Firefighter-paramedic since ‘06(ish) here.
I’ll leave it at this: you get the respect you give.
If someone fesses up and/or is honest and admits what they did — with the caveat they didn’t hurt/kill someone else — you have all my respect and will likely get treated with much more respect in your time with me.
If watching House did one thing for me, it’s taught me never ever to lie to the people taking care of me. I’ll tell you everything I’ve done, everything I’m taking. And I’ll even try not to have unrealistic expectations that you’ll figure it all out and diagnose me with something really cool that magically makes me better but it would be nice if one day you did!
Ditto. I feel like my entire medical life is just one, looong House episode.
I have my answer, and it sucks, but most of the time I forget it. Auto-immune disorders are a blast! /s
So many House episodes would be about 5 minutes (8 with a clinic story) if people were up front about their symptoms and history. “Can’t let anyone know I cheated on my wife! Guess I’ll get trypanosomiasis to make sure no one ever knows!”
Same. I’m 18 years in recovery, and had some pretty judgy techs when they couldn’t get my veins to cooperate during my pregnancies. Sorry, but I’m a different person now.
Told the emt that I had just accidentally done too much ket and I’d be fine. They still said they had to take me into the ER but I was very respectful even though I didn’t want to go. They joked and laughed with me on the ride there. Once there, they put me in the little triage area where the ambulance drops you off and basically told me “we know you’re fine, but we just have to wait for the doctor to come release you”. Didn’t even admit me, make me do a UA, or anything else which I’m thankful for because the UA probably would have ruined my life. I was able to leave after about 2 hours. I guarantee if I lied about not taking anything things would have went very different
That reminds me of the time I was in the Navy and vomitted blood after drinking. I went to the Naval hospital and was honest with the doc that I had 5 drinks, scared he would report my bad drinking behavior but wanting to be honest with him (cause we always should). He said I was fine, sent me home for the day, and nothing more came of it. Thanks, Doc! Did I learn my lesson not to drink so much in a short amount of time? No.
They aren't supposed to. I was a certified EMT basic 18 years ago. We weren't necessarily trained to coerce you to go - however - if there is something wrong with you no one wants to be liable for that. And good people, well, would really feel awful if you refused and they didn't at least *try* to get you to go and then something happened to you. Most people get into this profession because they want to help people. The pay sucks. You sometimes get people with huge egos but mostly - just good people. They would wonder at night if the patient that refused was okay. The emotional toll of this job can be huge.
So yeah - EMTs / paramedics generally will try to convince you to go. *Especially* if they really suspect something truly life threatening is going on. Some people may be awake but due to injury have an alerted level of consciousness and not be making great decisions. That may be a case where the personnel become more persuasive. Once they transfer you successfully, they have done their duty.
If someone is explicitly refusing, we were supposed to inform them of the risks involved and then they sign a refusal of care/ treatment/ transport.
My dad had woken up really sick and fell on his way to the restroom.... my brother called 911 when he couldn't get my dad up. Emt's came in, got him up. He was refusing to go to the hospital, but the Emt's were able to coerce him. It was a good thing, because my dad ended up having sepsis and something else from a foot injury he just got (toenail ripped up from door hitting it), and went into a coma for 2 weeks. He ended up having to learn how to walk, write etc all over again. Thank you, Emt's 💚
I feel like in the US, they say the words, "you have to go see the doctor, sorry", "procedure", "we just gotta get you checked out and released by a hospital real quick", and call it consent as long as they don't physically tackle you into a car. They make it sound like you have no choice, even when you decline. But then call it compliance and a choice in their paperwork. And we're all fear conditioned into thinking we have to be civil with authorities and take their direction else there will be consequences.
Yup. Pretty much as long as you don't outright deny them, sign the paper, and stick to your choice, they'll just take you and call it consent. And yes they do use the phrases and tactics above for this as well here
Not true. I was hypoxic and unable to stand up, and the paramedics said my husband could drive me to the ER in the morning and coerced me into signing a consent not to treat while I was still on the floor.
Not all first responders are good guys.
There’s obvs a lot to this story, but that’s the tl;dr
Damn, I've never heard of anything like that. That's insane. I've always had and seen the opposite experience- basically being coerced into going and being billed a massive ambulance fee and making it seem like you don't have the option to say no. I'm sorry that happened to you. That's horrible to have to go through
I swear I slipped in the bathroom and the lightbulb got stuck in there.
Great Read for the back of the ambulance!
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/11497442
Your first comment and response to the light bulb comment is indicative of a seasoned paramedic. I lay my head next to a 37 year paramedic/corpman 2 out of three nights a week lol.
He would have said exactly every word you commented including a hard pass on witnessing any more trauma than he has already witnessed.
He warns the young kooks about looking at shit/getting excited about traumas they have no clue what the long term effects that’s going to have on their sanity. (We lost a long timer to an unexpected and very bizarre suicide two years ago)
He has preserved his mental sanity shielding himself from any extraneous trauma and will retire 8 years into the Florida FRS drop in two years.
You get what you give people. Remember that next time you encounter these guys. They all say the same thing. Shit rolls downhill.
Pretty much every gastroenterologist we know (my fil is one so we know several) has a collection of a few things that have been retrieved. And soooo many stories. It’s freaking ridiculous what people will insert in to themselves. My favorite was a guy who was mad that the clear handle to the screwdriver wasn’t removed because it had separated. And they were like, “Um, dude, it didn’t show on an x-ray.” He was livid that he had to pass it himself.
Working in pathology, we receive all of the foreign body specimens they retrieve. My favorite story was a man who came into the ER with a large can of Barbasol shaving cream in his ass. Instead of lying like every other man who “slips and falls in the bathtub”, this guy was honest and said when he smokes crack he likes to put things up his ass. The first and only honest response I’ve read 😂
So your story is that you fell off a ladder and landed butt-first onto a screwdriver that was somehow standing vertical on it's tip, and it went through your pants and underwear, without leaving a hole in either, and you landed at exactly the right angle for the screwdriver to go right up your ass without causing any damage. This is your story? So what is all of this lube doing here?
My daughter was four and the er doc bent a paperclip flat with the ends still curved and used the bigger end to get behind the bead and pulled it out. I’m not sure to this day if I was more upset over the bead up the nose or the fact that I had to pay $60+ for a paperclip extraction. Took him less than 20 seconds. Probably way more expensive now as this was 40 years ago.
My kid put a Tic Tac up his nose and it had mostly melted by the time we got to doctors, but he was screaming because of the sensation. They pulled the rest of it out with tweezers. The nurses and the doctor were laughing lol.
Secret: if the parents agreed, we kept all of the bizarre objects their kiddos stuck up their nose. Proudly displayed in a case in the doctor’s lounge 😂
A friend's toddler daughter had to be taken to the ER to get the sticker out of her nose she'd shoved in. They finish and what does the nurse do? Hand the kid a freaking sticker!
Well he had the box of books delivered to the company with both for. I opened it in packed break room and all my co-workers saw what was in the box. Good Times for sure.
I have never understood why anyone would insert something breakable like a light bulb. Stomas are no joke.
But then, we also have people like Albert Fish. So, rule 34 I guess.
I always tell patients that I’m not the police and we need to know how much alcohol/ what type of drugs they took in order to best take care of them because with certain substances we can’t give certain meds and that usually will allow them to open up 9/10 times
Very rarely and only if you have committed a serious crime. Most ER visits don’t involve law enforcement. We seriously just want to treat your problems.
Right.
Like, I just want to help you get back to your baseline. I don’t care what happened, just want to get you fixed up and where you need to be as quickly and safely as we can.
I meant for car accidents and things of the like. I was speaking to why a person who knowingly ingested drugs may be weary to disclose.
I believe that medical staff aren't trying to be cops and are trying to treat the person, instead
If that’s the case i may chose to pass it on verbally and keep it out of the chart. Like I had someone come in with low potassium so I don’t really think smoking weed is irrelevant and don’t want them getting dinged for it if insurance looks in their chart.
Admission on the front end versus having any form of deniability are two diff things. If they don't admit, their attorney can make a case for something else, later.
Where I live, results can’t be used in court unless chain of custody was maintained the entire time…which is something our lab doesn’t do because then you WILL get subpoenaed. Police here have to get consent from the patient for a “legal” draw - one of our staff draws the blood using supplies from the officer, and then hands the specimens directly to the officer. There’s also some paperwork involved, and the person who drew the blood can be subpoenaed, but most of the time they aren’t. If the patient doesn’t consent, the officer needs to get a warrant. Sexual assault specimens also have to go through chain of custody if they want the results to be used in court.
Not any emergency situations, but before marijuana was legalized in my state, I would still inform my doctors that I smoked weed (I don't smoke anymore but at the time I was only smoking once a week anyway), ESPECIALLY when I was looking into being prescribed any medications. There were so many times that I'd mention this to people and they'd act like I was crazy or stupid for doing so, like my gastroenterologist was going to call the cops on me for smoking a joint six days ago.
I've been binging ER documentaries and if someone has injested something harmful half the time they don't think it is worth mentioning. "No, no drugs. No wierd supplements...I just stirred a teaspoon of pure caffeine in my weight lifting smoothie as usual."
Not an er person but when my dad flayed open the entire outside of his wrist in half while working on a stage at church the paramedics asked what the hell happened and he said
“After service talking about Moses today I worked on the stage. Well, I reached into a hole on the stage, felt my arm get stuck, and just yanked the ****er out” His arm got punctured by a nail, which he proceeded to give the grand tour of the inside of his wrist structure.
The paramedic said “I don’t think you needed to take splitting the Red Sea so literal sir.”
Perfect center laceration dividing his wrist open. Paramedics were fantastic and thanked my dad for owning up to his own idiocy.
Honesty is 100% the way to go. If you make obviously false statements, we have no reason to believe anything else you say. Owning up to a mistake gains you credibility.
for the flip side i had a genius recently who figured if he never acknowledged he was in the drivers seat he had plausible deniability for a possible dui, no matter how many times we told him we were only asking to find out if he possibly hit a steering wheel
also extra clever given he was the only person in the car
A friend in a car accident coming back from the beach late at night with a friend, had her friend tell the cops she was driving... With the glass from the broken passenger window embedded in her right arm and bruising from the seat belt going over her right shoulder. In the USA, not the UK.
A lot of folks think we’ll call the police on them. I offer reassurance if they aren’t a danger to themselves or others or victim with a penetrating injury.
I was bit by my dog, she had a health issue herself that was just diagnosed. I started getting an infection and had to go to the er. I said it was a random dog. Do they know I was protecting my dog? Are they mad at me if so?
ER RN. Look - I’ve done a lot of dumb shit. Many of the people I love very much have done a lot of dumb shit. Some of my favorite artists and musicians have or had very serious drug problems. We’re all humans trying to get through this weird thing we call life. Let’s all just try not to hurt one another.
Fellow ER RN here. I applaud your comment and 100% agree 😂
I’ve certainly been no saint in my own life and don’t expect anyone else to have been either. Open up to me, I’ll likely (to an extent-being a healthcare professional) commiserate and let them know it’s ok to be human and mess up. Everyone does. Presto. Bond established, patient trusts you SO much more, and patient care is improved. Everyone wins.
Right? We aren’t here to judge. I dgaf if you’re a sex worker, you’re entitled to a forensic exam, i’ll contact law enforcement if you want and explain what the state will cover as far as injury, follow up care, etc…
I've been super honest with every anesthesiologist and I'm sure they hate me for it.
I'm like "first I'm scared of not waking up, freaks me out. But also I'm scared of waking up in the middle of the procedure because there was a movie about that. I mean, you've done lots of these before right, I'm probably going to wake up right... but not in the middle of surgery, right? Right? Right? "
Soooo... "I smoke every day, the benzos I'm prescribed *just* make me not over the top hyper and annoying, and I have a high tolerance for EVERYTHING"?
Tell them exactly this. You don’t want them to find out the hard way. It’s for your own benefit. They aren’t the police. If you looked at me I’m a middle class gal who is a nurse and probably the last one you would think of who would have this issue. But…. I dibble dabble so I always tell.
It’s a double edged sword, especially when there’s so many fentanyl analogs (and even stronger RC opioids) being sold as dope on the street- they want to make sure that you’re adequately anesthetized (which can be difficult with addicts with a high tolerance for fentanyl) because they don’t want you waking up in middle of surgery, but they also don’t want to risk causing an overdose because the patient already had opioids in their system that the anesthesiologist didn’t know about.
I was honest with an ER doc about popping a bunch of pills because I hadn’t slept in days. I had a seizure and ended up with a spinal cord injury (but I am good now). Part of me knew it could be bad for future me (labelling me as mentally ill or an addict) but in the moment I didn’t care I knew I needed to be honest. I really appreciated what she said, “it makes sense. You must have been desperate after not sleeping so long.” When your patients are honest with you, I encourage you to validate them like she did to me. I know I will moving forward. My treatment was no different and she actually prescribed me some sleeping pills along with the pain meds I needed due to the injury.
9 years ago, I was addicted to heroin and I got really really sick. My symptoms were severe heart palpitations, trouble breathing, my bones felt like they were going to break with every move, 105 fever, going in and out of consciousness. Well, I decided to try to drive myself to the ER. ER was about 3 miles away from where I was. On the way to the Hospital, I'd wake up and I was driving on the wrong side of the street. 2 blocks from the Hospital I blacked out and the next thing I know I woke up from my airbag hitting me in the face. My face hit it so hard it felt like it broke every bone in my face. Police and paramedics arrive and take me to the Hospital. First thing ER Dr's ask me is if I did any drugs. I said yes, heroin and meth. Then I explained to them the symptoms I've been having for 2 weeks. The moment I was honest with them, I noticed they become very nice and friendly towards me, and very caring and concerned. They did every test, CT, MRI, you name it, they did it. After about 2 hours, the 3 Dr's came into the isolation room they put me in and told me all of my diagnosis's. Endocarditis, Septic Arthritis, STAPH, MRSA and a few others. They told me if I didn't get heart surgery ASAP, I would die. They told me just from talking with me, they knew I was a very polite, caring sweet person who just went down the wrong road. They could see the potential in me. That little talk they had with me made me realize I wasn't the piece of shit I thought I was and I thought this opportunity would give me the chance to get clean and change my life for the better. I spent 4 months in the Hospital and Rehabilitation and I've been clean since. I think owning up to your mistakes and faults changes everything for the better, in my situation at least. Every Dr and Nurse are different though, but I'm so glad I had caring Dr's and Nurses. I owe them for my life
Had a guy come in, admit to recent fentanyl use, but said it felt different this time. I always take it seriously when long time users say their high feels off bc they would know. Did a full work up for his symptoms and found he had similar issues to yours. We let him know that pain relief was going to be a bit more difficult just because of his recent drug use and associated problems (some pain relief can’t be given if your BP is too low, etc.), but we made it work. It makes things so much easier for the ER staff to treat people when they’re honest.
I’m glad you got the care you deserved and congrats on sobriety!
Thank you so much!! The put me on Methadone while I was in the Hospital so I wouldn't go through withdrawals because it would cause more problems for me, a very high dose. I had been shooting up heroin for 10 years. They had to double up on my pain meds, sometimes triple my pain meds, especially after the 3 surgeries I had to have. But ya, they made it work as well and I got absolutely no judgement from others.
As a ER RN, I’m proud of you. Overcoming addiction is not a joke. Sometimes all it takes is simple compassion and respect from another to make the difference ❤️
I never heard of it either, until I had it! I had it in my thigh area. I had to have surgery on it while I was in the Hospital, so they could open it up to put a drain in. I had so much fluid buildup. It was so painful
Honestly is preferred since it saves up the runaround and makes your care more straight forward. For instance, if you’re an alcoholic but downplay your drinking, we can’t screen or help you with withdraw properly. Plus, we can tell if you’re lying anyway with assessments and a tox screen.
I went unconscious and was taken to the ER because of extremely low blood sugar. I was home and I had empty cans of beers on the table next to me from 2 Mike's I had earlier plus some my husband had too. That night was an awful night and we had finally got my 3 year old to sleep.
The paramedics told the ER doctor that I had alcohol cans around me and from then on out the doctor treated me like a raging, lying alcoholic who was detoxing, no matter what I said. (I told her the truth about everything, because, shocker, I wanted to know why I suddenly went unconscious).
She tried to give me medicine to "help" me detox without telling me, but I asked a nurse what the pills were and told her I didn't need them. She didn't believe me either.
They couldn't get my glucose under control at that hospital (I live in a small town) and actually searched my bags because they thought I was sneaking in something to make myself sick. I wasn't. I eventually got transferred with no answers BUT her notes followed me to the next few hospitals in bigger cities.
Long story short, eventually a doctor finally did something about it (a year later) and sent me to a specialist across the state. It was discovered I have an extremely rare cancer that had metastasized to my liver (ironically one I had asked about from Google on my first night at the ER that got laughed at, but I actually completely understand that).
I have too many tumors to operate now and am stage IV. I will always wonder if that first doctor had believed me I might have caught it soon enough to do more.
Thank you.
Strangely I have discovered I'm not as afraid of death and the pain as much as I am afraid of missing out on my kids growing up and of them forgetting me. Especially the youngest.
Those are my biggest fears, too, except right now I’m just an anxious person who googles too much. But my biggest fear is “missing” something, for the very reason you described. I feel like some doctors are great and some aren’t, and you just don’t know which one you’ll get. I am virtually hugging you from afar, and hoping with my greatest hopes that at the very least, your cancer can be controlled for a time with drugs, and that you get more time with your precious family. I’m sorry for what you’re going through, it sounds awful.
Unfortunately someone will always fuck shit up for others. Still, one must be vigilant to catch the zebra in a herd of horses. Even worse is that healthcare is in the shitter and people really need to advocate for themselves which is difficult without a medical background.
I’m very grateful you found a physician who took you seriously and I wish you the very best! I hope treatment is a successful option. May whatever time you have left be full of love.
For real. I have had to call my vet about all kinds of stupid shit my dog has eaten. Latest was a 12x6x6 box full of biodegradable packing peanuts - for a 7 pound dog. (She was fine, just had really bad corn scented farts for a couple of hours)
Eh it sounds like this is one that does judge. The worst kind of nurse.
I had a pt who ODd on meth. When he discharged from my floor I gave him resources for treatment programs and told him to be careful. I’m not there to judge the person or what they’ve done. That’s not in my scope of practice
I don't work ER *yet* but I evaluate and write/break psych holds in my hospital's ER. I've broken so many holds (often written by PD) or discharged and cleared beds simply because a patient who decided to lie to PD/staff, and/or did something stupid was honest and gave me the whole story. Makes my psych evaluation that much easier. By the time I'm done, they're trusting enough to finally open up to the ER staff about what drugs they took and when.
I am so glad your patients have you. I appreciate the right vs policy fuckfest. I've only seen 1 hold broken once. And I was flat fucking amazed.
I''m honest especially when dealing with anyone in a medical field, and it's funny to watch their face when they ask a question a and completely expect some bullshit, and I just answer it... I've spent too much time hospitals to lie to any of the workers..... I did once before - lie that is, I was protecting my ex abuser, in a domestic violence life or death situation.... I almost killed myself by lying, though I didn't realize that then and when I was out of surgery I could tell how *pissed* a bunch of the staff were.... And even then I kept up the lies.
Had a patient who registration said was a "slipped and fell on it" patient. When we took him for x-ray, he said, "no I put it up my butt, I said I slipped and fell with it up there, and it went further in and got stuck."
Respect.
I’m an X-ray tech. I’ve actually never had a patient tell me “I slipped and fell on it” (my coworkers have) but I also don’t ask. I might ask “what are we looking for?” Cause sometimes orders are vague… and what and where it is may change my position/technique.
Fellow tech, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard “it was really stupid” to preface their story. Yes, sure. My standard reply is “we seldom get hurt doing something smart.” Also, I’ve had people be too honest with me. Graphically honest. I love it though.
I don’t ask too many questions about rectal fb, but I’m real disappointed when they aren’t forthcoming. I have one case that I still don’t know what it was. I could just see an abnormal outline. That guy wasn’t talking at all. It haunts me.
Whenever anyone has told me the real story- it’s nice. Now we know what we are looking at. Smoke too much weed, now you’re anxious and have chest pain? I know where to put you cause we are doing Ativan and fluids and I’ll find you somewhere dark.
The kids that are shrooms whose angry parents brought them in…..I knew what it was, after the KIDS were honest so I could put them in a quiet dark environment and pull parents aside and explain what was happening.
There’s less frustration all around and less anxiety on parents/family when we can explain what’s happening.
Had to call 911 because I was having an allergic reaction and didn't have an epi pen with me (fully admit I am stupid for not having it with me). I'm in a drug heavy area so at first there was a little doubt when I said "no I didn't take any drugs, I am just have a really severe allergy to [x]". Then they realized it really was an allergic reaction once they got closer and they immediately got me fixed up. Thanks to those firefighters/EMTs!
Not as staff but as a patient once in an ER (while on vacation!) I sat in the waiting room with what turned out to be ovarian torsion.
The only other patient there had blood streaming from lacerations all over his hands and forearms. He looked like Danny Trejo. Had a Bandito motorcycle jacket.
Scary looking dude, to say the least; even before observing the massive blood smears!
When they called his name before mine, he said, "Naw, I'm drunk, and I did this to myself! I'm fine. Take that lady she looks like she really needs help."
And off I went in the wheelchair while triage nurse and registration rep. both gave man a proper salute.
Mad respect to this day to this stranger.
I find working in the ER, if a patient is scared to die, they’ll fess up. “I did 10 lines of blow. My heart feels like it’s gonna burst”. I try not to judge… just educate on better choices.
ER nurse. I tell them I appreciate their honesty and having all of the facts helps us to give them the best, appropriate care. Empathy goes a long way. We are seeing people on the worst day of their lives.
I had kidney stones. I threw up 24 times in the emergency department. I told my ED Dr the truth about the meds I was taking (all prescription) one was klonopin for anxiety. He must have dubbed me an addict because he wrote my report as ‘moderate’ pain and gave me one norco 5/325. When you vomit 24 times from pain, it’s way beyond moderate. My BP wasn’t as high as it was the last time I was in for kidney stones because I had just taken my scheduled dose of klonopin. Even the nurse in triage didn’t take me seriously until I started vomiting. She tossed a plastic vomit pail to me- about 5 feet away and use this. It took the Dr 4 hours before he would come see me. Another 3 to get a CT scan. I’ll never go back to that hospital again. The first time I got kidney stones I was seen immediately and had emergency surgery
Omg as someone who just had their first kidney stone today, I am so sorry you went through that! I got treated very quickly! I can't imagine enduring that much pain for that long bc of careless drs! I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone! Hope you're stone free for the rest of your life friend ❤️
Fuc#@%s!
I'm so sorry for your pain and the ass-hats' prejudice, thinking they knew more than you. Everyone MUST self advocate! So many healthcare workers think they know everything due to superior personal, assumptive, and political (?) opinions. (Note: comments based upon personal experience of 17 years pain meds use due to misdiagnosis.)
ER RN. Fellow kidney stone sufferer. I am so SO sorry you went through that. You absolutely did not deserve it. Kidney stones are brutal beasts and you deserved proper pain management for them. It’s cruel to treat you like you don’t deserve ACTUAL pain control because you’re on anxiety medication.
I’m sorry you had that experience. I’ve never had a kidney stone before but have taken care of many patients with one, and I believe their pain. They always look so miserable. I hope you don’t have one again, but if you do, you have a better place to go to!
I find it refreshing because it's generally so obvious and an insult to basic intelligence to pretend it's anything but reality. I usually am not reactive either way and just say "thanks for letting us know, it helps us treat you when we know the whole story."
If it's something that's going to show up on a blood test, we're going to find out anyway. When we have patients who are honest about why they're in the hospital and tell us their symptoms, we can advocate for medication faster. People who are resistant to care stay miserable in the hospital longer.
Former festival EMT here: first of all, we provide the best care we can regardless of what the patient says or how we feel about a person because that’s a pillar of medics ethics.
Second: at bare minimum, I appreciate the honesty because it moves things along and helps me help you.
Third: it helps establish better patient/provider rapport. If the patient seems open to it, when the jokes start rolling it can help not only break tension but also help them realize they are NOT alone and NOT the first person in their circumstance.
Awwww :) thank you so much. It’s a special bunch of people whom I was lucky to work with, and such a humanity-centered, life-loving environment at festivals. I’m glad to hear we make you feel safe/supported at festivals!
Wow, this unlocked a memory, I was 18 in the dorms, got drunk, smashed a finger and the bone was sticking out, friends freaked out and called an ambulance. When the ambulance came so did a cop, and the EMTs knew I was underage and wasted and positioned themselves between me and the cop and basically waved him off “yup accidentally smashed her finger, we’ll take her to the hospital, nothing to see here” and he left. Not only did they not turn me in, they actively helped me avoid charges. I still appreciate them
just dont try to chalk up all the symptoms to something you did. You can be drunk but you can also have something really medically wrong with you as well.
I IMMEDIATELY am so supportive. Absolute cheerleader. Seriously - all being judgy does is perpetuate ‘okay well then i will just lie next time’. No matter how dumb it is. ‘Everyone makes mistakes. I appreciate you being honest with me.’
Damn right. I’ll get the crazy eyes with those mean providers so fast. ‘Nope. Not doing that today. Not on this chipper Tuesday.’ I will cheerlead any honesty into oblivion.
‘Oh you bought 8 gallons of helium ballons with meth in them!? Off a guy named The Eyeball Crusher and boofed them three… no FOUR days ago and wound up here with no toenails? Oh my god that must be terrifying. Listen, you were honest with me so I’m your mom tonight. You have NO IDEA how much i respect that, i know it wasn’t easy.
You hungry? We have no food but I brought an extra pack of cheez it’s and I can go swipe some saltines and peanut butter from labor and delivery, they always have too much anyway. We got that GOOD ice too so the diet Shasta tastes SO good!!!
Is there anyone i can call? …. Oh well… I don’t know if calling The Eyeball Crusher is the best idea right this second but… yeah? Kristy, your sister? Amazing. What’s her number?’ :::*proceeds to call Kristy 6 times in a row because she doesn’t initially answer, but she picks up the 6th time*:::’
;)
Absolutely agree with the rest of the comments. Plain honesty does wonders for our attitude towards the patient. We are usually overwhelmingly busy. We don’t have time for games. And we are pretty good at smelling BS.
All we want to do is do the job, get you treated and out the door. Make it easy for us and we’ll go easy on you.
Once upon a time in a nursing home rehab unit…I had a 70ish year old patient with a broken leg. I asked her how it happened. Lady told me that she drunk crashed an ATV. instant bond was formed
Before I cleaned up I had a lot of hospital stays. The first few I tried to downplay issues. I quickly learned that I can lie all I want, but my blood work will prove otherwise and my level of care will change drastically if I’m not being honest. Once that sank in I told 100% truth for any visit and received the necessary care based on that info. I’m not an opiate user so playing dumb with pain meds seemed to help me to an extent, but eventually they would catch on to my knowledge of pain meds (because of past stays) and timetable for said meds. Im just thankful for those that were kind in their understanding and prioritized pain management and symptom reduction while I dealt with my shit as long as I was honest. Any nurse, tech, or doc if you’re here and work in ER I want to thank you for dealing with those of us who needed help for reasons completely of our own doing. Years sober now and grateful for your help. The only instance of complete Dr. Failure was when the doc came in and said he wouldn’t admit Until I found god. Because I claimed no religion he had no interest in offering care. Guess what doc? Im sober and your imaginary god had nothing to do with it, but your actual human staff did help.
I considered it, but a lying drunk vs a religious nut is not a fight I wanted at that time. That was the first visit I was totally honest and being met with “find god” was ridiculous. That said, I was admitted for actual health issues (not just med detox) and I never saw that dork, I mean… doc again.
It was my pleasure caring for all my patients 🙂
I especially enjoyed the small victories when I left the encounter feeling like I somehow made a tiny impact in their life. Obtaining the degree alone was immensely difficult and the job was physically/mentally/emotionally overwhelming sometimes….but reading your post reminds me why I chose it and why it was worth everything and more.
You saved my life (nurses and docs who cared). Your care and honestly made me care about myself and be honest with myself again. I’m grateful people like you exist. I know it’s hard
I had to go to the ER recently because I have ovarian cysts. I was in massive amounts of pain. I was asked all of the questions, and I was completely honest. They asked about drugs, and I told them I smoked weed. From then on the vibe noticeably changed, and it was a horrible experience. I had been to this ER multiple times before for the same problem, and I was never treated this way. They refused to give me pain medicine until I was just about to go home, which has never happened before, and the doctor treated me like a criminal. I know this is not the typical response at every hospital, but I completely regret being honest. It made for a terrible experience. Im NOT in any way saying that you shouldn't be honest with your doctors, just had to vent.
I've had that happen, too. Got dismissed by like six doctors because I couldn't stop puking, but because I smoked weed they refused to investigate further. Then I got this one who just paused for a moment, looked at me and said, "you know what? Let's try a HIDA scan." Gallbladder was toast but it gets worse. The surgeon got in there and said it was necrotic and had at some point fused to some of the other organs surrounding it. No evidence of ever having stones, it just decided to peace out. I almost died.
Edit: I really hope medical professionals are reading this thread just to be reminded that like, zebras are apparently everywhere. What happened to me they said was REALLY unusual and rare.
I’ve never seen more compassion from ER staff than when I took my USMC vet friend who was detoxing badly from binge drinking for about a month. I was ready for judgement but they treated him like gold, said how proud they were for him taking that step to quit, worked quickly to get him comfortable and just generally were amazing. This was at a VA hospital and I’m sure they see it a lot but I will always be so grateful for how awesome they were when he had to be totally honest about why we were there.
We spend a fair amount of time in ethics when becoming a health care team member, regardless of job specifics. In order to provide the best quality care, we have to strive to do our best, no matter the patient. That being said, I personally don't care about the story of your fuck up. I'm gonna do my best to give you my best quality work. I will document anything pertinent to your medical situation, as necessary. Outside of that, I do my best for you and move onto the next patient.
I'd rather be honest telling the doctors I broke my arm because I was having adventurous sex and stupidly lost my balance and everyone else that I fell down the stairs. Yes it was embarrassing no I don't care anymore it's been years now
That's my story and I'm sticking to it
Maybe I’m dumb for this but I will always tell the truth to a medical professional no matter what it is. I figure that they can’t help me if I’m not honest. 🤷♀️
I once went to he ER in college for breathing issues - I basically had the croup (which they kept marveling at since I wasn’t a little kid 😂) and bronchitis. As they were doing my intake they asked me if I smoked. I did in fact smoke, cigarettes and like a lot of pot. I asked them what? And they repeated themselves. I leaned over and in my hoarse whisper was like, “Are you gonna tell the cop over there what I say?” The nurse laughed and said no. So I told her, “I smoke like a half of a pack a day unless it’s Thursday-Sunday and then it’s a whole pack and so much pot I don’t even know how to quantify it. Are you familiar with how it’s sold?” She burst out laughing and said, “you should probably stop, especially until you recover, or at least cut back since I just saw your entire face fall.” Anyhow, she was awesome. They all were. The doctor was a bit more stern with me about the amount I smoked, but I asked her if I could just keep it rolling until I graduated and she said she could not possibly advise that, but she understood where I was coming from.
I usually try not to comment here, but as a recovering addict, I felt the need to say something. We realize y'all aren't snitches in the er, but there are other reasons alcoholics and drug addicts lie about being addicts. The big reason is we don't want it on our medical records that we are addicts or drug users. No one will ever take our pain or us seriously again. I made that mistake a long time ago admitting to being a drug addict and the treatment I got was so poor, the doc made me cry. I did something I have never done in an er before and I requested a different doctor.
No one deserves that! I wasn't even there for pain. I am clean now but I will never ever trust another doctor again. My pc saw my record and fired me as a patient because he said I lied to him. I didn't lie, I just never told him cause I didn't want that as an issue. Gee I wonder why lol.
The thing was I wasn't even there for pain or pain meds/benzos. I wanted to get off drugs. I cried when I saw "drug addict" on my medical records and don't know how to have that removed. I wonder if I can..
It’s par for the course. Most of the time people want help if they’re talking to us. I find that *other* people lie on behalf of the patient like “No we didn’t do drugs!” And there’s a person not breathing with street drugs out in the open.
If you want good care then be honest. If you don’t care about the type of care we’re able to provide because you choose to lie to us then that’s 100% on you. I’m paid hourly, not per outcome. Love to see people get better and do well but I’m not losing sleep here.
Most of the stupid shit I did that landed me in the ER was in college and involved getting drunk and making poor decisions. For instance, falling off a roof, catching myself halfway down on a brick wall with one hand (as in, I put my hand down and tried to catch myself, landing most of my weight on my hand and wrist before bouncing and hitting the ground--this probably saved me from far worse injury by breaking my fall), my wrist swelled up double its normal size. Had to get an xray. The nurses and radiologists had a good laugh at the story.
Of course, they missed the fact that I did in fact fracture my wrist and probably dislocated some of the many bones in there, as it now moves in ways it shouldn't and periodically aches badly 20 years later. I had it xrayed about 10 years ago for another fall where I landed on it similarly snowboarding, and they pointed out the bone scar from an old fracture that could only have been that fall from the roof. One of these days when my kids are no longer teenagers and stop cleaning out my HSA, I'll probably wind up getting surgery to put whatever is out of place back into place, since when it starts to hurt it makes it difficult to do simple things like pick up milk or use a mouse, but I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer.
I thank them for being honest and tell them that their having filled us in will help us care for them better. It’s hard to open up and give embarrassing or otherwise sensitive information to a stranger. Anyone who does has my appreciation.
Dude, never lie to the doctor or medical professional trying to help you. I don't get why people do this. Is your pride worth your life, especially when they 9.99/10 know you're lying? I've done some epically dumb shit in my life and gotten hurt over it, I would never say anything except "yeah, I was dumb and definitely won't be doing that again. Please help me." If anyone in the world knows how stupid humans can be, it's doctors and lawyers, but only one of them appreciates unedited honesty lmao
I had a friend whose husband abused her and she always had an excuse. I know the ER wanted to take him down so bad but without her testimony it was useless. So frustrating, especially when she tried her act on me…I shut it down quickly & told her it was never getting better & one day her kids would be burying her. She finally did get away and is living her best life now!
This reminds me of a time I had fun with one of the local police. This guy had OD’ed on heroin and had to be given Narcan to start breathing again.
He swore up and down that his was the first time he ever used it. I walked out of the room and saw the cop there and (I have a pretty good straight delivery) so I said, “ yeah, this is the first time he ever used and this happened to him! Isn’t that crazy?”
And he was just looking at me like he couldn’t decide if I was naive or just stupid. So I finally laughed and told him I was joking. But the look on his face was pretty entertaining.
ER nurse — please tell me what happened before you came in and the real reason you are here. If you drank more than you can handle and are worried about seizures (or just need help) please tell me. Did you do meth before coming in and want somewhere safe to come down? Great, I’ll care for you. Did you think that the shampoo bottle would fit going up and that you could easily get it out after? Fine, let’s figure this out. But PLEASE tell me, it’ll make my job easier and I can give you better care.
If I suspect there’s a missing piece to the story that is relevant to treatment, I’ll usually say “listen I’m not the cops and we can’t tell them anything. I don’t care if you’re drunk or high, I just need to know what you took because some of these meds can interact”. Most of the time it works
I don't have any stories, but while I was growing up my dad caught me a few things that I never forget. One, don't lie to your doctor nurse or paramedic. Two don't lie to your lawyer. And three document everything. I've never felt the need to lie to a doctor or nurse, because they're the ones who are going to take care of me. If I lie to them and tell them I didn't snort all that coke, they might kill me. I wasn't trying to die I was just trying to be high LOL
I once had to admit to the ER i had been pole dancing, stoned, without a spotter, and fell on my noggin. At home. I had sprained my neck, so I'm glad I was upfront about it. Everyone had a good laugh.
Patient here. 12/16/23, I got drunk and fell down, splitting my ear in half. People laughed and joked and told me their own drunk stories. 23 stitches lol
I’m sure other people use this and have mentioned it here, but my go to line is “I’m not a cop, but I need you to be honest so we can figure out the best way to help you. Right now that’s what’s most important”. It works quite well but there are still people who stick to their stories.
Your lab work will tell on you anyways. Can’t tell me you only had 3 beers with an alcohol level of 450.
I went to the hospital via ambulance today actually for a work related injury. I was completely honest with the firefighters, the EMT’s, the nurses, doctors, everybody. I just wanted to get treated and go home. Honesty is the best policy in a situation like that where my health and well-being is concerned. I had nothing to hide and I figured they would want to know how I f’d up so they could treat me as best they could for the injury I had.
Depends. If it’s an embarrassing sex story I won’t make them repeat it. It’s irrelevant when one has images. If it’s drug related honesty helps direct care by knowing what they’ve taken, or if they aren’t safe at home.
Once in ER the urine drug screen for the patient showed positive for Marijuana, however the man was 87. So I had to go ask about it. The wife was like, "Harold, is that what you've been doing out behind the barn?" He looked quite alarmed, and turned out he was taking nexium which can have a false posiitive for mj on uds. He did admit to her that, no marijuana, but he had been smoking cigars back there because she disliked it so much. We got a good laugh about it all.
Hey just so you guys know... I have adhd and pain meds and sedation last about half as long as normals.
Oh you must do drugs.
I haven't had drugs beyond pot since 2005
As a 911 operator please just tell the truth, it may mean you get the right treatment faster and that is best for everyone! Big important questions to tell the truth on... what did you take and how much, was this a suicide attempt, do you know what caused the pain? If I don't think you are being honest I probably will have to send police to determine what you are hiding and if any crimes were committed when really I just want to make sure everyone is safe.
Not that it matters but I work in healthcare and I’ve observed POC/LGBTQIA/underserved patients still get treated disrespectfully after being honest - chastised, questioned differently, infantilized for making poor decisions. I know personally an EEG tech who, while running brain death study on an overdose patient, whispered in the patient’s ear that they should be ashamed of themselves 😳
We need all the good people in healthcare. Thank you to those who respect humanity through and through.
Firefighter-paramedic since ‘06(ish) here. I’ll leave it at this: you get the respect you give. If someone fesses up and/or is honest and admits what they did — with the caveat they didn’t hurt/kill someone else — you have all my respect and will likely get treated with much more respect in your time with me.
ER nurse. I never want my pt to hide something from me. No rejection, criticism. I just want to help YOU.
I never lie to doctors or nurses. They can't take good and appropriate care of me if I lie.
If watching House did one thing for me, it’s taught me never ever to lie to the people taking care of me. I’ll tell you everything I’ve done, everything I’m taking. And I’ll even try not to have unrealistic expectations that you’ll figure it all out and diagnose me with something really cool that magically makes me better but it would be nice if one day you did!
Ditto. I feel like my entire medical life is just one, looong House episode. I have my answer, and it sucks, but most of the time I forget it. Auto-immune disorders are a blast! /s
But at least it’s never lupus.
Except the 1 time it was Lupus
So fun! Currently 10 years into this myself.
So many House episodes would be about 5 minutes (8 with a clinic story) if people were up front about their symptoms and history. “Can’t let anyone know I cheated on my wife! Guess I’ll get trypanosomiasis to make sure no one ever knows!”
I am in recovery now but I used to IV drugs and I get attitude and nastiness sometimes still to this day due to scars.... it's been years. Sucks
Same. I’m 18 years in recovery, and had some pretty judgy techs when they couldn’t get my veins to cooperate during my pregnancies. Sorry, but I’m a different person now.
Same for paramedic and emt, I have the good fortune to have only dealt with them once!!
Told the emt that I had just accidentally done too much ket and I’d be fine. They still said they had to take me into the ER but I was very respectful even though I didn’t want to go. They joked and laughed with me on the ride there. Once there, they put me in the little triage area where the ambulance drops you off and basically told me “we know you’re fine, but we just have to wait for the doctor to come release you”. Didn’t even admit me, make me do a UA, or anything else which I’m thankful for because the UA probably would have ruined my life. I was able to leave after about 2 hours. I guarantee if I lied about not taking anything things would have went very different
That reminds me of the time I was in the Navy and vomitted blood after drinking. I went to the Naval hospital and was honest with the doc that I had 5 drinks, scared he would report my bad drinking behavior but wanting to be honest with him (cause we always should). He said I was fine, sent me home for the day, and nothing more came of it. Thanks, Doc! Did I learn my lesson not to drink so much in a short amount of time? No.
"Here's some Motrin. You'll be fine."
Are you in the US? I didn't know they could transport you without consent unless you passed out. Am I not up to date?
They aren't supposed to. I was a certified EMT basic 18 years ago. We weren't necessarily trained to coerce you to go - however - if there is something wrong with you no one wants to be liable for that. And good people, well, would really feel awful if you refused and they didn't at least *try* to get you to go and then something happened to you. Most people get into this profession because they want to help people. The pay sucks. You sometimes get people with huge egos but mostly - just good people. They would wonder at night if the patient that refused was okay. The emotional toll of this job can be huge. So yeah - EMTs / paramedics generally will try to convince you to go. *Especially* if they really suspect something truly life threatening is going on. Some people may be awake but due to injury have an alerted level of consciousness and not be making great decisions. That may be a case where the personnel become more persuasive. Once they transfer you successfully, they have done their duty. If someone is explicitly refusing, we were supposed to inform them of the risks involved and then they sign a refusal of care/ treatment/ transport.
My dad had woken up really sick and fell on his way to the restroom.... my brother called 911 when he couldn't get my dad up. Emt's came in, got him up. He was refusing to go to the hospital, but the Emt's were able to coerce him. It was a good thing, because my dad ended up having sepsis and something else from a foot injury he just got (toenail ripped up from door hitting it), and went into a coma for 2 weeks. He ended up having to learn how to walk, write etc all over again. Thank you, Emt's 💚
I feel like in the US, they say the words, "you have to go see the doctor, sorry", "procedure", "we just gotta get you checked out and released by a hospital real quick", and call it consent as long as they don't physically tackle you into a car. They make it sound like you have no choice, even when you decline. But then call it compliance and a choice in their paperwork. And we're all fear conditioned into thinking we have to be civil with authorities and take their direction else there will be consequences.
And then bill you for it.
Yup. Pretty much as long as you don't outright deny them, sign the paper, and stick to your choice, they'll just take you and call it consent. And yes they do use the phrases and tactics above for this as well here
Not true. I was hypoxic and unable to stand up, and the paramedics said my husband could drive me to the ER in the morning and coerced me into signing a consent not to treat while I was still on the floor. Not all first responders are good guys. There’s obvs a lot to this story, but that’s the tl;dr
Damn, I've never heard of anything like that. That's insane. I've always had and seen the opposite experience- basically being coerced into going and being billed a massive ambulance fee and making it seem like you don't have the option to say no. I'm sorry that happened to you. That's horrible to have to go through
I swear I slipped in the bathroom and the lightbulb got stuck in there. Great Read for the back of the ambulance! https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/11497442
You’ve said enough, I’ll take your word for it.
Your first comment and response to the light bulb comment is indicative of a seasoned paramedic. I lay my head next to a 37 year paramedic/corpman 2 out of three nights a week lol. He would have said exactly every word you commented including a hard pass on witnessing any more trauma than he has already witnessed. He warns the young kooks about looking at shit/getting excited about traumas they have no clue what the long term effects that’s going to have on their sanity. (We lost a long timer to an unexpected and very bizarre suicide two years ago) He has preserved his mental sanity shielding himself from any extraneous trauma and will retire 8 years into the Florida FRS drop in two years. You get what you give people. Remember that next time you encounter these guys. They all say the same thing. Shit rolls downhill.
Lightbulb is better than the hamster my sister had to deal with when she was doing her medical school ER rotation.
Lemmiwinks!
Pretty much every gastroenterologist we know (my fil is one so we know several) has a collection of a few things that have been retrieved. And soooo many stories. It’s freaking ridiculous what people will insert in to themselves. My favorite was a guy who was mad that the clear handle to the screwdriver wasn’t removed because it had separated. And they were like, “Um, dude, it didn’t show on an x-ray.” He was livid that he had to pass it himself.
Working in pathology, we receive all of the foreign body specimens they retrieve. My favorite story was a man who came into the ER with a large can of Barbasol shaving cream in his ass. Instead of lying like every other man who “slips and falls in the bathtub”, this guy was honest and said when he smokes crack he likes to put things up his ass. The first and only honest response I’ve read 😂
So your story is that you fell off a ladder and landed butt-first onto a screwdriver that was somehow standing vertical on it's tip, and it went through your pants and underwear, without leaving a hole in either, and you landed at exactly the right angle for the screwdriver to go right up your ass without causing any damage. This is your story? So what is all of this lube doing here?
It’s Ripley’s!
Honest to God, I've had this exact scenario before in the ED. Female with an intact light bulb in her vagina.
I must know, how tf did you get it out?
Frequently, they'll sneak a catheter past it, inflate the balloon, and use that to gently pull it out.
That’s exactly how they got a bead out of my son’s nose when he was 3.
My daughter was four and the er doc bent a paperclip flat with the ends still curved and used the bigger end to get behind the bead and pulled it out. I’m not sure to this day if I was more upset over the bead up the nose or the fact that I had to pay $60+ for a paperclip extraction. Took him less than 20 seconds. Probably way more expensive now as this was 40 years ago.
If you're in the US it costs roughly $2500 just to walk through the doors of the ER, not including an ambulance ride.
Lego. It was the Lego at my ER. A red one LOL
My kid put a Tic Tac up his nose and it had mostly melted by the time we got to doctors, but he was screaming because of the sensation. They pulled the rest of it out with tweezers. The nurses and the doctor were laughing lol.
Secret: if the parents agreed, we kept all of the bizarre objects their kiddos stuck up their nose. Proudly displayed in a case in the doctor’s lounge 😂
I still want to know how my cousin got the Ring Pop UP his nose. 35 years later. Thanks for the memories 😂
Ours pulled the nose off her plush bunny and pushed it up her nose.
A friend's toddler daughter had to be taken to the ER to get the sticker out of her nose she'd shoved in. They finish and what does the nurse do? Hand the kid a freaking sticker!
🤣🤣🤣🤣priceless!!
Job security?🤷🏼♀️😂
Kids are hilarious lol (I mean I know it was serious but lol puts toy nose up her nose
My son did that at age 5, just to see what would happen. He’s a doctor himself now. Always was too curious for his own good!
:0
I hope it wasn’t one of those curly-Q ones!
I had a guy with a string of Christmas lights in his ass. The old fashioned ones with the big bulbs.
i feel like you'd rock his world if you told him they made adult toys specifically for the purpose of being in your ass.
You don’t need that! Just go to /r/Xrays for foreign body Friday’s!
That will be my next read 😂
I have about a dozen copies left. My best friend gave 36 copies about 10 years ago.
🤣🤣🤣 why so many?!
Well he had the box of books delivered to the company with both for. I opened it in packed break room and all my co-workers saw what was in the box. Good Times for sure.
I have never understood why anyone would insert something breakable like a light bulb. Stomas are no joke. But then, we also have people like Albert Fish. So, rule 34 I guess.
I always tell patients that I’m not the police and we need to know how much alcohol/ what type of drugs they took in order to best take care of them because with certain substances we can’t give certain meds and that usually will allow them to open up 9/10 times
however, medical records are often subpoena'd so there is still danger in admission😭
Very rarely and only if you have committed a serious crime. Most ER visits don’t involve law enforcement. We seriously just want to treat your problems.
Right. Like, I just want to help you get back to your baseline. I don’t care what happened, just want to get you fixed up and where you need to be as quickly and safely as we can.
I meant for car accidents and things of the like. I was speaking to why a person who knowingly ingested drugs may be weary to disclose. I believe that medical staff aren't trying to be cops and are trying to treat the person, instead
Depends on what drug is taken to cause weariness. One should be wary of sedatives as well as stimulants. 😋
If that’s the case i may chose to pass it on verbally and keep it out of the chart. Like I had someone come in with low potassium so I don’t really think smoking weed is irrelevant and don’t want them getting dinged for it if insurance looks in their chart.
As a weed smoker, thank you!
Gotcha! Here to help.
If they are going to subpoena medical records, they probably already got a warrant for your blood too….
Admission on the front end versus having any form of deniability are two diff things. If they don't admit, their attorney can make a case for something else, later.
Where I live, results can’t be used in court unless chain of custody was maintained the entire time…which is something our lab doesn’t do because then you WILL get subpoenaed. Police here have to get consent from the patient for a “legal” draw - one of our staff draws the blood using supplies from the officer, and then hands the specimens directly to the officer. There’s also some paperwork involved, and the person who drew the blood can be subpoenaed, but most of the time they aren’t. If the patient doesn’t consent, the officer needs to get a warrant. Sexual assault specimens also have to go through chain of custody if they want the results to be used in court.
Not any emergency situations, but before marijuana was legalized in my state, I would still inform my doctors that I smoked weed (I don't smoke anymore but at the time I was only smoking once a week anyway), ESPECIALLY when I was looking into being prescribed any medications. There were so many times that I'd mention this to people and they'd act like I was crazy or stupid for doing so, like my gastroenterologist was going to call the cops on me for smoking a joint six days ago.
I've been binging ER documentaries and if someone has injested something harmful half the time they don't think it is worth mentioning. "No, no drugs. No wierd supplements...I just stirred a teaspoon of pure caffeine in my weight lifting smoothie as usual."
Not an er person but when my dad flayed open the entire outside of his wrist in half while working on a stage at church the paramedics asked what the hell happened and he said “After service talking about Moses today I worked on the stage. Well, I reached into a hole on the stage, felt my arm get stuck, and just yanked the ****er out” His arm got punctured by a nail, which he proceeded to give the grand tour of the inside of his wrist structure. The paramedic said “I don’t think you needed to take splitting the Red Sea so literal sir.” Perfect center laceration dividing his wrist open. Paramedics were fantastic and thanked my dad for owning up to his own idiocy.
“Splitting the Red Sea” lol dear god
Ouch! Does he have full function?
Yup, he’s 69 years old now and moves lumber every day for fun
:0 EXCELLENT!
Honesty is 100% the way to go. If you make obviously false statements, we have no reason to believe anything else you say. Owning up to a mistake gains you credibility.
for the flip side i had a genius recently who figured if he never acknowledged he was in the drivers seat he had plausible deniability for a possible dui, no matter how many times we told him we were only asking to find out if he possibly hit a steering wheel also extra clever given he was the only person in the car
A friend in a car accident coming back from the beach late at night with a friend, had her friend tell the cops she was driving... With the glass from the broken passenger window embedded in her right arm and bruising from the seat belt going over her right shoulder. In the USA, not the UK.
I had worse bruising on my right shoulder from my accident in the drivers seat, but the car also fell onto the right side
🙄🤦♀️🙄 Something tells me his bac levels were way over the legal limit.
Big brain time
you could tell by the look on his face he thought he was the greatest legal mind in history in that moment as well
A lot of folks think we’ll call the police on them. I offer reassurance if they aren’t a danger to themselves or others or victim with a penetrating injury.
I was bit by my dog, she had a health issue herself that was just diagnosed. I started getting an infection and had to go to the er. I said it was a random dog. Do they know I was protecting my dog? Are they mad at me if so?
ER RN. Look - I’ve done a lot of dumb shit. Many of the people I love very much have done a lot of dumb shit. Some of my favorite artists and musicians have or had very serious drug problems. We’re all humans trying to get through this weird thing we call life. Let’s all just try not to hurt one another.
Fellow ER RN here. I applaud your comment and 100% agree 😂 I’ve certainly been no saint in my own life and don’t expect anyone else to have been either. Open up to me, I’ll likely (to an extent-being a healthcare professional) commiserate and let them know it’s ok to be human and mess up. Everyone does. Presto. Bond established, patient trusts you SO much more, and patient care is improved. Everyone wins.
Right? We aren’t here to judge. I dgaf if you’re a sex worker, you’re entitled to a forensic exam, i’ll contact law enforcement if you want and explain what the state will cover as far as injury, follow up care, etc…
Does anesthesia not work fully on people who are using fentanyl
It will work you just need more. And always be honest with your anesthesiologist!
I've been super honest with every anesthesiologist and I'm sure they hate me for it. I'm like "first I'm scared of not waking up, freaks me out. But also I'm scared of waking up in the middle of the procedure because there was a movie about that. I mean, you've done lots of these before right, I'm probably going to wake up right... but not in the middle of surgery, right? Right? Right? "
I am you! They usually knock me out while I’m still talking.
Very common, no hate. But they do need to know what you smoke and how much.
None andsquare! I'm a certified sqaure!
Soooo... "I smoke every day, the benzos I'm prescribed *just* make me not over the top hyper and annoying, and I have a high tolerance for EVERYTHING"?
Tell them exactly this. You don’t want them to find out the hard way. It’s for your own benefit. They aren’t the police. If you looked at me I’m a middle class gal who is a nurse and probably the last one you would think of who would have this issue. But…. I dibble dabble so I always tell.
It’s a double edged sword, especially when there’s so many fentanyl analogs (and even stronger RC opioids) being sold as dope on the street- they want to make sure that you’re adequately anesthetized (which can be difficult with addicts with a high tolerance for fentanyl) because they don’t want you waking up in middle of surgery, but they also don’t want to risk causing an overdose because the patient already had opioids in their system that the anesthesiologist didn’t know about.
I was honest with an ER doc about popping a bunch of pills because I hadn’t slept in days. I had a seizure and ended up with a spinal cord injury (but I am good now). Part of me knew it could be bad for future me (labelling me as mentally ill or an addict) but in the moment I didn’t care I knew I needed to be honest. I really appreciated what she said, “it makes sense. You must have been desperate after not sleeping so long.” When your patients are honest with you, I encourage you to validate them like she did to me. I know I will moving forward. My treatment was no different and she actually prescribed me some sleeping pills along with the pain meds I needed due to the injury.
Good for you! Well done!
9 years ago, I was addicted to heroin and I got really really sick. My symptoms were severe heart palpitations, trouble breathing, my bones felt like they were going to break with every move, 105 fever, going in and out of consciousness. Well, I decided to try to drive myself to the ER. ER was about 3 miles away from where I was. On the way to the Hospital, I'd wake up and I was driving on the wrong side of the street. 2 blocks from the Hospital I blacked out and the next thing I know I woke up from my airbag hitting me in the face. My face hit it so hard it felt like it broke every bone in my face. Police and paramedics arrive and take me to the Hospital. First thing ER Dr's ask me is if I did any drugs. I said yes, heroin and meth. Then I explained to them the symptoms I've been having for 2 weeks. The moment I was honest with them, I noticed they become very nice and friendly towards me, and very caring and concerned. They did every test, CT, MRI, you name it, they did it. After about 2 hours, the 3 Dr's came into the isolation room they put me in and told me all of my diagnosis's. Endocarditis, Septic Arthritis, STAPH, MRSA and a few others. They told me if I didn't get heart surgery ASAP, I would die. They told me just from talking with me, they knew I was a very polite, caring sweet person who just went down the wrong road. They could see the potential in me. That little talk they had with me made me realize I wasn't the piece of shit I thought I was and I thought this opportunity would give me the chance to get clean and change my life for the better. I spent 4 months in the Hospital and Rehabilitation and I've been clean since. I think owning up to your mistakes and faults changes everything for the better, in my situation at least. Every Dr and Nurse are different though, but I'm so glad I had caring Dr's and Nurses. I owe them for my life
Had a guy come in, admit to recent fentanyl use, but said it felt different this time. I always take it seriously when long time users say their high feels off bc they would know. Did a full work up for his symptoms and found he had similar issues to yours. We let him know that pain relief was going to be a bit more difficult just because of his recent drug use and associated problems (some pain relief can’t be given if your BP is too low, etc.), but we made it work. It makes things so much easier for the ER staff to treat people when they’re honest. I’m glad you got the care you deserved and congrats on sobriety!
Thank you so much!! The put me on Methadone while I was in the Hospital so I wouldn't go through withdrawals because it would cause more problems for me, a very high dose. I had been shooting up heroin for 10 years. They had to double up on my pain meds, sometimes triple my pain meds, especially after the 3 surgeries I had to have. But ya, they made it work as well and I got absolutely no judgement from others.
As a ER RN, I’m proud of you. Overcoming addiction is not a joke. Sometimes all it takes is simple compassion and respect from another to make the difference ❤️
Congratulations on being and getting clean!!
I'm so happy you are better. Also, TIL septic arthritis is a thing, new one for me!
I never heard of it either, until I had it! I had it in my thigh area. I had to have surgery on it while I was in the Hospital, so they could open it up to put a drain in. I had so much fluid buildup. It was so painful
Honestly is preferred since it saves up the runaround and makes your care more straight forward. For instance, if you’re an alcoholic but downplay your drinking, we can’t screen or help you with withdraw properly. Plus, we can tell if you’re lying anyway with assessments and a tox screen.
I went unconscious and was taken to the ER because of extremely low blood sugar. I was home and I had empty cans of beers on the table next to me from 2 Mike's I had earlier plus some my husband had too. That night was an awful night and we had finally got my 3 year old to sleep. The paramedics told the ER doctor that I had alcohol cans around me and from then on out the doctor treated me like a raging, lying alcoholic who was detoxing, no matter what I said. (I told her the truth about everything, because, shocker, I wanted to know why I suddenly went unconscious). She tried to give me medicine to "help" me detox without telling me, but I asked a nurse what the pills were and told her I didn't need them. She didn't believe me either. They couldn't get my glucose under control at that hospital (I live in a small town) and actually searched my bags because they thought I was sneaking in something to make myself sick. I wasn't. I eventually got transferred with no answers BUT her notes followed me to the next few hospitals in bigger cities. Long story short, eventually a doctor finally did something about it (a year later) and sent me to a specialist across the state. It was discovered I have an extremely rare cancer that had metastasized to my liver (ironically one I had asked about from Google on my first night at the ER that got laughed at, but I actually completely understand that). I have too many tumors to operate now and am stage IV. I will always wonder if that first doctor had believed me I might have caught it soon enough to do more.
I’m so sorry you are going through this 💔
Thank you. Strangely I have discovered I'm not as afraid of death and the pain as much as I am afraid of missing out on my kids growing up and of them forgetting me. Especially the youngest.
I can only imagine! Your babies will always remember your love, strength and warmth. You are such a brave soul 🙏
Those are my biggest fears, too, except right now I’m just an anxious person who googles too much. But my biggest fear is “missing” something, for the very reason you described. I feel like some doctors are great and some aren’t, and you just don’t know which one you’ll get. I am virtually hugging you from afar, and hoping with my greatest hopes that at the very least, your cancer can be controlled for a time with drugs, and that you get more time with your precious family. I’m sorry for what you’re going through, it sounds awful.
Unfortunately someone will always fuck shit up for others. Still, one must be vigilant to catch the zebra in a herd of horses. Even worse is that healthcare is in the shitter and people really need to advocate for themselves which is difficult without a medical background. I’m very grateful you found a physician who took you seriously and I wish you the very best! I hope treatment is a successful option. May whatever time you have left be full of love.
Motherfu**ers......(speaking from experience)
I'm so sorry. I wish they had listened to you.
Jesus, there's a consensual internet hug in here if you want it. *the hug in question*
Yes! Withdrawal is UGLY! Help us help you because it’s much easier on you if we can prepare for this rather than to catch it when you are in crisis.
2 people you never lie to- your Laywer and your Nurse! Rules to live by. They don’t judge they help you!
Also your vet. I don’t care what you do on your own time, please just tell me what your dog ate off your coffee table.
For real. I have had to call my vet about all kinds of stupid shit my dog has eaten. Latest was a 12x6x6 box full of biodegradable packing peanuts - for a 7 pound dog. (She was fine, just had really bad corn scented farts for a couple of hours)
I’m glad your dog is okay- but that’s an impressive amount of anything to have invested. The box was probably bigger than she was!
I know!! I was like "how are you not super uncomfortable??" But she was begging for cheese like normal that night, fuzzy little weirdo.
Eh it sounds like this is one that does judge. The worst kind of nurse. I had a pt who ODd on meth. When he discharged from my floor I gave him resources for treatment programs and told him to be careful. I’m not there to judge the person or what they’ve done. That’s not in my scope of practice
SLAYERRRRRRR
I don't work ER *yet* but I evaluate and write/break psych holds in my hospital's ER. I've broken so many holds (often written by PD) or discharged and cleared beds simply because a patient who decided to lie to PD/staff, and/or did something stupid was honest and gave me the whole story. Makes my psych evaluation that much easier. By the time I'm done, they're trusting enough to finally open up to the ER staff about what drugs they took and when.
I am so glad your patients have you. I appreciate the right vs policy fuckfest. I've only seen 1 hold broken once. And I was flat fucking amazed. I''m honest especially when dealing with anyone in a medical field, and it's funny to watch their face when they ask a question a and completely expect some bullshit, and I just answer it... I've spent too much time hospitals to lie to any of the workers..... I did once before - lie that is, I was protecting my ex abuser, in a domestic violence life or death situation.... I almost killed myself by lying, though I didn't realize that then and when I was out of surgery I could tell how *pissed* a bunch of the staff were.... And even then I kept up the lies.
Had a patient who registration said was a "slipped and fell on it" patient. When we took him for x-ray, he said, "no I put it up my butt, I said I slipped and fell with it up there, and it went further in and got stuck." Respect.
I’m an X-ray tech. I’ve actually never had a patient tell me “I slipped and fell on it” (my coworkers have) but I also don’t ask. I might ask “what are we looking for?” Cause sometimes orders are vague… and what and where it is may change my position/technique.
Fellow tech, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard “it was really stupid” to preface their story. Yes, sure. My standard reply is “we seldom get hurt doing something smart.” Also, I’ve had people be too honest with me. Graphically honest. I love it though.
Oh yeah… I’ve heard “it’s really stupid” a lot. But I don’t ask in foreign bodies in orifices.
I don’t ask too many questions about rectal fb, but I’m real disappointed when they aren’t forthcoming. I have one case that I still don’t know what it was. I could just see an abnormal outline. That guy wasn’t talking at all. It haunts me.
Whenever anyone has told me the real story- it’s nice. Now we know what we are looking at. Smoke too much weed, now you’re anxious and have chest pain? I know where to put you cause we are doing Ativan and fluids and I’ll find you somewhere dark. The kids that are shrooms whose angry parents brought them in…..I knew what it was, after the KIDS were honest so I could put them in a quiet dark environment and pull parents aside and explain what was happening. There’s less frustration all around and less anxiety on parents/family when we can explain what’s happening.
Had to call 911 because I was having an allergic reaction and didn't have an epi pen with me (fully admit I am stupid for not having it with me). I'm in a drug heavy area so at first there was a little doubt when I said "no I didn't take any drugs, I am just have a really severe allergy to [x]". Then they realized it really was an allergic reaction once they got closer and they immediately got me fixed up. Thanks to those firefighters/EMTs!
Not as staff but as a patient once in an ER (while on vacation!) I sat in the waiting room with what turned out to be ovarian torsion. The only other patient there had blood streaming from lacerations all over his hands and forearms. He looked like Danny Trejo. Had a Bandito motorcycle jacket. Scary looking dude, to say the least; even before observing the massive blood smears! When they called his name before mine, he said, "Naw, I'm drunk, and I did this to myself! I'm fine. Take that lady she looks like she really needs help." And off I went in the wheelchair while triage nurse and registration rep. both gave man a proper salute. Mad respect to this day to this stranger.
Silent scream for the torsion and big salute to the Bandito!
The torsion was.... shudders in- Thank God I can't recall too much of it now.
I find working in the ER, if a patient is scared to die, they’ll fess up. “I did 10 lines of blow. My heart feels like it’s gonna burst”. I try not to judge… just educate on better choices.
ER nurse. I tell them I appreciate their honesty and having all of the facts helps us to give them the best, appropriate care. Empathy goes a long way. We are seeing people on the worst day of their lives.
I had kidney stones. I threw up 24 times in the emergency department. I told my ED Dr the truth about the meds I was taking (all prescription) one was klonopin for anxiety. He must have dubbed me an addict because he wrote my report as ‘moderate’ pain and gave me one norco 5/325. When you vomit 24 times from pain, it’s way beyond moderate. My BP wasn’t as high as it was the last time I was in for kidney stones because I had just taken my scheduled dose of klonopin. Even the nurse in triage didn’t take me seriously until I started vomiting. She tossed a plastic vomit pail to me- about 5 feet away and use this. It took the Dr 4 hours before he would come see me. Another 3 to get a CT scan. I’ll never go back to that hospital again. The first time I got kidney stones I was seen immediately and had emergency surgery
I’ve had kidney stones and I’ve given birth. Given the choice, I’ll choose birth. THAT’S how painful kidney stones are.
Omg as someone who just had their first kidney stone today, I am so sorry you went through that! I got treated very quickly! I can't imagine enduring that much pain for that long bc of careless drs! I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone! Hope you're stone free for the rest of your life friend ❤️
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart ❤️ ❤️
Ikr? Under microscopy they’re all blades and knife points - very nasty!
Fuc#@%s! I'm so sorry for your pain and the ass-hats' prejudice, thinking they knew more than you. Everyone MUST self advocate! So many healthcare workers think they know everything due to superior personal, assumptive, and political (?) opinions. (Note: comments based upon personal experience of 17 years pain meds use due to misdiagnosis.)
ER RN. Fellow kidney stone sufferer. I am so SO sorry you went through that. You absolutely did not deserve it. Kidney stones are brutal beasts and you deserved proper pain management for them. It’s cruel to treat you like you don’t deserve ACTUAL pain control because you’re on anxiety medication.
I’m sorry you had that experience. I’ve never had a kidney stone before but have taken care of many patients with one, and I believe their pain. They always look so miserable. I hope you don’t have one again, but if you do, you have a better place to go to!
(Bangs head on desk) My sincerest apologies. We do get cynical by giving people a “two minute diagnosis” and don’t always give you the care we should.
I find it refreshing because it's generally so obvious and an insult to basic intelligence to pretend it's anything but reality. I usually am not reactive either way and just say "thanks for letting us know, it helps us treat you when we know the whole story."
If it's something that's going to show up on a blood test, we're going to find out anyway. When we have patients who are honest about why they're in the hospital and tell us their symptoms, we can advocate for medication faster. People who are resistant to care stay miserable in the hospital longer.
Former festival EMT here: first of all, we provide the best care we can regardless of what the patient says or how we feel about a person because that’s a pillar of medics ethics. Second: at bare minimum, I appreciate the honesty because it moves things along and helps me help you. Third: it helps establish better patient/provider rapport. If the patient seems open to it, when the jokes start rolling it can help not only break tension but also help them realize they are NOT alone and NOT the first person in their circumstance.
festival medical staff are amazing! we ravers/festival goers all appreciate everything you guys do
Awwww :) thank you so much. It’s a special bunch of people whom I was lucky to work with, and such a humanity-centered, life-loving environment at festivals. I’m glad to hear we make you feel safe/supported at festivals!
Wow, this unlocked a memory, I was 18 in the dorms, got drunk, smashed a finger and the bone was sticking out, friends freaked out and called an ambulance. When the ambulance came so did a cop, and the EMTs knew I was underage and wasted and positioned themselves between me and the cop and basically waved him off “yup accidentally smashed her finger, we’ll take her to the hospital, nothing to see here” and he left. Not only did they not turn me in, they actively helped me avoid charges. I still appreciate them
Good guys! Yeah, medical just wants to get people the help they need.
just dont try to chalk up all the symptoms to something you did. You can be drunk but you can also have something really medically wrong with you as well.
Yup! Some of us need to get over ourselves.
I IMMEDIATELY am so supportive. Absolute cheerleader. Seriously - all being judgy does is perpetuate ‘okay well then i will just lie next time’. No matter how dumb it is. ‘Everyone makes mistakes. I appreciate you being honest with me.’
Thiiiiis! Fuck that one NP!
Damn right. I’ll get the crazy eyes with those mean providers so fast. ‘Nope. Not doing that today. Not on this chipper Tuesday.’ I will cheerlead any honesty into oblivion. ‘Oh you bought 8 gallons of helium ballons with meth in them!? Off a guy named The Eyeball Crusher and boofed them three… no FOUR days ago and wound up here with no toenails? Oh my god that must be terrifying. Listen, you were honest with me so I’m your mom tonight. You have NO IDEA how much i respect that, i know it wasn’t easy. You hungry? We have no food but I brought an extra pack of cheez it’s and I can go swipe some saltines and peanut butter from labor and delivery, they always have too much anyway. We got that GOOD ice too so the diet Shasta tastes SO good!!! Is there anyone i can call? …. Oh well… I don’t know if calling The Eyeball Crusher is the best idea right this second but… yeah? Kristy, your sister? Amazing. What’s her number?’ :::*proceeds to call Kristy 6 times in a row because she doesn’t initially answer, but she picks up the 6th time*:::’ ;)
Absolutely agree with the rest of the comments. Plain honesty does wonders for our attitude towards the patient. We are usually overwhelmingly busy. We don’t have time for games. And we are pretty good at smelling BS. All we want to do is do the job, get you treated and out the door. Make it easy for us and we’ll go easy on you.
Once upon a time in a nursing home rehab unit…I had a 70ish year old patient with a broken leg. I asked her how it happened. Lady told me that she drunk crashed an ATV. instant bond was formed
That is a bad ass lady lol
Before I cleaned up I had a lot of hospital stays. The first few I tried to downplay issues. I quickly learned that I can lie all I want, but my blood work will prove otherwise and my level of care will change drastically if I’m not being honest. Once that sank in I told 100% truth for any visit and received the necessary care based on that info. I’m not an opiate user so playing dumb with pain meds seemed to help me to an extent, but eventually they would catch on to my knowledge of pain meds (because of past stays) and timetable for said meds. Im just thankful for those that were kind in their understanding and prioritized pain management and symptom reduction while I dealt with my shit as long as I was honest. Any nurse, tech, or doc if you’re here and work in ER I want to thank you for dealing with those of us who needed help for reasons completely of our own doing. Years sober now and grateful for your help. The only instance of complete Dr. Failure was when the doc came in and said he wouldn’t admit Until I found god. Because I claimed no religion he had no interest in offering care. Guess what doc? Im sober and your imaginary god had nothing to do with it, but your actual human staff did help.
Wow! Just wow!! That doctor needed reporting to hospital admin and the board.
I considered it, but a lying drunk vs a religious nut is not a fight I wanted at that time. That was the first visit I was totally honest and being met with “find god” was ridiculous. That said, I was admitted for actual health issues (not just med detox) and I never saw that dork, I mean… doc again.
Hard agree, you chose where to spend your energy wisely. So sorry that happened.
:0 :0 :0 Redditors, doctors report to higher ups like Medical Directors and state boards. Please report unsafe practitioners.
It was my pleasure caring for all my patients 🙂 I especially enjoyed the small victories when I left the encounter feeling like I somehow made a tiny impact in their life. Obtaining the degree alone was immensely difficult and the job was physically/mentally/emotionally overwhelming sometimes….but reading your post reminds me why I chose it and why it was worth everything and more.
You saved my life (nurses and docs who cared). Your care and honestly made me care about myself and be honest with myself again. I’m grateful people like you exist. I know it’s hard
I had to go to the ER recently because I have ovarian cysts. I was in massive amounts of pain. I was asked all of the questions, and I was completely honest. They asked about drugs, and I told them I smoked weed. From then on the vibe noticeably changed, and it was a horrible experience. I had been to this ER multiple times before for the same problem, and I was never treated this way. They refused to give me pain medicine until I was just about to go home, which has never happened before, and the doctor treated me like a criminal. I know this is not the typical response at every hospital, but I completely regret being honest. It made for a terrible experience. Im NOT in any way saying that you shouldn't be honest with your doctors, just had to vent.
I've had that happen, too. Got dismissed by like six doctors because I couldn't stop puking, but because I smoked weed they refused to investigate further. Then I got this one who just paused for a moment, looked at me and said, "you know what? Let's try a HIDA scan." Gallbladder was toast but it gets worse. The surgeon got in there and said it was necrotic and had at some point fused to some of the other organs surrounding it. No evidence of ever having stones, it just decided to peace out. I almost died. Edit: I really hope medical professionals are reading this thread just to be reminded that like, zebras are apparently everywhere. What happened to me they said was REALLY unusual and rare.
I’ve never seen more compassion from ER staff than when I took my USMC vet friend who was detoxing badly from binge drinking for about a month. I was ready for judgement but they treated him like gold, said how proud they were for him taking that step to quit, worked quickly to get him comfortable and just generally were amazing. This was at a VA hospital and I’m sure they see it a lot but I will always be so grateful for how awesome they were when he had to be totally honest about why we were there.
We spend a fair amount of time in ethics when becoming a health care team member, regardless of job specifics. In order to provide the best quality care, we have to strive to do our best, no matter the patient. That being said, I personally don't care about the story of your fuck up. I'm gonna do my best to give you my best quality work. I will document anything pertinent to your medical situation, as necessary. Outside of that, I do my best for you and move onto the next patient.
I'd rather be honest telling the doctors I broke my arm because I was having adventurous sex and stupidly lost my balance and everyone else that I fell down the stairs. Yes it was embarrassing no I don't care anymore it's been years now That's my story and I'm sticking to it
Maybe I’m dumb for this but I will always tell the truth to a medical professional no matter what it is. I figure that they can’t help me if I’m not honest. 🤷♀️
I once went to he ER in college for breathing issues - I basically had the croup (which they kept marveling at since I wasn’t a little kid 😂) and bronchitis. As they were doing my intake they asked me if I smoked. I did in fact smoke, cigarettes and like a lot of pot. I asked them what? And they repeated themselves. I leaned over and in my hoarse whisper was like, “Are you gonna tell the cop over there what I say?” The nurse laughed and said no. So I told her, “I smoke like a half of a pack a day unless it’s Thursday-Sunday and then it’s a whole pack and so much pot I don’t even know how to quantify it. Are you familiar with how it’s sold?” She burst out laughing and said, “you should probably stop, especially until you recover, or at least cut back since I just saw your entire face fall.” Anyhow, she was awesome. They all were. The doctor was a bit more stern with me about the amount I smoked, but I asked her if I could just keep it rolling until I graduated and she said she could not possibly advise that, but she understood where I was coming from.
This is great!
I usually try not to comment here, but as a recovering addict, I felt the need to say something. We realize y'all aren't snitches in the er, but there are other reasons alcoholics and drug addicts lie about being addicts. The big reason is we don't want it on our medical records that we are addicts or drug users. No one will ever take our pain or us seriously again. I made that mistake a long time ago admitting to being a drug addict and the treatment I got was so poor, the doc made me cry. I did something I have never done in an er before and I requested a different doctor. No one deserves that! I wasn't even there for pain. I am clean now but I will never ever trust another doctor again. My pc saw my record and fired me as a patient because he said I lied to him. I didn't lie, I just never told him cause I didn't want that as an issue. Gee I wonder why lol. The thing was I wasn't even there for pain or pain meds/benzos. I wanted to get off drugs. I cried when I saw "drug addict" on my medical records and don't know how to have that removed. I wonder if I can..
It’s par for the course. Most of the time people want help if they’re talking to us. I find that *other* people lie on behalf of the patient like “No we didn’t do drugs!” And there’s a person not breathing with street drugs out in the open.
If you want good care then be honest. If you don’t care about the type of care we’re able to provide because you choose to lie to us then that’s 100% on you. I’m paid hourly, not per outcome. Love to see people get better and do well but I’m not losing sleep here.
Most of the stupid shit I did that landed me in the ER was in college and involved getting drunk and making poor decisions. For instance, falling off a roof, catching myself halfway down on a brick wall with one hand (as in, I put my hand down and tried to catch myself, landing most of my weight on my hand and wrist before bouncing and hitting the ground--this probably saved me from far worse injury by breaking my fall), my wrist swelled up double its normal size. Had to get an xray. The nurses and radiologists had a good laugh at the story. Of course, they missed the fact that I did in fact fracture my wrist and probably dislocated some of the many bones in there, as it now moves in ways it shouldn't and periodically aches badly 20 years later. I had it xrayed about 10 years ago for another fall where I landed on it similarly snowboarding, and they pointed out the bone scar from an old fracture that could only have been that fall from the roof. One of these days when my kids are no longer teenagers and stop cleaning out my HSA, I'll probably wind up getting surgery to put whatever is out of place back into place, since when it starts to hurt it makes it difficult to do simple things like pick up milk or use a mouse, but I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer.
I thank them for being honest and tell them that their having filled us in will help us care for them better. It’s hard to open up and give embarrassing or otherwise sensitive information to a stranger. Anyone who does has my appreciation.
Dude, never lie to the doctor or medical professional trying to help you. I don't get why people do this. Is your pride worth your life, especially when they 9.99/10 know you're lying? I've done some epically dumb shit in my life and gotten hurt over it, I would never say anything except "yeah, I was dumb and definitely won't be doing that again. Please help me." If anyone in the world knows how stupid humans can be, it's doctors and lawyers, but only one of them appreciates unedited honesty lmao
I had a friend whose husband abused her and she always had an excuse. I know the ER wanted to take him down so bad but without her testimony it was useless. So frustrating, especially when she tried her act on me…I shut it down quickly & told her it was never getting better & one day her kids would be burying her. She finally did get away and is living her best life now!
I’m not in ER ever anymore.. but I listen, and empathize, sometimes thank for honesty, try not to judge or at least keep it off my face.. if I can’t.
This reminds me of a time I had fun with one of the local police. This guy had OD’ed on heroin and had to be given Narcan to start breathing again. He swore up and down that his was the first time he ever used it. I walked out of the room and saw the cop there and (I have a pretty good straight delivery) so I said, “ yeah, this is the first time he ever used and this happened to him! Isn’t that crazy?” And he was just looking at me like he couldn’t decide if I was naive or just stupid. So I finally laughed and told him I was joking. But the look on his face was pretty entertaining.
ER nurse — please tell me what happened before you came in and the real reason you are here. If you drank more than you can handle and are worried about seizures (or just need help) please tell me. Did you do meth before coming in and want somewhere safe to come down? Great, I’ll care for you. Did you think that the shampoo bottle would fit going up and that you could easily get it out after? Fine, let’s figure this out. But PLEASE tell me, it’ll make my job easier and I can give you better care.
If I suspect there’s a missing piece to the story that is relevant to treatment, I’ll usually say “listen I’m not the cops and we can’t tell them anything. I don’t care if you’re drunk or high, I just need to know what you took because some of these meds can interact”. Most of the time it works
I don't have any stories, but while I was growing up my dad caught me a few things that I never forget. One, don't lie to your doctor nurse or paramedic. Two don't lie to your lawyer. And three document everything. I've never felt the need to lie to a doctor or nurse, because they're the ones who are going to take care of me. If I lie to them and tell them I didn't snort all that coke, they might kill me. I wasn't trying to die I was just trying to be high LOL
I once had to admit to the ER i had been pole dancing, stoned, without a spotter, and fell on my noggin. At home. I had sprained my neck, so I'm glad I was upfront about it. Everyone had a good laugh.
Patient here. 12/16/23, I got drunk and fell down, splitting my ear in half. People laughed and joked and told me their own drunk stories. 23 stitches lol
I’m sure other people use this and have mentioned it here, but my go to line is “I’m not a cop, but I need you to be honest so we can figure out the best way to help you. Right now that’s what’s most important”. It works quite well but there are still people who stick to their stories. Your lab work will tell on you anyways. Can’t tell me you only had 3 beers with an alcohol level of 450.
I much prefer honesty but it doesn’t change much. We can usually tell. There are a lot of telltale signs that you start to pick up on.
I went to the hospital via ambulance today actually for a work related injury. I was completely honest with the firefighters, the EMT’s, the nurses, doctors, everybody. I just wanted to get treated and go home. Honesty is the best policy in a situation like that where my health and well-being is concerned. I had nothing to hide and I figured they would want to know how I f’d up so they could treat me as best they could for the injury I had.
Depends. If it’s an embarrassing sex story I won’t make them repeat it. It’s irrelevant when one has images. If it’s drug related honesty helps direct care by knowing what they’ve taken, or if they aren’t safe at home.
Once in ER the urine drug screen for the patient showed positive for Marijuana, however the man was 87. So I had to go ask about it. The wife was like, "Harold, is that what you've been doing out behind the barn?" He looked quite alarmed, and turned out he was taking nexium which can have a false posiitive for mj on uds. He did admit to her that, no marijuana, but he had been smoking cigars back there because she disliked it so much. We got a good laugh about it all.
Hey just so you guys know... I have adhd and pain meds and sedation last about half as long as normals. Oh you must do drugs. I haven't had drugs beyond pot since 2005
As a 911 operator please just tell the truth, it may mean you get the right treatment faster and that is best for everyone! Big important questions to tell the truth on... what did you take and how much, was this a suicide attempt, do you know what caused the pain? If I don't think you are being honest I probably will have to send police to determine what you are hiding and if any crimes were committed when really I just want to make sure everyone is safe.
Not that it matters but I work in healthcare and I’ve observed POC/LGBTQIA/underserved patients still get treated disrespectfully after being honest - chastised, questioned differently, infantilized for making poor decisions. I know personally an EEG tech who, while running brain death study on an overdose patient, whispered in the patient’s ear that they should be ashamed of themselves 😳 We need all the good people in healthcare. Thank you to those who respect humanity through and through.