Barred from hospital for being autistic

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I went to emergency severley dehydrated,
when I requested my fiance come back with me to speak with the doctor they refused.
I explained that because of my autism I frequently had difficulty communicating with doctors and required his help to communcate effectivly, they refused, I insisted this was necessary - my partner also spoke up to conferm what I was trying to say - they refused to speak to him and refused to admit me if I needed him with me.
When I turned to leave the triage nurse gave a BIG smile and thumbs up, said "Good! Leave."
I had a melt down - threw my drink on the floor and shouted on my way out, then colapsed on a bench crying - she followed after us ridiculing me saying "That was very dramatic!" then sent security to tell me (by this time I could not form full sentances) that if I don't play the "game" I don't get help and that I was no longer welcome at this hospital!

Life and death situations are a game to these people ???

So I express I am autistic and what my communication needs are - and am refused admitance due to my communication needs . . . past experience tells me that I do not have the theory of mind to know what parts the doctors need to know - then display the emotional regulation of an 11 year old (well big surprise - the highly socially sophisticated NT with training in autism knew just how to push my buttons and bait me into a melt down so she could refuse care to the autistic) Then when I act like an autistic I get banned from the hospital (while in critical condition)

When I got home and called the community health number they told me that based on my symptoms if I didn't get into a hospital within a few hours I MIGHT HAVE DIED!

2 1/2 hrs later I was admitted at a different hospital - who were happy to get the extra input from my partner, which helped them assess the seriousness of the situation . . . they rushed me through a busy emergency waiting room in under 10 minutes and had me on an IV right away. When I got there I was exibiting early signs of circulatory shock, dizzyness, staggering, mumbeling, had not peed in almost 24 hrs (which is really bad). I was diagnosed with hyper emisis, a life threatening complication of pregnancy, and given medication by IV.

If anybody here lives in Calgary Alberta - stay away from Rockyview General Hospital!! !

This needs to go to a newspaper and hospital review board!! !! !! Most hospitals have an ombudsman. Contact that person.

I was thinking the same thing. Not sure how it works in the Canadian system but there would be huge negative publicity in the US. Especially if any of it was caught on a security camera.

Wow...one of the most Mystery Diagnosis worthy stunts for a doctor to pull...not to mention a cruel one. Please, tell someone and spread awareness of this injustice, and if you have to (or if they do it multiple times), sue them if necessary.

Is there a law in Canada where they are not allowed to turn away patients? We have that law here.

I didn't get to see the doctor at Rockview hospital - It was the triage nurse who wouldn't let us in to see him.

Perhaps my lack of eye contact proved to her I was lying about being autistic!

Having worked in healthcare, that is UNACCEPTABLE. There are always folks coming in who need assistance or to have their partner/caregiver assist with communication issues.

Whoever does patient advocacy and handles complaints for that hospital needs to be contacted and have the information about the time it happened and description of who did this (name and role if you know it). Let them know what happened and if they give you/your partner crap about it then honestly take it to the local news stations about lack of care and then you'll get attention to the cause and have the place fixed because of social pressure.

i fully agree go to the media

In Canada the health care regulation is really, really, great. That type of behaviour would not be tolerated, especially under the circumstances.

I'm not normally a litigious person, but . . . I'd be talking to a lawyer. I know people see US citizens as willing to sue over nothing, but damn! If this isn't a good reason to sue, I don't know what would be.

The nurse I spoke with from Healthlinks - the communty health number I called - who told me that I had to go to a different hospital also indicated that it was very unusual to refuse to allow a family member to go back with you and appologised on behalf of the health system - perhaps I can find a lawyer who will take it to court on spec (I don't have $25 000 to bring a medical complaint to court but sometimes if the infraction is bad eneugh the lawyers will take it anyway even if you don't have any money.

I have also been in touch with Autism Calgary Association, sometime ago they asked me if I would speak to a reporter about autism issues and health reform - at the time I was dealing with health issues (recovering from cancer treatment) but now I have a story for them Grrrrrr

Well I have had a meltdown at a hospital once when I broke my arm and if it weren't for my mother, I would have never stopped at one. I had to call her on the phone so she can talk to the nurses for me because I didn't know how to do it. And they didn't kick me out for my meltdown.

A Canadian friend of mine was in a very bad car wreck, from the pictures of the wreck it was hard to believe he survived nonetheless walked away.

He waited 16 hours bleeding in the waiting room of the local Canadian hospital. Finally they wised up and drove thru the night to cross the border to the USA. They wrapped and stitched him up right away, no questions asked.

That's government run healthcare for ya.

I don't imagin that they are able to refuse people with Turrettes either!

I agree on the government run issue - nurses here frequently work 60 hr weeks and double shifts.
I read once that staying up all night will lower your IQ by at least 5

They are currently reviewing health care reforms in Alberta
I am considering writing to our minister of health
There are already caps on how much some nurses can work in order to ensure quality of care
(nurse midwives cannot see more than 40 patients/ year) I would like to see all nurses restricted to 32 hrs / wk - no more excuses about being burnt out and f*cking up when people's lives are at stake - this would save the government paying out all that overtime and would create thousands of jobs (which is always a polititions objective) while saving lives

I also agree. If this incident had happened to me, I would spread the word about it.

It sounds like the problem was one triage nurse. I think it would be much better settled by reporting the incident to her direct supervisor, or a patient advocate, as a previous poster suggested. There is a need to correct the problem, and that is usually done better without a circus. Creating an unnecessary circus is tacky; it breaks the social rules of the NT world. Worse, it often results in the wrong people being censored or fired, because everything becomes more about image than substance. If there is no adequate response to the report made through the designated channels (reassigned, asked to take training, etc., would all be adequate responses), THEN you go to the media.

The media should NEVER be step 1. IMHO and experience, at least.

To the OP: I am so sorry you had to deal with this, and do hope you will follow through with some sort of report in order to make sure it does not happen to anyone else. I am very glad you were able to get the care you needed elsewhere, and hopefully are on the mend.