I didn't know this actually happened

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

Had a patient who called 911 for her water breaking at full term.

I mentioned it to another nurse who was like "and why are you surprised by that?"

i didn't know people actually did that. Not an emergency!!

maybe she didnt have a car, that i get. but, how did the rest of her family arrive shortly after?

Specializes in Med/Surg.

I'm gonna get flamed for this response,

I thought you were supposed to call 911 if you were alone and your water breaks and you had no one to drive you to the hospital. Am I mistaken?

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I don't fault people who call 911 if /when their water breaks and they have no ride or are alone. yes, they SHOULD do this, particularly if they are contracting and in pain! Better safe than sorry, indeed.

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Specializes in Rehabilitation, Medical, surgical, psych.
I dont think it was "outrageous". I was just surprised. Of course, not having worked in teh ER, and only been in OB 5 weeks, i haven't quite run into abuse of the system type things yet, 911 for non emergencies.

and, no, it was not an imminent delivery.

I actually drove myself to the doctor while in labor and was told you better get to the hospital. Instead I drove myself back home and called my husband who took another 30 minutes to get home.

I had almost 2 hours after I arrived of labor...so plenty of time.

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Specializes in Rehabilitation, Medical, surgical, psych.
I personally know of 2 "system milkers". One, (I am ashamed to admit), is my own cousin. She is 32, and on full disability. She had cancer. It is gone now. Miraculously, they got it all! She has NO symptoms whatsoever, and although she was very sick for about 4 months, after her surgery, the cancer is gone. However, did she give up her check and go back to work? Hell no!! She also wont marry her fiance of 4 years b/c they are living together (unofficially, of course) anyway and if she married him, she would have a smaller check. She has not been to ANY Dr. in over 3 years!! However, when she got on SSD, she was considered terminal. So, they didnt schedule her for review for 7 years. She definately has that sense of entitlement, thinks the world owes her something. She also recieved multiple benefits from the community at the time and raked in $26,000. (Several of the largest donations came from area churches..even though she attends nowhere....Three each gave her $3000 because at that time, they heard she had no insurance and it would be a while before disability came in. She had lied. She DID have insurance, and disability only took a month in her case b/c she was terminal. She also had a cancer policy that paid alot. However, do you think she gave any of it back to them when she didnt need it? NOPE! After her surgery when she was cured, she went on several shopping sprees, plus a cruise, and spent the rest to remodel a house someone gave her (she lived in an old run down trailor and a rich woman passed away and left my cousin her house after she heard she had cancer and was living in a run down trailor.) At the time she was given the house, the cancer was gone!! Did she tell anyone that? Nope!!! It steams me beyond belief!!

Then, the other one I know is on SSD for a "bad back". However, he does manual labor jobs ALL THE TIME, off the books, for cash. What kind of manual labor? Framing houses!!! Yeah, he has a bad back alright!!!!

Sorry for the rant, but as you can see, this is my pet peeve!!! But, suffice it to say, there are LOTS of ways of abusing the system, and unfortunately, anyone with those kind of inclinations will have no trouble figuring them out.

There have been people who get prosecuted for things like this. Remember the people who took money after Katrina and were not even in the storm. Also in this area there were a family who pretended their daughter had CA Leukemia to get donations and eventually were caught. They actually shaved the childs head to make her appear as though she was getting Medication.

Can you report the person on disabilty?

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i know some insurances pay but i would think they may pay according to what the emergency is - and if it was really an emergency - at least that might be a good way to stop abusers if they dont do it that way.

Ok... can I have a little fun here....

So, the time I went to the ER with severe dizziness that turned out to be - after bloodwork and CT of head, yada yada yada - nothing but 'my veritgo acting up again' (which I later realized was a side effect of medication that the many diff. docs along the way missed). Should my ins. pay? Sometimes you don't know what is wrong.

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Ok... can I have a little fun here....

So, the time I went to the ER with severe dizziness that turned out to be - after bloodwork and CT of head, yada yada yada - nothing but 'my veritgo acting up again' (which I later realized was a side effect of medication that the many diff. docs along the way missed). Should my ins. pay? Sometimes you don't know what is wrong.

sorry no i dint mean for things like that - i meant if records show someone bringing their kid in every month for nothing but a srape or cut or someone ( like the drug abusers who are frequent flyers some have posted about) it would have to be on a each case basis cause i certainly wouldnt want a legit person to NOT come in because of it - ) at any rate many ins co already do that sort of thing - ours you have to call nurse something or other i foprget then ame lol - and you talk to a nurse and they tell you if you should go in or stay home and every call is recorded ( and for high risk ER visits ie heart attack etc - you dont have to call till after your there but you still have to tell them and its documented - so you really can tell who a frequent flyer is. not trying to ruffle feathers- just trying to think of any idea that may help with the ones who DONT truly need the ER - thanks for pointing out that i wsant thnking of the consequences for the REST of the patients - sorry to upset you. tracie

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sorry no i dint mean for things like that - - sorry to upset you. tracie

You didn't upset me. I said I was going to have some fun with your idea... just poking fun. I do know what you mean.

And what I don't understand is that ambulance personnel follow protocols for all sorts of serious conditions. Why is it that they can't have protocols for refusing certain callers after assessing them - like the pregnant lady who called them because she lost her mucous plug, but was not even having contractions.

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Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

It is the same liability issue that causes us to do the million dollar work up on ff patients in the ER. If something were to happen later it would fall back in their lap.

As one of my ER doc's says "Everybody has somebody who loves them, no matter waht kind of lowlife scumbag they are." "You may not know who it is until they file the lawsuit."

I know our local EMS cannot no-haul someone unless the patient agrees and signs the no-haul.

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You didn't upset me. I said I was going to have some fun with your idea... just poking fun. I do know what you mean.

And what I don't understand is that ambulance personnel follow protocols for all sorts of serious conditions. Why is it that they can't have protocols for refusing certain callers after assessing them - like the pregnant lady who called them because she lost her mucous plug, but was not even having contractions.

thanks - i tend to second guess myself and really want to fix it if i did make someone uncomfortable. i dont do it on purpose - i am just horrible at talking ( or typing as it may be ) and am often having to re explain myself even in life lol cause i dont get my message clear :uhoh3: . now poking fun at - that i can deal with lol. thanks again.

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It is the same liability issue that causes us to do the million dollar work up on ff patients in the ER. If something were to happen later it would fall back in their lap.

As one of my ER doc's says "Everybody has somebody who loves them, no matter waht kind of lowlife scumbag they are." "You may not know who it is until they file the lawsuit."

I know our local EMS cannot no-haul someone unless the patient agrees and signs the no-haul.

I guess that's my point, though. How is refusing to transport when it's an obvious non-emergency any different from say... a labor nurse assessing a pt., reporting her findings to the doc, and then sending her home? The doc never sees her, he relies on the nurse's assessment. Occasionally there is a missed something or other, or a mom who really goes fast and delivers before she can get back. But that is life. You chart what you saw, what you did & what you told the doc, i.e. cover your butt. Why can't the paramedic do the same thing?

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Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

Because a paramedic does not do cervical exams nor do they have a toco, in the case of a labor pt.

Even though the labor nurse may be the only one to see the pt she still confers with the doc and she has hard data to provide to the doc ie: monitor strip and vag exam.

In the other cases, non OB related. just think about the press later for no-hauling someone and something happens.......

Again we do that million dollar work up to prove when we send them back out that we have documentation that their complaint was addressed and evaluated.

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