OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (KFOR/CNN) – A patient at the Oklahoma City, OK, Veterans Affairs hospital says she was so distraught from stomach pain that was going untreated, she called 911 from the emergency room.
Robin Harrison says she went to the VA for a routine appointment, but when she left, she started to feel debilitating stomach cramps.
“[They] literally doubled me over, and I fell on the ground,” Harrison said.
Her doctor sent her down to the ER, where Harrison listed her symptoms for a triage nurse.
“I told her I was in extreme pain, that it felt like I was having labor pains in my stomach,” Harrison said.
The veteran was told to wait, and while waiting, she lay down on a bench.
“I’m starting to cry and moan, and it’s like, ‘I can’t help it. This hurts so bad,’” Harrison said.
Harrison says after about two hours, the pain was too much to bear, so she started going up to the registrar’s desk and asking to be seen sooner. No one came.
"I said, 'What do I have to do to get back there?' I said, 'I can’t take this pain anymore,'" she said.
Finally fed up, Harrison called 911. She says by this point, she was “almost delirious with pain” and was having trouble thinking straight. She told the dispatcher she was at the hospital.
“I’m waiting, and I’ve been here for two hours in severe abdominal pain and I can’t get back there to see anyone,” said Harrison in the 911 call.
A nurse finally came out after the Emergency Medical Services Authority alerted the ER to Harrison’s situation.
"[He] starts going, 'You can’t call 911 from here. That’s misuse of the 911 system.' And he never once asks me why I’m crying, why I'm doubled over, why I'm there – nothing. He just starts berating me,” Harrison said.
After that, Harrison went and sat down again but left when she saw more patients brought back before her.
Hospital officials have a different story from Harrison. They say there was only about an hour and 25 minutes between the time Harrison was admitted to the ER and the time she called 911.
“The triage nurse went out again just to make sure that something hadn’t suddenly changed, and that’s where they had documented that she appeared to be sleeping,” said emergency department nurse manager Courtney Myers.
Myers also says the nurse did ask how Harrison was after she called 911, but the veteran “opted to not stay.”
However, Harrison insists she was disrespected.
“I swore allegiance to my country that I would honorably serve it. I just want the same,” she said.
Copyright 2018 KFOR, Oklahoma City Police via CNN. All rights reserved.
