On-call at home and police wake you up?

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So, I was on call last night and had a terrible time sleeping because I kept thinking I heard the phone ring. I never did get called in but when I came in today for my shift and was mentioning my lack of sleep and my worries about not waking up for the call- multiple co-workers mentioned not to worry because the policy is to call the police to come wake you up if you don't answer the phone.

Is this really true or are my co-workers pulling my leg? Anyone heard of this or had the police show up on their door?:uhoh21:

Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.
The cops are not going top come and wake you up. They have way more important things to do like catch criminals.

and have coffee and doughnuts

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Specializes in OB.

If any of you do have coworkers who are "no shows" and don't answer the phone, please do insist that a welfare check is made. At a recent contract a fellow traveler didn't show up for her shift, didn't answer her door and when the police went in was found dead in her bed.

Especially with travelers, we usually are alone, far from family, don't know many in town and therefore it may be days before someone misses us!

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Specializes in ICU, Tele, Dialysis.

we do this for our hemodialysis patients who live alone and no call/no show for tx.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
why would anyone get a ticket for driving in bad weather?? i dont think thats illegal, maybe not recommended, but if you arent breaking a law then you cant be ticketed.

i dont see the police wanting to be called just because you need someone to come to work. i can see maybe if you think something has happened to that person, but just to wake them up for work? i doubt it.

i've been pulled over -- twice -- for driving in bad weather. once i was driving over snoqualamie pass in washington state on christmas evening. i'd spent christmas eve and christmas morning with my friends in spokane, and had to get back to seattle to work a night shift. it was snowing and they were closing the pass -- it was closed if you didn't have chains or other "traction devices". i had my 4wd subaru. they pulled me over, but when i showed my hospital id and told them i had to get to work, they let me go.

the other time was just outside washington dc. i was headed for work in a blizzard, but they had closed i-95. it was snowing so hard i missed the signs, and the entrance ramp and just sort of drove up over the shoulder to get on the highway (again, the awd subaru outback). i went past a (stopped) snowplow and a couple of cops in suvs, and they pulled me over. again, i showed them my hospital id and told them i was on my way in to work. this time, they gave me an escort. i don't think i would have made it if the suvs hadn't been breaking trail for me!

i traded the subaru for a prius last year -- don't know how i'm going to get to work in a blizzard this year!

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I have told my coworkers if I do not show up for work, feed and water my dog, and then call NEOUCOM (the local medical school) to come and pick up my body.

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It was the policy in our facility ,that if a physician was on call and did not responds to phone calls from the nursing staff, for the local police to go to thier place of residence and bring them to the hospital. We had one provider that would not answer the phone when on call, so the police had to get him nurmrous times! I dont live in a huge city by any means, but its not a rural area either. I guess they would do the same for nursing staff as well.

That is terriffic! I hope they sent him a bill or booted him off the hospital staff.

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and have coffee and doughnuts

Oh, God, not that old stereotype! Even if they do have that, it is a small, small reward for all the danger they face, all the ridicule, animosity, and disrespect.

The police do a lot of good. Yeah, there are some who mess up, some who are truly bad apples. but that is true of every line of work, I'm sure. I think most of them are hardworking, devoted, glad to help, glad to serve, and love our country. Look at Secret Service. They will actually, voluntarily take a bullet to protect their charges. I don't think I could do that. Oh, for my kids or my Mom, yeah, I would risk my life. But not for people who are essentially strangers. Three cheers for the Boys in Blue (and the ladies, of course).

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Specializes in all areas of ob-gyn nursing. er. pacu..
So, I was on call last night and had a terrible time sleeping because I kept thinking I heard the phone ring. I never did get called in but when I came in today for my shift and was mentioning my lack of sleep and my worries about not waking up for the call- multiple co-workers mentioned not to worry because the policy is to call the police to come wake you up if you don't answer the phone.

Is this really true or are my co-workers pulling my leg? Anyone heard of this or had the police show up on their door?:uhoh21:

i live a small rual town, we have to pull a 24 o/c every other week. if we don't answer the phone after several attempts, yes, we call their kin folks,or the police to go out to their house. if we can't get up with the m.d. o/c we call the police. they are always willing to help out.

i'm sure this depends on where you live and how big your town is.

our county is about 24,000 people.:nuke:

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Specializes in postpartum and gynecology.

This is probably the funniest thread I've read in a while! Hilarious! I'm not saying its a bad thing... I just think its funny. We've had no shows on our floor a few times. Noone has EVER mentioned calling the police. I think its more because the staffing on our floor is so ridiculous that people who are marked down as working often aren't. Next time... I'm SOOO telling everyone we should call the police. ha ha. its actually a smart idea, i'd be mortified though. I only have a cell phone and the other day my bedroom had no electricity (lovely little marvel that had the electrician stumped for hours, the rest of the house had electricity). I was supposed to work in the morning and as my alarm clock only works with electricity, my cell phone was my alarm... it died in the middle of the night. luckily my sis was working that morning and woke me up... My floor never would have been able to get a hold of me...

I think it is GENIOUS to send the cops after a dr not answering his pager... I can't count the times that we have had to wait hours and hours for a doc to call back. Once I had a postpartum going into a psychotic state and i called the on call psychologist over and over, house, cell, pager, no results. I finally had to call the head of psychiatry and he called the psych who FINALLY showed up hours later. Ya... thanks for playing buddy.

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