It is fun working in emergency services. I get to work with other paramedics, emergency medical technicians, fire fighters, and all different departments of law enforcement. Now, in every profession, there are the good and the really good, and then there are the bad and the really stupid.
Some people just do not see the whole picture when they are involved in a situation. This is one story that involves a sheriff deputy and an inmate in lock-up. In defense of the deputy, he was truly attempting to help an inmate. The inmate was venting his anger on the kind deputy.
Everyday there are quite a few arrest made. In larger cities, they go to a processing center called a lock-up. There the “accused” are finger printed and photographed. They also sit for a very long time waiting to see a magistrate or a judge or moved to a jail. Sometimes they are bored or just looking for sympathy to their situation. Hoping to get their “get out of jail card”, they have any medical complaint that will land them in the emergency department. Some complain of asthma, but they do not know the name of their inhaler and their lung sounds are clear as a bell. Some complain of chest pain and they will answer yes to every question.
One afternoon an inmate’s complaint was seizures. Seizures are a common ailment. The seizure in many aspects is easy to fake, unless the one you are faking knows you are faking. Being fooled many a time, I have specific signs and symptoms to look for. Some are more medically based and some are more street smart based. This day it was just as simple as watching the patient when he seized.
This inmate, “guilty till proven innocent,” was down a narrow hall and through narrower doors in a five foot by ten foot holding area. Lying down on the floor, he was drooling from the mouth. The deputy stated that he was seizing every few minutes and then would wake up cursing at the deputies just a few seconds later. I looked for my signs of a seizure: urine in pants, mouth trauma, and the unresponsive time after a seizure. He did not have any.
I made a comment to him of how he needed to wake up and talk. I made it nicely. There was still no response. I used my back up, an ammonia cap. There is nothing like a nice burning in the nose to wake a person up. This did the trick until the burning went away.
What happened next was nothing less than hilarious. The patient took a quick, and purposeful, look around and began to “seize.” That is, he rolled his eyes back and balled up his fist and began punching the deputy. Everyone else was trying to help him, give him oxygen, hold him down, and protect him. I sat back and laughed, very loud.
I got some funny looks. I finally told the deputy what the patient was doing. Amazingly it stopped right then. Just pointing to the patient I said, “Got ya.”
To stay in lock-up, the hospital needed to evaluate the patient. At the time, there were several law suites of people in lock up dying of medical conditions, so every went out. To get him out of such a narrow spot we used a Reeves Stretcher. Lifting the patient off the floor, he would start to “seize." That was, to ball up his fist and hit any officer in sight, he never hit an EMS provider. Tired of this game I started an IV. With a syringe full of Valium, I began treating this poor patients’ multiple seizers. As the patient suddenly awoke after a short seizure, I was pushing the medicine. He did not have but five little milligrams of Valium but it took that big guy down. He soon began “seizing” again, but this time it was like slow motions of swatting flies.
On my report to the hospital, trying to keep it less than 30 seconds, I simple gave the patient age, the pick up location, and how I treated the patients’ pseudo-seizures (fake seizures.) There was quite a long pause and simple reply, “10-4.”
At the hospital, I turned the patient over to the doctor with the same simple report. She looked at me and laughed then signed my call sheet approving of the treatment and narcotics used.
Some people just do not see the whole picture when they are involved in a situation. This is one story that involves a sheriff deputy and an inmate in lock-up. In defense of the deputy, he was truly attempting to help an inmate. The inmate was venting his anger on the kind deputy.
Everyday there are quite a few arrest made. In larger cities, they go to a processing center called a lock-up. There the “accused” are finger printed and photographed. They also sit for a very long time waiting to see a magistrate or a judge or moved to a jail. Sometimes they are bored or just looking for sympathy to their situation. Hoping to get their “get out of jail card”, they have any medical complaint that will land them in the emergency department. Some complain of asthma, but they do not know the name of their inhaler and their lung sounds are clear as a bell. Some complain of chest pain and they will answer yes to every question.
One afternoon an inmate’s complaint was seizures. Seizures are a common ailment. The seizure in many aspects is easy to fake, unless the one you are faking knows you are faking. Being fooled many a time, I have specific signs and symptoms to look for. Some are more medically based and some are more street smart based. This day it was just as simple as watching the patient when he seized.
This inmate, “guilty till proven innocent,” was down a narrow hall and through narrower doors in a five foot by ten foot holding area. Lying down on the floor, he was drooling from the mouth. The deputy stated that he was seizing every few minutes and then would wake up cursing at the deputies just a few seconds later. I looked for my signs of a seizure: urine in pants, mouth trauma, and the unresponsive time after a seizure. He did not have any.
I made a comment to him of how he needed to wake up and talk. I made it nicely. There was still no response. I used my back up, an ammonia cap. There is nothing like a nice burning in the nose to wake a person up. This did the trick until the burning went away.
What happened next was nothing less than hilarious. The patient took a quick, and purposeful, look around and began to “seize.” That is, he rolled his eyes back and balled up his fist and began punching the deputy. Everyone else was trying to help him, give him oxygen, hold him down, and protect him. I sat back and laughed, very loud.
I got some funny looks. I finally told the deputy what the patient was doing. Amazingly it stopped right then. Just pointing to the patient I said, “Got ya.”
To stay in lock-up, the hospital needed to evaluate the patient. At the time, there were several law suites of people in lock up dying of medical conditions, so every went out. To get him out of such a narrow spot we used a Reeves Stretcher. Lifting the patient off the floor, he would start to “seize." That was, to ball up his fist and hit any officer in sight, he never hit an EMS provider. Tired of this game I started an IV. With a syringe full of Valium, I began treating this poor patients’ multiple seizers. As the patient suddenly awoke after a short seizure, I was pushing the medicine. He did not have but five little milligrams of Valium but it took that big guy down. He soon began “seizing” again, but this time it was like slow motions of swatting flies.
On my report to the hospital, trying to keep it less than 30 seconds, I simple gave the patient age, the pick up location, and how I treated the patients’ pseudo-seizures (fake seizures.) There was quite a long pause and simple reply, “10-4.”
At the hospital, I turned the patient over to the doctor with the same simple report. She looked at me and laughed then signed my call sheet approving of the treatment and narcotics used.
3 comments:
He probably liked the drugs!
hee hee.. see? sometimes you do have fun at work!
I like this template better!
heeheehee. Once again, fun story.
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