What was the MOST ridiculous thing a patient came to the ER for?

I'm only doing my clinical rotation for nursing school (last semester thank goodness) so I have VERY limited experiences but had a woman come in today who bumped her hand at the bowling alley on a table. Rated her pain 2-3/10. What.....the.....hell?

Get ready, honey, you'll see more ridiculous stuff than that if you stay in ER.

I had one during NP clinicals who had had a wreck 2 YEARS prior, had "a piece of glass in his head" and wanted it out. AT 0600 in the morning.

Turns out, no glass, just a numb spot above his eyebrow where the glass had nicked a nerve. He insisted on surgery. We referred him to his PCP.

I have one..not so ridiculous, but out there none the less. Lady comes to the ED because she states she "cut" herself while washing up with a loofah..any takers as to where she cut herself? Yep, ladies and gents...guess she wont be wearing tight jeans for a moment

Did they know you live alone? They should have found a way to keep you for observation for at least 23 hours - not driving home with narcotics on board.
And this is NOT a silly reason to go to the ER, it IS an emergency!

Stomach pain, nausea & vomiting x 6 hours. No fever. Came to the ER by ambulance...

Why not wait at least 24 hours to see if the thing resolves itself?

0130- 9 year old with a sore throat that started 1 hour ago
child with fever for 6 hours- did you give tylenol? No
2- 9 year olds with earring back stuck to back of ear
family of 4 at 2300 with one with sore throat, one with cough, one with sore eye, one with runny nose

sooo many more when I think, "Are you freaking serious?"

Why would you observe someone with a kidney stone for 23 hours? Wouldn't it depend on the size of the stone and the severity of symptoms? Someone with a small stone and no hydronephrosis or significant lab abnormalities could go home with a urine strainer, pain meds, and a referral to a urologist.

As a correction, we can refuse transport most of the time, if we can talk the patient out of it. We just have to call medical control. There are situations where we cannot convince them otherwise, but we can always manipulate friends and family to talk them out of it. We can drag it out and make them irritated, explain what the ER is going to do (make them wait hours), or even let them talk in person to medical control, which has the authority to tell them to buck up.

If you're talking the patient out of it, then they are refusing, technically. As a paramedic, I have never told anyone, "I am not transporting you anywhere." I've also never seen our county medics refuse to transport anyone to our ED. Too much liability; the patient should actually be the one who decides to not be transported if that's what happens. I know, it's ridiculous sometimes, and we're nothing more than a fancy taxi with pretty lights.

19 y/o with c/o "My hair isn't growing"! Go Figure!