Report: ERs Routinely 'Board' Marooned Psychiatric Patients

Posted: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 Updated: July 8th, 2008 05:26 PM PDT Report: ERs Routinely 'Board' Marooned Psychiatric Patients Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers. NEW YORK -- When staffers at a New York City hospital spotted a middle-aged woman lying face-down on a waiting room floor last month, it hardly seemed like cause for alarm. The sight, after all, was common in the psychiatric emergency room at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn. The unit is so routinely backed up with people waiting hours, or even days, for services that patients often spend the night nodding in chairs or... [read full story]