Goldsboro Emergency Room Errors Lawyers

A trip to the emergency room is usually based on an urgent need for immediate care due to an injury or severe physical symptoms. In some cases, such as heart attacks, car accident injuries, or gunshot wounds, it can amount to a life-or-death matter. Regardless of the reason you are in the emergency room, you expect to be treated with the competence needed in a timely manner. However, emergency rooms can be crowded, understaffed, and high-stress environments for both patients and staff. When under the pressure of emergency room necessity, mistakes and negligence can occur resulting in serious consequences for patients. 

If you or a loved one has suffered adverse consequences due to improper treatment in an emergency room, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit against the medical staff or the hospital that treated you. As in all medical malpractice cases, these are highly complex matters that call for the services of qualified attorneys who know how to investigate, prepare cases, and pursue compensation. Working with such an attorney increases the likelihood of securing a favorable result. 

Negligence & Error in Emergency Room Care

Like other medical professionals, doctors, surgeons, nurses, and other ER staff are expected to conform to the expected standards of care established in their fields. Where they deviate from these standards, it may be considered an action or omission that is negligent. However, because of the pressure these staff must work under, they are generally seen in a more lenient light than other medical professionals. ER staff often must make instant decisions about how to treat patients who are in severe pain, distress, and at high physical risk for sudden decline and death. 

This does not excuse these professionals when failing to reasonably act in a manner that other professionals in their field would act in the same or similar situation. Failure to follow proper protocols and procedures as accepted by the medical establishment can result in being held liable for the injuries and damages inflicted upon patients. For example, failing to treat for a potential heart attack when a patient is exhibiting chest pains is a form of medical negligence. 

Examples of emergency room errors can include:

• Failure to recognize signs and symptoms of disease, injury, or conditions
• Misdiagnosis
• Failure to diagnose
• Delayed diagnosis
• Failure to get proper patient medical information/history 
• Failure to order proper testing
• Failure to order proper treatment
• Failure to hospitalize the patient
• Wrong interpretation of testing/lab results
• Medication errors
• Surgical errors
• Infections due to poorly sanitized equipment or rooms

Discuss your case with a Goldsboro emergency room errors attorney in a free evaluation. You can reach Strickland Agner Pittman at (919) 893-0090 or through our online contact form to schedule your appointment today.