Reply #6: You may get wheeled past the waiting room but....

[rainbow4321]

once you get seen by the triage nurse, you will get put in line behind people in need of real emergent care.
A nurse at the hospital I work at told me recently how people are pulling the "call an ambulance then we won't have to wait" stuff. Including a guy with a cough. Not a bringing up blood-severe respiratory distress cough but a nagging cough. He gets to the ER via ambulance, gets triaged and put behind the chest pain people and then bitches about having to wait because, after all, he came via ambulance. The ER nurse told him "yes, you came via ambulance, but you came to an EMERGENCY department and there are people here having emergencies, like chest pain".

So word to the wise to those thinking that taking an ambulance will get you to the front of the line...think again..there is a triage nurse at the other end of that ambulance ride and he/she will put you back at the end of the line if you really don't need that emergent care. All you will end up with is a huge bill for an ambulance ride that you didn't really need.