A man is treated in a hallway which serves as an X-Ray room in Charity Hospital's makeshift emergency room, which is located in an abandoned department store in New Orleans. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Longer waits at emergency rooms
One-fourth of all heart attack victims will wait at least 50 minutes for help if they seek care in the emergency room of a major hospital. A recent study suggests that overcrowding is the main cause for the delay.
Guests
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Andrew Wilper: Internist with Cambridge Health Alliance and a fellow in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is the lead author of the study, "Waits To See An Emergency Department Physician: U.S. Trends And Predictors, 1997-2004."
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Brent Asplin, MD: Head of emergency medicine at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. He has served on national committees examining the state of emergency medical care.
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Arthur Kellermann: Professor and chairman of emergency medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.
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