Hello everyone, if you're new, my name is Emily, I created Definite Hearing as a way
to increase awareness for the deaf and hard of hearing, recently I had a little health mishap, I
broke my collarbone, if you have not seen the story on how I broke my collarbone,
go to my channel, check it out. For today's video I am going to review my experience in
the ER and I am going to share, like how it was, as a hard of hearing person in the ER
and with Coronavirus. I hope you stick around to the end of this video for some tips
on how to navigate the ER as a hard of hearing or deaf person, if you haven't already please
like this video and subscribe my channel. I look forward to making more exciting content for you,
without the collarbone break, and other bone breaks, hopefully.
All right, so this video is going to pick up where the last video left off where my family
and I decided to drive to the ER because I indeed had a broken collarbone and so we drove up to the
hospital and as we were pulling up I noticed that there was an elderly couple that literally, like,
got out of their car, walked in, and walked back out and I was like, Oh no, they might not
be accepting people, it was past 8pm so a lot of urgent cares were already closed but this bone was
definitely broken, so I was a little worried with Coronavirus that like maybe they were
turning people away, maybe they were to fall. So we pulled up my dad got out and he went and talked
to the security personnel that was on site and the security personnel, I mean I just saw kind
of their interaction my dad just explained briefly what happened and the gentleman,
grabbed a wheelchair and brought it right over to our car so I just kind of like, oh,
like slipped into it because at this point, my shoulder was like completely collapsing like I
couldn't sit up straight because my collarbone was gone like it was just, oh so uncomfortable because
my muscles like my neck muscles and my back muscles were, it just felt like they were just
really uncomfortable and spasming at this point. Anyway, this nice gentleman brought a wheelchair,
they will meet into the ER lobby, and there were probably four or five other parties of two people.
Each sitting kind of throughout the lobby, obviously social distanced, everyone keeping to
themselves, and as we walked in there was a person there, behind a glass that was helping check
everyone in, and I was so zoned out because I was in shock. And I didn't realize it until my mom got
down and said, "Emily, look!" And it was one of our old, like one of my old childhood friends.
She lived across the street from us for the longest time, and the last I heard she had
been in police academy and graduated and had been really enjoying life. And so sure enough, it was
so, so fun to see this old friend, And she was so cute because she was like, "Oh, I didn't think I'd
see anyone I knew tonight but I feel so bad that you got hurt", you know, so it was really fun to
see her it was like such a bright spot in this ER experience. After that day we all meet after
they check the temperature and like gave me a little wristband because they're keeping track of
everyone that comes in, and you can only have the injured person, or whoever needs medical attention
and one companion so they had one band for either my mom or my dad, and we ended up giving it to my
dad because he's the doctor, so we went to the check-in desk and they were asking me for all my
information. Okay, there's glass panels, masks. I'm hard of hearing, and in shock. Like, it was,
I felt so bad for them because I just, I couldn't pay attention, As much as I needed
to like understand what they were saying, so I just kind of bumbled through it because sadly,
I've been to the ER before. Long story short with my peanut allergy. I've noticed that about every
five years I ended up in the ER, ironically, they were like yeah you weren't here like five
years ago for peanut reaction I was like, but not always getting close to that timer, and I thought
it would be a peanut reaction that brought me here but it was this lovely clavicle breaking anyway
so I knew what they were going to ask for name and date of birth, and so I just kind of started
rattling off my information. The problem is my name has changed, so they have my maiden name in
the file instead of my new married name. So that created like a little confusion, but they were
able to locate me they got my bracelet and asked me to look at it and confirm the information,
and I was so grateful for that I did mention like, "I'm so sorry I'm hard of hearing, this is my
information" and they took it from there. It was great. And so, my parents were there and that
was so helpful I felt like a little kid again, because, like I needed help. But I think that
if I would have been there alone, I could have said my information they would have helped me and
had me visually verify that. So once they checked me in, they asked me to go wait in the lobby,
and so we just waited there until we were called back. Once we were called back, a
nurse came in and asked me to share the story of what had happened so I hold the colorful story of
diving for a frisbee and breaking my collarbone. And so they ordered an x-ray, the X-ray tech came,
and led me and my dad back to the X-ray roo,. Now, this experience, it was really hard to hear and I
let him know like hey I'm hard of hearing, so just make sure when you speak if you can face me or
speak loudly and clearly enough so that I can hear you, that would be great but due to the layout of
the X-ray room, I had to stand in front of the x-ray, and he would go behind kind of this wall,
and take the x-ray, the first X-ray they took he came back and he was like, "Are you wearing
any metal?" and I said, I don't think so like I have this t-shirt on. And this sweatshirt that
my sister had created a sling for me, it turns out that this sling had a metal pole tap on it,
like with this zipper that was right in front of my collarbone, so we couldn't see it at all,
so we had to remove that and he was taking the X-rays again and I realized he was asking me to
hold my breath while he was taking the X-ray, he didn't explain that to me at all. And so all of
a sudden I started holding my breath until he said okay, you can breathe now. And so it was
kind of a tender mercy that the first X-ray shot that he tried to take didn't work out because
that piece of metal was in the way but if you're ever getting an x-ray, I highly recommend letting
them know like, Hey, I am hard of hearing, is there anything I need to know like holding my
breath or holding still while you instruct me to do so, so that I can make sure that this x-ray
turns out right the first time, and just really helping medical professionals know that you need
an overview and a walkthrough of what is going on before it happens so that you can know what to
expect, and have those cues because he was behind a wall or window, I couldn't see him at all, there
was no visual cues there until I thought "Wait I think I'm hearing something." And I totally was,
but between like the shock for hearing loss, not being able to see was kind of a lot. Anyway, we
got the X-rays. This is what they look like crazy, so crazy. It wasn't just broken in two pieces, it
was broken in three so surgery was just a given. Typically with clavicle surgeries, they like have
not started repairing them until about 10 years ago, surgically speaking usually people would just
be put in a sling and healed that way but due to the fact that there was a middle chunk in there,
it did require a plate so they gave me some pain medicines and sent us home with the
instructions to call an orthopedic surgeon and schedule a checkup and then a possible surgery,
so I'm so glad you stuck around to the end of this video because I am going to summarize just some
tips and tricks in hindsight that I've a hard of hearing person, I wish I would have had in place
so that my er experience would have been easier or I wouldn't have been able to navigate it without
needing the help of my parents because I recognize one as a hard of hearing person as an adult,
you may not always have someone with you to be your advocate and so therefore you are your best
advocate. And so here are the tips. Number one is patience. Like, it's really hard to be patient
in these kind of situations but the Patience pays off. I was in so much pain and I was able to kind
of handle it just quietly and just internally, and know that like this pain is gonna pass it just, it
sucks but it's gonna pass, so patience was kind of the biggest thing that I felt I had control over
that, really, when other people saw that like I was in pain, but I was patient they were much
more willing to work with me and helped me, and it really I think it sped up the process so though
patience is extremely difficult in this situation, it can be extremely beneficial, item number two is
with Coronavirus you can only have one visitor so if you are able to bring someone definitely bring
someone, and let them know and they can help be your advocate. Item number three, as far as the
screens and the masks items that could help with this, are a phone transcription app or even a
medical bracelet. I do not wear a medical bracelet considering the fact that I have a severe peanut
allergy, I should and so those bracelets are just usually metal bracelets that people wear that have
their full name and their date of birth, so for example, if anyone were to ever come across me and
for some reason I could not communicate whether I'm passed out or I'm just in so much shock,
they could look at my bracelet look up my information and be able to contact someone,
and or take care of me, so a medical bracelet whether it just has your personal information
and or if you are deaf, as in you communicate with sign and are nonverbal or like this could apply
to autism or any other non-verbal situation you would definitely want a bracelet. If you
do not already have one, just because that would eliminate any difficulties when initially checking
in. And last but not least, this kind of goes with the if you can take someone with you to someone,
but the last one is definitely be an advocate for yourself, do not be afraid to say, Hey, I am hard
of hearing in for this to go smoothly and things to work, I just need to understand what's going
on I can understand what is going on if you let me know beforehand, kind of the process of things
so for example with the X-ray tech letting him know. Hey, I know we're going to go get an x-ray.
Can you let me know what the process is like when I walk in, I'll stand in front of the x-ray board
you'll adjust things as necessary. And then when you go behind the wall you'll say, okay, hold
your breath. Okay, let it go, just so it's super clear and concise, I knew I was getting an x-ray
I didn't think to ask for an overall procedure, just kind of, so that I knew what was going on
but I think if I would have done that I would have understood that he said, "Hold your breath." So,
there are some tips I definitely hope that you do not have to use these tips but if you do, I hope
that they help you feel more prepared to feel composed and patient in the ER environment as a
hard of hearing person. If you have any questions for me please let me know in the comments below.
I love using my experience to help others, which is why I created Definite Hearing, I look forward
to making more awesome videos for you. Stay Strong Stay amazing, and have a great day.