Wife running a 40° fever and tells me many hospitals refuse patients with fever. We find a clinic that’ll see her so long as she stays in the car. She is getting blood test in the car park. Our 1 year old son in the back, temperature outside 36° and she has to stay in the car like this?
Someone help me understand how such policies get approved and are considered providing empathetic care? Am I missing something?
// edit – For the kind folks who took this question for what it is, a rant while under stress. Thank you! Wife is home with meds, not covid, and baby asleep. Fingers crossed wife is better soon and her condition improves.
// edit 2 – Apparently there is an influx of cases going on at the moment? Somehow they slipped news on my Reddit feed.
18 comments
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Did you check with the hospitals? I went to one recently for my son running a fever (and trouble breathing), and they simply made us do a COVID test first before entering the general area.
The car has air conditioning, right?
The aim is to prevent the spread of infectious disease.
Many similar car drive-through testing centers were employed in numerous countries in response to covid.
They are managing risk on the population level, not the individual level.
Fevers are generally a sign of having something infectious. Unless there is a very high risk to her health, her entering a hospital with other patients, many with a weakened immune system, is a bigger risk.
It sucks, but it is reasonable.
“Many hospitals refuse patients with fever.”
Begins to criticize the one clinic that offers service.
Can’t make this up.
The sooner you just accept “Japan gonna Japan” your life will be much less stressful.
You should call an ambulance not negotiate with local clinics
Japan is struggling to let Corona go and get back to regular business I fear.
I don’t know where you are, but I did read that some places are getting a little overwhelmed by covid right now. So while getting a blood test in a car park is not normal, if the hospitals in your area are not accepting fever patients because they are being slammed, then it’s a shikataganai situation I guess. I’m sorry you are going through this. I hope your wife gets better soon.
Find a better doc if possible. My favorite doctor accepts anyone. “Even if you have a fever, please come in” it states on his website.
Sometimes when you’re out in the boonies it can suck. My wife says Inaka doctors are quacks. And they generally are. We’ve taken our oldest to Tokyo before since the Inaka pediatrician kept misdiagnosing our kid without even LOOKING at them.
World class medical system, first world care. 🙁
You’re expecting too much about Japan, and probably not at the right place or hospital too.
In some parts, Japan is really the world standard.
Shinkansen, bidets, poultry, Wagyu, yes.
But in some others, Japan simply isn’t.
Fax machines, bureaucracy, banking, English education, and including medical care.
Okay, on medical care, we may expect the best treatment to be available in the best hospital in Tokyo.
In other hospitals? Not so much. There’s a big spread, which is normal in a big country.
Maybe don’t expect too much, and it will be easier that way.
I had to shop around when I had a fever the other day. I ended up calling four clinics until the most 昭和感 hospital in Japan let me take a stupid COVID-19 test.
It was COVID, but yeah. Calling all those hospitals with a 39 degree fever was fun 🙄
One time I ran to a clinic (not for anything remotely COVID or fever related) because it was close to when they would cut off new arrivals, but apparently that run raised my body temperature and it set off the standard check. They ended up quarantining me for like half an hour, doing a quick antigen test and following it up with a proper PCR test (and even charging me for the damn thing).
Needless to say, I wasn’t able to get seen for what I went there for.
My only criticism would be that if they were going to insist on a PCR test regardless, (1) why bother with the rapid antigen test? and (2) why not just let me leave as-is instead of forcing a quasi-forcing a PCR test on test on me and making me pay for it?
TL;DR: it’s often a case of “*that’s our policy, we can’t change the policy because policies cannot be changed and if policies cannot be changed we cannot change the policy*”
I don’t know… I kind of like this system. Clinic by me checks everyone for fever at the door. If you have a fever, you get COVID tested, and if negative, you get Influenza tested. They have a covered area outside. People with dangerous infectious disease don’t get to sit in the waiting room with everyone else.
Because yes, COVID and Influenza are still deadly for many people. If someone is in that waiting room waiting to see the doc for a checkup on their heart disease, kidney disease, and any of a host of “old people” problems, you just killed them because you feel you shouldn’t have to wait in the car.
I also was sick this week with 40c fever. Local clinic let me in through the back door straight into one of the back rooms. I just wanted to check my sore throat but they required a covid check before anything else. Turns out I was positive..
this sounds awful, i’m really sorry. our 2yo had a 39/40C fever for a week that wasn’t covid and i would’ve been LIVID if they’d tried to do a blood test on him in a car in this heat. hope you’re all resting/on the mend/staying cool etc. be well <3
I got Covid two weeks ago at universal studios. The new strain is different but not bad enough ime to cause a freak out.
I haven’t had a fever since I was about 5yo, I didn’t even remember what a fever felt like. On this I would alternate between chills and sweating. Interestingly enough when I went to the Dr. they didn’t even detect a fever even though I was feeling it, so I don’t know what that even means. I think my body is just super resistant to fevers for whatever reason.
I got a super sore throat. Like, awful. This was the worst part by far. I couldn’t sleep and the pain meds barely took the edge off. There were something like pockets of water in my throat bc when I would bend over the water would “spill” and I would choke. Choking on water in my throat seemingly from nowhere. Normally sore throats hurt when you swallow but this was different. It felt like a hot ball of needles in my throat and I could feel the heat radiating into my mouth. Swallowing hurt, but even if I didn’t swallow it was bad. The only thing that helped was eating or drinking. Yogurt, soup, ice cream. While I was sipping on something the pain would 80%-+ go away. I didn’t realize this at first unfortunately. I just stopped eating the first day which was the wrong choice. This only lasted two days btw.
Vomiting. I vomited twice. Dr. Says it’s not a common symptom but some people vomit.
Anyways, I survived, not *that* big of a deal. Stuff like this went around before Covid and nobody lost their minds.
Good luck OP! If it’s the new Covid this is what to watch out for. 2 days fever and 2 days throat pain and I was back to normal. Get your wife some soup and ice cream.
Just ran 38.6 couple days ago. My local clinic wanted all fever patients to come between 4pm to 5pm so I waited until then. Checked-in, waited outside, called inside, doctor took a look, asked if I wanted to do COVID test – not particularly, ok here’s some medicine prescription, wait outside, pay, go home.