2011年ESL之就医和人际交往 10 Going to the Emergency Room

 

10 Going to the Emergency Room

GLOSSARY

emergency room – the part of a hospital that is always open for patients whohave very serious, life-threatening problems and can come without anappointment

* The nurse said we should monitor the baby’s temperature, and if it reaches105, we should take her to the emergency room.

severed – separated or detached, usually by cutting, often used to talk about abody part

* His leg was severed in a horrible car accident.

stitch – a piece of thread sewn into one’s skin to close a deep cut

* When Nate dropped a sharp knife on his toe, he had to get three stitches.

admissions desk – the table or counter where one first goes when entering afacility or office to explain why one has come and request an appointment or visit

* The man at the admissions desk gave us several forms to fill out and asked usto bring them back with a copy of our insurance card.

waiting room – a large area with many chairs where people wait until it is theirturn to be seen by a doctor or dentist, often with magazines for people to read

* I was in the waiting room for more than 20 minutes, so I asked the receptionisthow much longer it would be before I would see the doctor.

filled to capacity – completely full, without room for anyone else or anythingelse

* The auditorium was filled to capacity with people who wanted to hear herspeak.

ambulance – an emergency vehicle used to transport people with seriousmedical problems to a hospital, filled with equipment and supplies so that theycan receive medical treatment while traveling

* Do you think you can drive yourself to the hospital, or should we call anambulance?

EMT – emergency medical technician; a person whose job is to provide medicalassistance in an emergency, especially taking care of that person until he or shecan be brought to a doctor or hospital

* The EMT kept Aunt Mildred alive while she was in the ambulance on her way tothe hospital.

stretcher – a narrow bed on wheels used to move a sick or injured person whocannot walk or sit

* The nurses pushed Kara down the hall on a stretcher, because she was stillunconscious.

pileup – a traffic accident involving many cars, each one crashing into the car infront of it

* The ice storm caused a seven-car pileup.

triage – the process of determining which patients need medical treatmentimmediately and which ones can wait, based on how sick or injured they are

* The nurses began performing triage as soon as they arrived at the site of theexplosion.

critical – very serious, especially referring to a dangerous or life-threateningillness or injury

* The wound is very painful, but it isn’t critical.

exam room – a room where a doctor interacts with a patient to determine what iswrong and what type of treatment needs to be provided

* They asked Walt to go into the exam room, take off his shirt, and wait for thedoctor to come in.

surgery – a medical procedure that requires cutting open part of one’s body sothat a doctor can fix or remove something

* The doctors said surgery is the only way to fix Xavier’s knee.

to give up – to stop trying to have or do something, usually because it seemsextremely difficult or impossible

* Lauren tried to be an actress for 15 years before deciding to give up and try adifferent career.

to bleed to death – to die from a loss of blood; to die because one has lost toomuch blood through a cut or wound

* Yes, you’ve cut your finger, but I don’t think you’ll bleed to death. Just putpressure on it.

total loss – something that had no useful purpose or result; something that wasworthless or pointless

* Attending that conference wasn’t a total loss. Although we already knew mostof the information we were given, we learned one or two new things.

voluntarily – willingly; without being forced to do something; doing somethingbecause one wants to

* Did you join Alcoholics Anonymous voluntarily, or did someone make you do it?

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why did he have to spend so much time in the waiting room?

a) Because he forgot to call ahead to make an appointment.

b) Because there is a minimum waiting time before anyone can see the doctor.

c) Because other people had more serious injuries.

2. What happened on Freeway 215?

a) There was a bad traffic accident involving many cars.

b) The EMT started offering medical services at a different hospital.

c) There weren’t enough ambulances, so some people were treated onstretchers.

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WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

stitch

The word “stitch,” in this podcast, means a piece of thread sewn into one’s skinto close a deep cut: “He’s had several broken bones, but he’s never needed toget stitches.” A “stitch” can also be a piece of thread to hold two pieces of fabrictogether: “Did you do those stitches by hand, or did you use a sewing machine?”

“Cross-stitch” is a type of sewing used for decoration or adornment, makingdesigns by sewing the thread in small “x” shapes: “She made a cross-stitch wallhanging for her newborn daughter.” The phrase “in stitches” is old-fashioned, butit describes someone who is laughing uncontrollably and cannot stop: “His jokeswere so funny that we were all in stitches for hours.”

critical

In this podcast, the word “critical” means very serious, especially referring to adangerous or life-threatening illness or injury: “He has a critical illness, so thedoctors are observing him in the Intensive Care Unit.” In other contexts, the word“critical” refers to strong criticism: “Why is she always so critical? I’ve neverheard her say something nice about anyone else.” The word “critical” can alsomean serious or important: “They’re facing a critical shortage of rice and wheat.”

Or, “How much money you save each month is a critical factor in how comfortable your retirement will be.” Finally, the word “critical” can refer to one’sability to make judgments or evaluate something: “The professor asked hisstudents to write a critical review of the proposed new laws.”

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CULTURE NOTE

How to Get Treated in an Emergency RoomEmergency rooms are designed to provide “immediate” (very quick andresponsive) treatment for “life-threatening” (risking death) injuries and illnesses,such as “heart attacks” (a condition where one’s heart stops beating) and“severe” (very serious and dangerous) car accidents. People who go to theemergency room for less serious conditions fill the waiting rooms and increasethe average “waiting time” (the amount of time someone must wait to see adoctor) for all patients.

Emergency room “admissions clerks” (people whose job is to decide who gets tosee a doctor and when) have a lot of experience separating the real emergenciesfrom less serious conditions. Sometimes patients become upset when they haveto wait too long, but if they “blow up at” (shout and act angrily, losing control ofone’s emotions) the clerk, he or she might make them wait even longer, just outof “revenge” (wanting to do something bad or mean because one has beentreated that way).

People who want to see a doctor more quickly “would be wise to” (should; wouldbe smart to do something) go to the emergency room early in the morning,sometime between 3:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., when emergency rooms generallyhave fewer patients. Some people say that “vomiting” (throwing up; sendingliquid from one’s stomach out of one’s body through one’s mouth) can also“reduce” (decrease; minimize) the waiting time, because the admission clerksdon’t want to hear, see, or smell the vomit, they send those patients to see adoctor more quickly.

Patients who have conditions that are not life-threatening should “avoid” (not goto) the emergency room, instead going to an “urgent care clinic” (a medicalfacility that is open more hours than a regular doctor’s office and patients do notneed appointments).

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Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – a

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 694: Going to theEmergency Room.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 694. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. Go there to download a Learning Guide for thisepisode that will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise.

This episode is called “Going to the Emergency Room.” This is the place you goin a hospital if you suddenly become sick or are hurt. Let’s get started.

[start of story]

Saturday, 9:35 p.m.

I arrive in the emergency room. I had been at a party earlier in the evening whenI accidentally cut my finger. My finger wasn’t severed, but it did have a very deepcut and I thought I might need stitches. I check in at the admissions desk and I’mtold to take a seat and wait.

Saturday, 10:40 p.m.

I’m still waiting to see a doctor. The waiting room is filled to capacity and I expectit to be a long night.

Saturday, 11:15 p.m.

Several ambulances pull up to the door and EMTs wheel in several people onstretchers. I hear that there had been a pileup on Freeway 215 and these werethe victims. I can see a doctor performing triage and the most critical cases aretaken into exam rooms and maybe directly into surgery.

Sunday, 1:25 p.m.

I decide to give up and go home. If I hadn’t bled to death by that time, I couldprobably wait until Monday to see my regular physician.

My evening in the emergency room wasn’t a total loss, though. I learned avaluable lesson: Never voluntarily go to the emergency room!

[end of story]

Our story begins on a Saturday night, about 9:35 in the evening, 9:35 p.m. I say,“I arrive in the emergency room.” The “emergency room,” sometimes called byits initials “E.R.,” is the part of a hospital that is always open to people who arevery sick and who may die if they don’t get medical treatment – medical help –soon. You can go to any emergency room in an American hospital and if youhave a serious sickness or illness or injury they will help you. There was afamous American TV show called E.R. back in the 1990s.

My story continues: I say that I had been at a party earlier in the evening when Iaccidentally cut my finger. So, I’m at a party with friends, and by mistake – byaccident, not on purpose – I cut my finger. Actually, I did once cut my finger. Iwasn’t at a party; I was cooking, and then I had to go to the emergency room forhelp. But in our story, I’m at a party, which sounds a lot funner. I say, “My fingerwasn’t severed, but it did have a very deep cut and I thought I might needstitches.” “To sever” (sever), as a verb, means to separate, usually by cutting.

We often talk about that when it happens to one of the parts of your body: “Hisleg was severed in a car accident.” “Severed,” then, means separated ordetached. So, my finger was not severed, I still had my finger on my hand, but Idid have a very deep cut and I thought I might need stitches. I thought it waspossible that in order to make myself better I needed to get stitches. “Stitch”

(stitch) is a piece of very thin material, “thread” it’s called, that goes into your skinin order to close a very wide or deep cut. “Stitches” are sort of like when youhave a rip in your piece of clothing; if you rip your shirt you might take somethread and stitch up the rip so that it’s together, the shirt doesn’t have a hole in itanymore. Well, the same thing happens with your skin – with your body, you canstitch it up with this special thread, and that’s what I mean here when I say “Imight need stitches.” “Stitch” has a couple of other meanings in English as well;take a look at our Learning Guide for those.

So, I say that I check in at the admissions desk and I’m told to take a seat andwait. The “admissions desk” is the place where you first go in a hospital, orperhaps just an office, and you are asking for an appointment; you’re asking tosee the doctor; you’re asking to be admitted. “To be admitted” means to be letin, you can go into wherever you want to go. Colleges and universities haveadmissions offices that are in charge of, or responsible for, deciding whichstudents will get to study at that college. An admissions desk at a hospital iswhere you go when you get there to tell them your name, your telephone number, your insurance information, and so forth. Well I check in, I go to theadmissions desk, and they tell me to wait, to “take a seat,” that is, to sit down in achair.

Saturday at 10:40 p.m. I’m still waiting to see a doctor, more than an hour after Iarrive. This is not unusual in an emergency room; they take the most seriouscases first. If you cut your finger, as I did, well, you’re going to have to waitsometimes a couple of hours before you can see a doctor, because you’re notgoing to die if you don’t see a doctor in the first couple of hours. So, that’s whatis happening; I am sitting in the emergency room, it’s Saturday night, and thewaiting room is filled to capacity. The “waiting room” is a room – an area whereyou have a lot of chairs and are asked to wait in for your appointment. This isespecially common for doctors; dentists, other medical professionals havewaiting rooms. These are places where you are going to wait for the doctor tofinish playing golf and come back to the hospital. “To be filled to capacity” meansto be completely full, there isn’t room for anyone else, in this case, to sit. On aSaturday night, emergency rooms are often filled to capacity; the waiting room isfull of people who have had accidents. The weekends are times when morepeople drink alcohol, and that usually leads to more problems medicallyspeaking; people get into car accidents and that sort of thing – shootings withguns, you know, the stuff you watch on TV.

Well, on Saturday at 11:15 p.m., now an hour and 45 minutes or more since I firstarrived, I see several ambulances pull up to the door. An “ambulance” is aspecial car – a special vehicle that transports people who have medicalproblems. So, there are several ambulances that “pull up,” or drive up to thedoor of the emergency room, and EMTs wheel in several people on stretchers.

An “EMT” is an emergency medical technician, someone who gives medicalassistance when you are hurt. They’re not doctors, but they do help people whoare injured get from their home or wherever they were hurt to the hospital. Sothey know some things in order to try to keep you alive if it’s a serious injury. Mybrother-in-law is an EMT in Minnesota. So, if you’re ever in an ambulance inMinnesota, you should say, “Hey, do you know Jeff McQuillan from ESLPodcast?” and if the person says yes, then that could be my brother-in-law.

Probably not, though. A “stretcher” (stretcher) is a long, portable bed, really, thatwe use to carry people in when they are sick or hurt. In a hospital, the stretchersare usually on wheels, that’s why the story says the EMTs “wheel in” severalpeople. They bring several people in on these portable beds called “stretchers.”

I continue my story: “I hear that there had been a pileup on Freeway 215 andthese were the victims.” A “pileup” (pileup – one word) is a traffic accidentinvolving many different cars; one car hitting another, and then another car hitting that car, and so forth. That’s called a “pileup.” There had been a pileup on the215 freeway, and these were the people who were hurt; these were the “victims.”

“I can see a doctor performing triage and the most critical cases are taken intoexam rooms and maybe directly into surgery.” “Triage” (triage) is the process ofdetermining which patients are the sickest, who needs help first. “Critical cases”

are very serious cases, usually ones that are what we would call “lifethreatening,”

meaning you could die if you don’t get proper help quickly. “Critical”

has other meanings in English as well; take a look at the Learning Guide forthose. An “exam room” is short for an examination room. This is not where youtake a test; it’s where the doctor looks at you to see what’s wrong with you. Thedoctor “examines” you; he or she will look at you closely. “Surgery” is where theycut open some part of your body in order to fix something or to help you in someway. So, the doctors are performing triage, and the most critical – the mostserious cases are taken into exam rooms for the doctors to look at them, andmaybe directly into surgery, where the doctors will – we use the verb “perform” –perform surgery on them.

Sunday, 1:25 p.m. Remember, I arrived at 9:35 p.m. on Saturday night; now, it’salready Sunday afternoon. I say, “I decide to give up and go home.” “To giveup” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to stop trying to do something, usuallybecause it’s very difficult or impossible. “Don’t give up,” we sometimes say topeople, meaning don’t stop trying. Well, I decide to give up and go home. “If Ihadn’t bled to death by that time, I could probably wait until Monday to see myregular physician.” “Bled” is the past tense of the verb “to bleed” (bleed). It’sirregular, it’s not “bleeded” in the past tense, it’s “bled” (bled). “To bleed to death”

would mean to die because you are losing so much “blood,” that red liquid thatcomes out of your body when you cut it. Well, I’m kind of making a joke here. Isay because I haven’t bled to death, I can probably wait another day and go seemy regular doctor – my regular “physician” on Monday. This is not uncommonfor emergency rooms to be very crowded in some hospitals in some cities in theU.S., especially public hospitals.

I conclude by saying that my evening in the emergency room wasn’t a total loss.

A “total loss” would be something that has no useful purpose or useful result,something that didn’t give you anything. “I learned a valuable lesson: Nevervoluntarily go to the emergency room!” “Voluntarily” means no one is forcingyou, you decide that you are going to go on your own. That’s probably not verygood advice, however. If you’re really sick or hurt, you should definitely go to theemergency room. It’s better than staying where you are and getting no helpwhatsoever. In my own case, I ended up staying at the hospital probably aboutthree or four hours before I got to see a doctor who gave me some stitches in mythumb, and now I’m all better.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of story]

Saturday, 9:35 p.m.

I arrive in the emergency room. I had been at a party earlier in the eveningwhen I accidentally cut my finger. My finger wasn’t severed, but it did have avery deep cut and I thought I might need stitches. I check in at the admissionsdesk and I’m told to take a seat and wait.

Saturday, 10:40 p.m.

I’m still waiting to see a doctor. The waiting room is filled to capacity and I expectit to be a long night.

Saturday, 11:15 p.m.

Several ambulances pull up to the door and EMTs wheel in several people onstretchers. I hear that there had been a pileup on Freeway 215 and these werethe victims. I can see a doctor performing triage and the most critical cases aretaken into exam rooms and maybe directly into surgery.

Sunday, 1:25 p.m.

I decide to give up and go home. If I hadn’t bled to death by that time, I couldprobably wait until Monday to see my regular physician.

My evening in the emergency room wasn’t a total loss, though. I learned avaluable lesson: Never voluntarily go to the emergency room!

[end of story]

Even when she has a difficult topic, our scriptwriter never gives up. That’sbecause it’s Dr. Lucy Tse, who is helping us each week. Thank you, Lucy.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us again on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2011 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.