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

And did you have to treat them?

I am just curious. Your stories always seem to either crack me up or shake my head in amazement.

Thanks for sharing ?

When I had to take dh to the ER for chest pain a couple months ago, I overheard a girl trying to get in the "express lane"... (I was signing dh in, they had taken him right back but I had to give his info to the registrar) anywho, this chick had accidentally stuck her hand inside a can of peaches she had just opened, HAD NOT visibly cut her hand at all, but was convinced that she MUST have cut it somewhere on her hand since the edge of the can was jagged. The clerk was patiently trying to ask "So... you didn't see any blood? Why do you need it checked out?" and the lady said "Because if I did cut it comewhere it might be bad! I need the doctor to look at it!"

All I could think of was the fact that I DEFINITELY do not have the patience to work in the ER.

I, for the life of me, cannot figure out why people do this sort of thing.

Do they not have anything else to do that day?

These people must be attention seekers, is all I can think of.

When I had to take dh to the ER for chest pain a couple months ago, I overheard a girl trying to get in the "express lane"... (I was signing dh in, they had taken him right back but I had to give his info to the registrar) anywho, this chick had accidentally stuck her hand inside a can of peaches she had just opened, HAD NOT visibly cut her hand at all, but was convinced that she MUST have cut it somewhere on her hand since the edge of the can was jagged. The clerk was patiently trying to ask "So... you didn't see any blood? Why do you need it checked out?" and the lady said "Because if I did cut it comewhere it might be bad! I need the doctor to look at it!"

That pt if it happened in my ED would get a visit from psychiatry.Which means labwork and urine sent then when the results were back and the Pt was medically cleared she would go to the Psych emergency dept. How do you like our ED we take strange people and make them sick.:angryfire

Specializes in emergency.

menstrual cramps... not because of endometriosis or anything like that, just plain old menstrual cramps...

i also had a lady that came in and said she took 42 mg of Klonopin. i lavaged and all of the other crap you do for an od and guess what... after 2 hours of being up to my elbows in vomit and everything else you can think of... she hadn't taken ANYTHING... not even her prescribed dose. she said her husband wasn't paying enough attention to her so she did it to scare him!!

Constipation x 1 day. No abdominal pain. No discomfort of any sort. She just hadn't had a BM since the previous day. :rolleyes:

All the stupid BS we see is just job security!!!:lol2:

Specializes in Med/Surg.
menstrual cramps... not because of endometriosis or anything like that, just plain old menstrual cramps...

i also had a lady that came in and said she took 42 mg of Klonopin. i lavaged and all of the other crap you do for an od and guess what... after 2 hours of being up to my elbows in vomit and everything else you can think of... she hadn't taken ANYTHING... not even her prescribed dose. she said her husband wasn't paying enough attention to her so she did it to scare him!!

:angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire she wasn't getting enough attention from her husband so you had to wade in her vomit? that's Bull$#^!

Constipation x 1 day. No abdominal pain. No discomfort of any sort. She just hadn't had a BM since the previous day. :rolleyes:

So......did you give her a 3H enema and about 2 or 3 Dulcolax tablets?

That would have cleaned her out.

I had a patient with a known allergy to tree pollen come into my ER in NYC two weeks ago after walking through central park, where the trees are pollinating like mad, because his eyes were "red and itching."

We were extremely busy (overwhelmed) and he came up to me demanding to know when he would be seen, because he ahd been waiting for "almost an hour". I said, in an unpleasant tone, "I don't know, we're very busy." He got mad and left, after telling the charge nurse I was rude. Which I was. Unprofessional, I know, but come on . . . buy some frigging visene! What do you want from me!

Pt brought in tonite BY AMBULANCEfor head lice!

A lot of people without cars (welfare queens and kings) use ambulances whenever they don't want to or "can't" wait for a bus. It's just a way of life. And they don't ever have to pay for the ambulance. You and I do that for them.

Aww, come on.

I recently sent my daughter to the ER for a sunburn. She is from a northern state, is very pale, has never had a tan, sat out in the Florida sun for 2 hours in the hottest part of the day wearing a tanning accelerator.

I spoke to her on the phone that night and she was in tears. Her lips were swollen, she could barely walk and had blisters on her back. I was worried that she was dehydrated and all that goes with it.

They gave her a rx Daypro and she was extremely grateful.

Sunburns can be serious. I was worried that she might have had heat exhaustion or sun stroke. I've never seen either of those things but I would rather be safe than sorry.

What did they do for her?

Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
In A&E (UK) 2am, a young lad comes in with foreign body in the orifice, he had put his mobile phone on vibrate, when we eventually pulled it out there was only one missed call,:Melody:

That is the funniest thing I have heard in years:trout: :trout:

Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.
What did they do for her?

They gave her a script for Daypro and recommended soaking in cool water to relieve the pain. As soon as she started taking the Daypro she felt much better and was able to sleep. I think being able to sleep did more to help her heal than anything.

+ Join the Discussion