Taxi vs. 911

Specialties Emergency

Published

Tonight, in our ER, a man came in with a gunshot wound to the arm via taxi and a three year old came in via ambulance (his parents called 911) because he put a dime in his nose.

Silly, I know.

Just thought I would share. :coollook:

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

A pickup is an open bed truck, non commercial size, used on farms & ranches, we call them pick up trucks because you can "pick up" just about anything and haul it. Shortened to "pickup".

EMS does not waste time at the scene!!!! It is called 'treatment and protocol' Oh I forget, they don't teach pt care in our 6 week medic class!!!! By the way, Paramedic school was 10 times harder that nursing school!!...

Did the article happen to mention that the guy who would have been properly packaged in our 'waste of time' on scene is now a paraplegic because someone threw him in the back of a taxi without proper c-spine protection. Or the fact that most Joe-public drivers instantly forget how to drive when they hear sirens and see lights! Or maybe the fact that our protocols are written by ED doctors!!(Our local protocols call for not-transport if we cannot have trauma patients to trauma centers within 10 or 15 minutes if they arrest).

There are many more things going on then the survival rates! If medics don't make a difference, why not just turn the whole thing back over to the funeral home directors who would 'scoop and run' with patients in the back of the heorifices, it would be much cheaper for all involved!

Why can't nurses and medics just love each other for the unique role that each plays in the EMS system. I hear more bickering between these to groups of professions than I care to report, I have been on both sides of the coin. Believe me, there are plenty of morans in both fields.

Christine EMT-P, BS-RN

EMS wasted too much time at scene, collaring and boarding anyone who burps the wrong way, and assessing the patient, when that patient truely needs to GET TO THE HOSPITAL. of course, the cardiac arrest is fine to stay, on scene, unless the chest needs to be cracked in cases of trauma.

I was a paramedic and am now an ER RN. i was a medic first, and when i took the classes, they tought you to think you were gods gift to medicine. they made you think you were a MINI DOCTOR. going to nursing school and working the past 4 years in ER's has made me realize that I had no clue what i was doing when i was an EMT/MEDIC.

get the patient, stabilize them, and GET THEM TO THE HOSPITAL. They need a doctor to assess them, not a person who took a 6 week course.

with that, let me state that medics/emts are very essential and helpful to the patients, and by what i said above, dont let what i said above seem like they arent essential, because they absolutely are. god bless you all, esp those who do it for free by volunteering.

How many times has an EMT brought themselves or a family member to your ER and told you what to do, and argued with you about treatment? Most in this area are out of line. Maybe its just a New York thing..lol

The trouble you see with EMS

Is the same trouble you see growing in ER nursing

That is the Magic Word

P-R-O-T-O-C-O-L-S

Protocols are designed to replace judgment, knowledge, and assessment skills.

Chest pain----Iv,O2,Monitor,EKG,Asa 325, Nitro times 3

doesnt matter if it is a 16 yo boy whose girlfriend just broke up with him. Its still the chest pain protocol.

you couldnt be more correct.

Specializes in ER, IICU, PCU, PACU, EMS.

Just make sure you do a 12 lead ECG with a V4R to eliminate right ventricular involvement before you squirt that Nitro! :)

LOL Jbudd

Best treatment for bug in the ear: use a syringe-full of alcohol. The bug will die and float to the surface and can be easily removed. Works much quicker than irrigation and doesn't cause any type of trauma.......

The cockroach may die but it will burn the hell out of the pt's ear! We had a pt come in c/o earache. Later she added, " I don't know if this is related but I had a cockroach in my ear last night and I poured alchohol in there to get it out," The poor woman had severely burned the inside of her ear...I thought her silly for using alchohol, but now I know..a nurse probaby told her to do it!!! :uhoh21:

I love our medics. I don't understand the pissing contest between ER nurses and paramedics. Ours work very well together. I am always very appreciative when the medics start the IV in the field..why is that a problem? :uhoh3:

It does amaze me how a pulmonary edema will actually WALK into triage, yet a girl with a sprained knee will arrive in an ambulance with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Or a pregnant DKA will sit quietly in the waiting room and never open her mouth when a mother whose baby vomited x 1 YESTERDAY will not leave you alone. Its too bad that our sign in sheet doesn't include a chief complaint section because the way our triage is set up, unfortunately you cannot see the pts in the waiting room. I think the sign in sheet used to have chief complaint but they took it away because of HIPPA. :uhoh3:

Last night we had a lady come in for foot pain (by ambulance.) She left AMA b/c we were taking too long and she had company at home. So she came back at 0300, again by ambulance, for the same thing. XR was negative, of course. No swelling, bruising, redness...nothing. Not even a MOI.

"Can I have a cab voucher?"

NO!

Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.

For some people is there a difference between a taxi and an ambulance.

Specializes in Med Surg/Ortho.

Years ago my father (living alone in NY, I was out in Colorado), fell off a ladder and broke his arm. He was in a lot of pain and knew he couldn't drive. But he worked at a hospital and also knew how much an ambulance was, so he took a taxi. He ended up needing surgery and had pins put in his arm.

A year ago my husband was having bad stomach pains at work. He wanted to just come home, but they called an ambulance for him. Said he didn't need it, but they put him in anyway. A couple weeks later we got a bill for $800!! Insurance covered maybe $200, and we still haven't paid the rest off. I think that is ridiculous.

Specializes in Emergency.
Years ago my father (living alone in NY, I was out in Colorado), fell off a ladder and broke his arm. He was in a lot of pain and knew he couldn't drive. But he worked at a hospital and also knew how much an ambulance was, so he took a taxi. He ended up needing surgery and had pins put in his arm.

A year ago my husband was having bad stomach pains at work. He wanted to just come home, but they called an ambulance for him. Said he didn't need it, but they put him in anyway. A couple weeks later we got a bill for $800!! Insurance covered maybe $200, and we still haven't paid the rest off. I think that is ridiculous.

You're right. It is ridiculous. But unfortunately people like you get to pay for uninsured people who call 911 for chronic conditions and other non urgent problems like febrile children, nausea, headache, etc. These people don't have enough sense to seek appropriate medical care at appropriate times via appropriate transport. They certainly don't have enough sense to pay their medical bills. Therefore, the losses are recouped by you and your husband. Just pay them $5 a month or whatever you can afford. Also, no one can transport you or your husband against your will and without your consent, unless you are so mentally altered at the time that first responders deem you incapable of making decisions for yourself due to illness or ETOH abuse, etc.

+ Add a Comment