When people hear that I'm an emergency physician, they often ask, "What's the craziest thing you've ever seen?"
TV shows frequently show ER doctors and nurses heroically saving people on the verge of death. Then there are news reports about people abusing the health care system by seeking emergency care for minor problems that could be better handled in a doctor's office.
I see those things. But the extremes don't paint a full picture of the urban ER that is the center of my working life. So allow me to introduce you to some of the people I saw in the ER on a recent day.
A middle-aged woman complains about stomach pain. She tells me that she has had pain for years. We talk about why she's there that day, and she starts crying. She lost her job, and she's estranged from her teenage son. Her sister died the month before. I ask her about weapons at home. She tells me she's thinking about killing herself with her husband's gun.
[For more of this story, written by Lena Wen, go to http://www.npr.org/blogs/healt...amp;utm_content=2054]
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