Husband appaled when I chose to do nothing

emeraldjay · Feb 22, 2005

To the question of if I saw an auto accident if I would get involved, depends on one thing first..and all medics really should know it (EMS knows it!)...scene safety is number one! If it is on a freeway with cars screaming past..no, I am not trained or prepared to take on that risk in a way helpful to the scene..best to get out of the way and let EMS get their quicker. Or if I saw someone bleeding and a police officer nearby...since I don't know the situation...I am not going to get involved.
But if it is a safe scene (to a degree), then I will get the old gloves and stuff out of my car (yep, I too have quite the first aid kits in all my cars...LOL, it is kinda like the joke, you know you are a medic when your first aid kit has no commerically available products! LOL!), and help till EMS arrives and then ask them if I can be of further assistance. I have had to do this before..a few times...and normally I am asked to help if it is a multiple car accident (but at that time I use their equipment..LOL!).

I agree completely. Anyone that is willing to render aid at ANY scene should ask themselves "Is the scene safe?"

This thread reminded me of the one-car MVA that I passed just a couple of days ago. I did what I call a windshield assesment, I saw numerous cars pulled off to both sides of the road, the road was slick from the snow drifted across it two or three inches deep, two people with cellphones and one bus with 2-way radio. Did I get out and add to the fray? Absolutely not, especially after watching one of the occupants climb out of the involved vehicle as I was passing. The fact that I had no equipment in my vehicle to render any sort of aid was another reason; medical control would have had my butt in a sling.

Yes, scene safety is drilled into the heads of EMS workers from day one. For my area, the mantra of the practical exams was "I have BSI on. Is the scene safe?" The way I see it, an injured provider is just another patient.

yannadey, LPN · Feb 22, 2005

Last May the hubby & I were returning home to VA from Vegas when an elderly passenger 2 rows down & across from me started having what seem to me an anxiety attack, well the flight attendant asked if there was a doctor or any medical persons on board.( notice she did not asked for a nurse, must be one of those nurse haters) Since I had already made my assessment I did not respond, but 2 doctors & an EMT did & came to the same conclusion as I did. The EMT stayed holding the man's hand the whole flight while the doctors retuned to their seats & their drinks. My husband who was sitting up front kept turning around in his seat to see if I had responded.

When we got off the plane the first thing he asked was why didn't you help aren't you a nurse.

My reply to him yes honey I am a nurse & I had already assess the man the moment he walked passed me (I tend to do that to everybody I see, especially the elderly & kids) he seemed nervous, in this post 9-11 world I was thinking hijacker, shoe bomber etc... so I kept an eye on him.

si-aid · Feb 22, 2005

what is "LAWD"?

Lawd is Lord with a southern accect!

bobnurse · Feb 22, 2005

Many nurses dont realize that there is a big difference between in-hospital care and pre-hospital care. A nurse might see 2 or 3 "patients" passed out in a building and run to help them,where a medic is concerned with why those "victims" are passed out and proceed with caution.

Nurses feel its their "duty" to assist trauma victims or MVA's. They look at the superficial wounds, but not the kinetics of the injury. They might see a superficial frontal lac (head meets steering wheel) and thats their biggest concern, when a medics biggest concern is c-spine.

Its important to nurses that they do not get much if any pre-hospital training. Now ER nurses get extensive training, but you are a minority. The majority of nurses lack this training.

So be careful.........dont Judge a book by its cover.

nurse01 · Feb 22, 2005

I ran into a similar situation with my then 2 yr old. I was not about to leave her unattended in a car to help someone when there was an EMT pulling up to stop. You have to pick when and where you will intercede.

I used to be an EMT too. Hubby is a paramedic (that's how we met :blushkiss ). We used to stop for everything!! We were so corny. Now, not so much. And honestly, how much can you do in that situation.
Interesting story: I was driving in a parking lot (i think it was snowy). Two old ladies were not paying attention, and turned their heads and saw me coming (i saw them and was not planning on hitting them). One of them startled, and slipped and fell. Call me heartless, but I did not stop. Reason being, I was with my 1 yr old (at the time). How was I going to be a nurse and a Mommy at the same time? I can't just drop everything to be a superhero. And then, are you stuck there until an ambulance show up?

dollydettol · Feb 22, 2005

both hubby and i do the same with the guys in the know are on the case hold back till poop hits the fan :rotfl:

Hi everyone,
I'm more or less writing to see if anyone else here has had a similar situation.
When out with my hubby last weekend, we went to the movies and when we walked through the side hallway, a girl was sitting on the stairway with her head between her knees and leaning over. There was a young man there beside her and a security guard crouching in front of her with a walkietalkie. My first instinct was to see if she needed help but at the exact time I thought this, the security guard said "The ambulance is on its way." I later realized that what I did was a visual assessment. She was not bleeding profusely or anywhere I could see, she was not convulsing on the floor, nor was she unconscious or not breathing. If I was to take a stab at what the problem was, I would guess nausea or diabetic problems. Heck, she may have even been pregnant and had some bad popcorn! Overall, her condition was stable in my eyes.
Anywho, I walked by slowly to be sure I was sound in my decision and said to my hubby, "she'll be ok." We walked up the stairs and I noticed him look back again over his shoulder.
Later in the weekend, he told me that he was weirded out by me not stopping to help. I logically explained everything as I did above but he still didn't get it.
To his credit, he did say later "I can understand how you wouldn't want to be a nurse that night." Congratulations! :balloons: Bingo. Now if any of the above criteria was present, I would have been there in an instant, assessing and intervening.
Anyone else been thought of as a superhero on duty 24/7?
As always, looking for another nurse to lean on.
JacelRN

JustMe · Feb 22, 2005

Maybe I am cynical or something. But unless I am on duty, I walk away going on about my business. The woman who "vaulted over three pews" probably has "RN" on her license's plate. There is the "good samaritan" law but are you willing to be the one that puts it too the test? I deal with "dudes and dudetts" everyday for 12 hours. When I am out on my time.....its just that my time.
Now before I get "flamed to death".......if its a TRUE and I repeat TRUE emergency .....ie choking or cardiac arrest etc..... I'm there lending a helping hand.

I have "RN" on my license plate, but I can't see myself vaulting over pews to help. :uhoh3: I'm more like "JacelRN"--do a quick visual assessment then go on about my business if things are under control. I was at the scene of an MVA to help out until the medics arrived. Trauma isn't my thing but an off-duty paramedic was also there taking charge, thank goodness. Also, we were at an "adult" show in Las Vegas when one of the dancers went flying off the stage and landed on the floor below. I already had two drinks in me--I wasnt' going to be any help to anybody! :chuckle A paramendic and an ER nurse were also in the audience and helped until the medics arrived. Are medical people the type to congregate at these events???

tntrn, ASN, RN · Feb 22, 2005

I used to have RN on my license plate, but changed it after a fireman told me I could be help liable if I was seen bypassing a scene.

As far as helping when I'm not on duty, my DH is an airline captain and he knows that when I'm on board and if there's a pregnancy related emergency, I'm in charge. I told him his job would be to tell any docs aboard that they were to help me. He look a long look and said, "you're not kidding, are you?" I said, "totally not kidding. I need to assess the pregnant woman AND the doctor's qualifications. Unless I have a OB, maybe a family doc, or a veteranarian, chances are they haven't done any pregnancy related care since med school." You can bet big bucks I've caught more babies that they have and more recently too. You can also bet that they'll be happy to let someone else call the shots. On airplanes, the captain must always connect to Medlink or some kind of medical aid by radio and confer with them. If there is medical help on board, the care is somewhat coordinated, depending on the situation, where the airplane is, where the nearest divert site is or whether "pressing on" is in order.

Several months ago, he did have a situation where he said he needed me. I wasn't there. Too long a story to report, and privacy prevents me from giving more details, other than it involved a 28 weeker with suspected PROM, who did in fact deliver about 2 weeks later, away from home.

mattsmom81 · Feb 22, 2005

I have had to instruct my hubby AND son to NOT advertise that I am a nurse. The liability out there is just too pervasive.

Reborn · Feb 22, 2005

one young woman vaulted over three rows of pews (in her short dress and high heels) to do the "shake and shout." i kid you not, she was shaking old betsey and shrieking "annie, annie are you ok?" so many parishiners called 911 their switchboard was jammed!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

they're everywhere, they're everywhere :rotfl:

talaxandra · Feb 24, 2005

A colleague and I were walking to work one evening after dinner. About a block away from the hospital she said "Is that a person on the ground?"

As we got closer we saw a woman lying on the pavement (in recovery position). A gentle poke between the shoulder blades got no response, nor did a shoulder shake, so I called for an ambulance on a passerby's mobile phone. Even though I told them she was breathing but unresponsive I was asked "does her breathing seem normal? What colour is her skin?" but when I said I was a nurse that stopped.

Kind passerby and his phone move on while my colleague and I wait for an ambulance. Then the woman starts to sit up. I've called an ambulance out, so she can just stay put, thanks very much! So we lie her back down again, wondering how much longer it's going to be.

Up roll the ambos - the one in the passenger seat jumps out, looks at our 'patient' and yells "It's Judy!" to the driver. He yells at the patient "Get up Judy, or I'm calling the cops!" then turns to us and says "She's a recidivist, a serial ambulance abuser!" :chuckle

As we walked away, I said to my friend "Well, that's our good deed for the day done, then" as behind us the words "I'm serious, Judy! I've got my phone out... I'm calling the cops NOW!" drifted through the night air!

Another colleague of mine was travelling overseas with her (academic nurse) husband. Thirty minutes into an eight-hour flight a call comes over the PA for medical staff. After no other response my colleague got up and headed to the front of the cabin, to find a prostrate passenger surrounded by flight attendants. One was blowing air in the general vicinity of her mouth, as though she were blowing out candles. The other one looked up at my colleague and said "Thank god you're here! I can't do this pumpy-pumpy thing!" 'Pumpy-pumpy' being the ineffective patting motions she was making just below her clavicles. :uhoh21:

When my colleague knelt down and started feeling for a carotid pulse the 'pumpy-pumpy' woman yelled "What are you doing! That's not where her heart is!"

Uh-huh. :rolleyes:

Turns out she not only was breathing but also had an output, so it's a good thing they had no idea what they were doing or she'd have had a real code on her hands!

My favourite part of the story? When the captain was unhappy to turn the plane around, because surely my colleague could take care of this unconscious-for-no-known-reason, no-relatives-or-friends-on-board, no-medical-history, no-equipment patient for the next seven hours!

paytonsnana · Feb 24, 2005

In a case where there is sufficient persons on the scene, you know EMS is on the way, the best thing a person can do is to STAY OUT OF THE WAY. You did the right thing. Too many people can cause more trouble than they can help.