Transport Followup

I have described the patient transportation system here (Transport, Return of Transport) as approaching dysfunctional. In the interest of fairness, here is some nuance.

In my first account, I mocked the musings ("Dumbocrats") of a person behind the desk at the x-ray waiting room. I had a second encounter with the same waiting room, and again Transport was lacking. My trip was supposed to be a round trip, which means my transporter waits for my brief procedure to be over and then immediately takes me back to my room before I am exposed to even more pathogens than are already at work on me. I came out of the procedure, and my transporter was gone. The x-ray tech took it upon herself to get me back up to my room. As we came to the elevator, Mr. Dumbocrats was there, having left his post to help me, my wheelchair, and my IV pole over the gap between the elevator and floor. And then he rode up, to help me off the elevator. The transportation system still broke down, and his political philosophy is still incomprehensible to me. But I have to give credit for seeing a need and going outside his job description to fill it. (Thanks, Limbaugh/Beck Fan!)

In a later account, I mentioned a visit from a transportation manager (probably assistant manager). Particularly alarming to me was learning that the target maximum waiting time was two hours. While I hoped I misheard, or she misspoke, I had nothing else to go on, and my own observations had done nothing to make me doubt that number.

I had a more recent visit, from a different (probably assistant) manager. We reviewed my experiences and observations, and I asked about the target wait time again. This time, the answer was 30 minutes. I know (from personal experience) they're not hitting that number, but at least that is reasonable target.

We talked about the problem with waiting: the patient is isolated, scared, and without information, and these conditions are harmful to patient health. I mentioned Mara's idea of equipping patients with pagers so that they can get in touch their nursers. The manager pointed out that patients are never truly abandoned. There are always medical staff nearby, though they may be out of sight. Perhaps the x-ray or CT or other staff should take responsibility for checking in with patients left in their area.

I also learned that the dispatch system is not quite as primitive as I feared. I imagined (in my negative frame of mind) that a free transporter simply called in and got the next name on the list, which could lead to lots of inefficiencies depending on relative locations. I gather that there is a more sophisticated process, with patient and transporter location being factored in.

There is obviously lots of room for improvement, but the situation is not as bleak as I thought. Hurray.