Lawsuit: Timing in the ED

From NY Emergency Medicine, via Kevin MD:

. . . a patient presented to an Emergency Department having cut off two fingers with a table saw. The injury occurred at 6:30 p.m. The patient was triaged at 7:19 p.m. The emergency medicine physician saw the patient at 7:42 p.m. X-rays were performed at 11:33 p.m. Orthopedics was finally consulted at 1:00 a.m., more than five-and-a-half hours after the patient presented to the Emergency Department. Orthopedics arrived at 1:30 a.m. The wounds were stitched closed by orthopedics at 2:00 a.m. Reimplantation of the saved digits could not be performed within eight hours from the time of injury as an operating room would not have been available that quickly.

The emergency medicine physician was found negligent for not contacting orthopedics sooner. Due to this prolonged period of time, among other negligent acts by orthopedics, the patient and his wife were awarded $525,000.00.