The Dressary Room: A Documentary: The Waiting Room

The film, “The Waiting Room,” is a documentary that records the events at a public emergency room over the course of 24 hours. It reveals testimonials of both patients and workers throughout their stressful and unpredictable days.

The film made me think about many things. I like that it examined multiple perspectives from the workers, doctors, and patients. The emergency room was known for its long waiting time, but without access to insurance, many of the patients were forced to come as a last resort. If the documentary was only filmed from the perspective of the patients, it would seem as if the emergency system was corrupted because of how long some of them had to wait. Luckily, the videographers were able to capture the root of the issues

It seemed to be extremely difficult for these patients to be seen by the doctor, let alone get proper long-term treatment. The documentary revealed many instances of short- treatments like pain killers or other medications which resulted in the need for patients to come back for more. One of the patients said that a doctor was supposed to follow up with him regarding treatment for his condition, but one of the workers informed him that it could take over a month for them to get back to him. That was a part of the film that I did not like because many of these patients do not receive the sense of urgency that they would receive at a private doctor. Although the emergency room treats hundreds of people a day, they are still real people who suffer with real pain and obstacles, and it is hard for them to feel like they are being pushed under the rug after being in the waiting room for hours on

Although the lives of so many of these patients are not easy, they still find a way to keep going and not give up on their loved ones or themselves. That in itself gives me hope. “The Waiting Room” reveals how difficult a day in the emergency room can be, but in the midst of all the stress still lies a lot of hope. I respect every person in this documentary for sharing their story and perspective because in turn, it has widened mine. No story is the same, but at the end of the day, everyone is just fighting to stay