Since January, Dr. Stacy Seyb, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Boise, Idaho, has had at least four of his patients wheeled onto emergency flights and airlifted out of the state while experiencing severe pregnancy complications.
One of them was a woman whose water broke around 20 weeks into her pregnancy, putting her at risk of infection. In these types of emergencies, ending the patient’s pregnancy can be part of the standard of care. But doctors at the hospital where Seyb works say they have been forced to transfer patients who have these complications out of state to comply with the state’s abortion ban.
“This has become the new normal, which is sad,” he said.
"What other medical condition can we think of that would require a patient who’s sick to get transported to another state for a legal reason?” Hayer told NBC News. “It just really feels unjust.”
I had a similar problem in January… Went to the ER short of breath, we were thinking it was a complication from a prescription change. Had a heart attack IN the ER.
That hospital, the one closest to me, could do the angiogram, but they didn’t have the capability to do the stent, I would need an ambulance to get me to a different hospital for the stent…
In the middle of an ice storm.
https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2024/01/22/911-was-inundated-with-calls-for-medical-help-during-the-ice-storm/
Because the ambulance system was overloaded, it took 2 extra nights to get me to the 2nd hospital. During one of those overnights, my heart stopped for 8 seconds.
Every hospital, and I mean EVERY HOSPITAL, should have basic capacity for common treatments like abortions and heart stents.
When I needed an emergency room again on Tuesday, we skipped that hospital entirely and drove an extra 40 minutes to get to “the good one”.
I’m sorry for what you experienced, but that isn’t the same thing at all. Not every hospital has advanced capabilities. There aren’t enough specialists to staff them, and even if there were small population centers wouldn’t have the number of patients needed to sustain the costs associated with those advanced capabilities. Transferring patients to different hospitals for a higher level of care is extremely common.
The article is talking about a situation where the hospital has the capability to provide the appropriate care, but can’t for legal reasons. In that scenario having to transfer a patient out of state is ridiculous, wasteful, and unsafe.