Put drug addicts in hallway

[LifeLongDemocratic]

I was in the emergency room last week for chest pain and noticed the patients not in rooms but in the hallways on stretchers looked like they were strung out on drugs. I noticed that at another hospital emergency room I went to after having a car accident a few years ago. Is that something that hospitals do is put the drug addicts in the hallway in the emergency room instead of private rooms or am imagining things and sick people look like strung out drug addicts?

[No Vested Interest]

1. Could it be that in an emergency room situation drug addicts could be more easily

seen/monitored minute-to-minute for their double conditions (emergency plus drug effects) in a hallway than behind a curtain?
I don't know enough to speculate knowledgably, but trying to think it through...

[LifeLongDemocratic]

2. Perhaps

That could be why they do it. It seemed cruel having them out in the open like that. I was hoping a nurse would reply to the post.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. I think most hospitals now have a special unit for detox, depending on the size of the hospital

I was in one like that back in 2008 for alcohol, as was my roommate, but I believe others there were detoxing from drugs. Since I've been in recovery, I've visited the (smaller) local hospital, AA brings meetings there (at least did before the pandemic) and they're now in what they call the Behavioral Health Unit, not everyone is there for detox. Though the last person I visited there who was in for alcohol detox was in a private room. And I know that in that hospital they have kept non-surgical patients in corners of hallways when they're crowded and waiting for a room. Hope that helps.