full for their services. They have bills and running costs they must bear in order to stay afloat.

On the other hand, an emergency is an emergency and no injured person must be refused treatment and left to bleed for hours until payment is secured

Perhaps an emergency fund can be created for this purpose, because the right to life is too precious to be left to the whim of hospital admission staff.

Luckily the injured man was at last treated, but he could have died just because he did not have enough money on him to pay for the treatment.