The Politics of Art & Authenticity

Peter Nick’s The Waiting Room is a documentary about the ER waiting room in Oakland, California.  I am at a loss of words for what I witnessed in this film.  What I learned from this film is that when people without health insurance come to the hospital they are put in triage and despite how they may be feeling may be left waiting for hours on end until they are finally brought to a room.  What makes matters worse is that when a real emergency case appears, all doctors in the ER rush to try and save the person which further delays other patients.

This documentary made me feel bad for the people who were uninsured.  If they had been insured, that one family probably would have had a pediatrician for their daughter and her case of strep throat wouldn’t have arrived at such a dangerous stage.  The older gentleman could have afforded to go to a dialysis center instead of having to go to a hospital’s ER, exhausting himself waiting for hours, and then further draining his energy due to the treatment.  Half or maybe more than half of the people in that waiting room would not have been there.

The part that had the greatest impact on me was the scene where the bleeding unconscious young man was brought into the ER.  All the doctors rushed in trying to save him.  They continually pressed on his chest trying to get him to breathe, speaking quickly to communicate what to do next.  The doctors tried everything they could.  The 15-year-old boy passed and his body was brought to the freezer.  Just watching this horrific scene made me go pale.

The way they portrayed this scene in the documentary somewhat reminded me of the TV series MASH.  It reminded me of a certain quote at the end of a certain episode named “Yankee Doodle Doctor”.  Alan Alda as Hawkeye states, “Three hours ago this man was in a battle.  Two hours ago we operated on him.  He’s got a 50/50 chance.  We win some we lose some.  That’s what it’s all about.  No promises.  No guaranteed survival.  No saints in surgical garb.  Our willingness, our experience, our technique are not enough.  Guns and bombs and anti personnel mines have more power to take life than we have to preserve it.”

Despite all of this doom and gloom feel in the ER there was one ray of sunshine, the nurse.  This nurse greeted everyone politely with an optimistic smile as she took the temperature of every person who had come to see a doctor.  She made small talk, which put some at ease, and even made others, despite their sickly states, laugh.  I believe her presence was just as important as the doctors.

This film makes me think that Obama’s Health Care plan is necessary.  If it could have helped these people, and people across the nation in similar situations, then it should be enacted.

Sources
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