Paranoid Japanese hospitals turning away flu patients (and aliens with a broken leg)
Today and tomorrow are Japan’s worst people/traffic jam, called here the “U-Turn.” Specifically, it the “U-turn rush” 
of the Golden Week holidays.
Naturally, hospitals in Japan are turning away flu patients claiming to having the Pork Plague. Sheesh.
Paranoid hospitals turning away those with fever, or with a foreign friend
2009 May 5 – The Mainichi Daily News— As hospitals step up their precautions against swine flu, those in the Tokyo area are starting to refuse examinations to those suffering from fever and other potential influenza symptoms, or even those with a foreign friend, it's been learned. Between Saturday morning and Monday morning, 63 people were turned away, according to the metropolitan government….One patient was denied an examination for mentioning that they had a foreign friend…more…
“Sheesh” is what I say because I have been turned away this afternoon with a broken leg from the emergency rooms of two Tokyo hospitals because they are full of whining vacationers returning their holidays with potential cases of flu.
I just slapped a quick-setting temporary plastic brace on my leg and iced it—Tomorrow I will try a regular doctor in my neighborhood who should be back from his Golden Week holiday.
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May 6th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
A real winner we got here…
I still have some resin, epoxy and fiberglass cloth if you need a strong cast…
May 6th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Thanks for the offer, but I already know the drill.
Three years ago, I spent four days in a temporary cast and ice before my leg was scheduled for surgery.
Since two emergency rooms “refused” me this afternoon with a bleeding leg (a pin in my lower leg bone came loose), I just pulled out my old temporary cast and put my leg on ice until tomorrow. That is the same treatment I would have received if I was admitted as in-patient.
Technically I was not really “refused”—I was just given an honest appraisal from the admitting/triage nurse that today (and tomorrow) that any ER treatment for me may take more 8 hours waiting in hallway since day is Golden Week “U-Turn” and many emergency rooms are at 800% of capacity.
I suspect that Mainichi news article that I quoted above might be sensationalizing this non-news a bit. The Mainichi knows that every year at the end of Golden Week emergency rooms (which are manned the lowest-ranking, youngest staff during the holidays) get over-crowded and all sorts of problems happen.
May 7th, 2009 at 4:32 am
What you have to do in order to fix your leg…is dope yourself with a lot of vitamin bars and energy drinks that you can easily find in some selling machine…going at the hospital is pointless…JK =)
I was ill for the last few days…I had a common flu and although the swine flu hasn’t hit mi city yet, the healht care center of my town is *SO* shitty and crowded with ppl sicker(winter season here so go figure how crowded hospital/health care center are) than me that i don’t dare to put a foot into the building under the risk to get more diseases or worst, even to die (yeah health system is that shitty over here)…I suggest you to wait what it needs to, I don’t think your leg will rot or explode while you wait for your turn…i don’t want you to get swine flu or another kind of flu…