Officer Shoots ER Patient

From DigTriad:

Henderson Police Chief Keith Sidwell said in a statement that the officer was guarding a male patient who was being involuntarily committed at Maria Parham Medical Center when the patient became irate and combative, striking the officer in the knee and head.

The officer shot him in the leg after various attempts to calm and subdue him, including using a stun gun and pepper spray, Sidwell said.

Community health centers seen as key to reducing emergency room cost

From The Hill:

Community health centers are key to reducing excessive visits to the emergency room, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Wednesday ahead of a Senate HELP Committee hearing on the issue.

The report analyzed three strategies health centers use to reduce non-urgent visits to hospital emergency rooms. These include emergency department diversion, such as educating patients about the correct use of emergency rooms and the services provided by health centers; care coordination that focuses on prevention; and making health center services more accessible, by offering evening and weekend hours and providing same-day or walk-in appointments for example.

Motorist impaled by pole through head survives

From Jalopnk:

After Andrew Linn fell asleep at the wheel during a Thanksgiving visit to Las Vegas last year, he drove into a yard and through a chain-link fence, forcing a pole through the windshield of his car. Emergency responders said Linn was conscious when they arrived, and was even trying to use his cell phone to call for help — which was surprising, considering he had a pole through his head.