At a rural Louisiana ED, man brings himself and 3 children in after they “bumped another car in the parking lot at WalMart.” Everyone’s clearly ambulatory and in no distress. Man insists they be seen immediately as I try to prevent the three kids from dismantling everything in the triage room. He says the kids are “suffering.” Finally get all four triaged and tell them that the ED is full and that their acuity is very low, so there will probably be a long wait to be seen. Man becomes irate and wants to know how to “book an appointment” to be seen the next a.m. Inform him there is no such thing in an Emergency Department. Man leaves with still-rambunctious kids and calls supervisor to complain. Never see the man or the kids again and he doesn’t show up the next day.
