I’ve been to the Emergency Department exactly once in my life. It was about 12 years ago. I woke up with a slight twinge in my side, which slowly worsened throughout the day, until I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to ignore it any longer. By the time urgent care sent me to the hospital, it had developed into full-blown, excruciating abdominal pain. I had to sit in the waiting room with this pain for far longer than I would have liked, but the hospital staff eventually got me set up in a room and immediately hooked me up to an IV as they began to run tests.