Stupidest reason to go to ER

Published

ER Nurses/MD's etc.

I am currently writing a "paper" on stupidest reason for someone to come to ER.

ANY input you can send me would be much appreciated. IF you'd like a copy of the FINAL draft, let me know.

THANKS in advance!

PS. My winning entry so far is:

A woman who brought 1 month old baby in at 2:30 (AM of course) because "it won't look me in the eye, It doesn't recognize me!"

Not kidding

Specializes in ICU, ER.

Two medics walk in with a man walking with them. Someone tapped his rear bumper. No damage to car; no signs or symptoms in pt. Just wants to be "checked out"! What are we supposed to do ? Create symptoms so he can sue someone?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, ICU, Infection Control.
That was my thought as well ... I've seen a number of party goods in a lady parts, but to actually have inserted in the urethra?? Was she too drunk to notice the *slight* uncomfortable sensation??? And why come to the ER to have it removed? You got it in there honey ... now just pull ... :nono::trout:

OH - forgot to say there were SEVERAL - ALL the way in the bladder!! A trip to the ER followed by recovery in ICU - yes it was "after hours" and OR had to be called in - the "let" the ICU recover the patient in that instance!

:uhoh3::uhoh3::uhoh3::uhoh3::uhoh3::uhoh3:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Not to take away from the humor of the thread ... but let's be brutally frank here. No insurance plan "only allows" ER visits instead of PCP visits. People come to the ER for unbelivably stupid stuff because::

There actually is a federal plan (emergency aid), which is (oh yes) a gold medicaid card...They cannot use it at the office, only the ED...

dumbest ever: 19 y/o male comes in the night before his court date wanting a paternity test...

I had to ask how long he knew about the court date: "6 months"

I told him we don't do those here, try Maury next time, and to get the he!! out of my ER...

idiot

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardiac.
Anything other than:

hemorrhage

compound fracture

stroke

severe infection

MI or severe chest pain

severe abdominal pain

labor dystocia, pp, other OB emergency

near-death from trauma or other sudden onset

sudden loss of vision or paralysis

sudden incontinence

is stupid.

Huh, I don't see any airway problems on your list. I guess the times I came in for asthma exacerbation were 'stupid'.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ortho/neuro/general surgery.
Oh and open and ingest your great grannys thyroid meds, (contact with the poisons unit!), drink turpentine..further contact with the poisons unit)...my list goes on much further..these are a small section of why I have had to visit the er with my dear boy! now hes 14, thankfully, these occurences have stopped..hopefully!:lol2:

I have called poison control d/t my kids more times than I can count. The most recent was ingestion of powdered off-brand Oxy-Clean. :uhoh3: (No, not me silly, it was my kid, and he's fine!)

I wound up in ER after falling and catching myself with my hand to protect my 8.5 month pregnant belly and dislocating my L index finger so badly it was bent up at a greater than 90 degree angle towards my wrist, at the first joint and we could see tendons.

The stupid part comes in when you consider that it was raining heavily and I was running up some slippery outdoor stairs to get inside quickly. Not a good idea for anybody, but especially with my big belly. :trout:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I had a child arrive via EMS with a parent reporting the child had a seizure, after assisting them to the bed the mom came in the room and said the seizure never happened they just needed a ride to the hospital for another reason!!! What a waste of resources, and of course they had the gold card so they don't even get a bill!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
ERs with minor treatment areas are not pulling anything away from actual emergency treatment. You are treated there with the understanding that if someone with a higher priority injury comes in you will have to wait.

Now, that is soooo not true. The "non emergent" patient is the most impatient patient. They do not have that understanding that they have wait for us to provide emergent care to the higher priority patient. I can't tell how many times I have heard things like "I am tired of waiting, the other patient is gonna die, can't they just hurry up, I'm in pain." Or dad's is feeling sick, get him something now! This, as I am prepping an acute MI (different pt) for air transport & "dad's" family already knew about the emergency & actually followed me into the MI patient's room to demand MS & phenergan "now!"

Granted, not all minor care pts are rude & demanding, but as someone said before, it seems like the more serious pts don't complain near as much or as often as those minor treatment needs pts.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Now, that is soooo not true. The "non emergent" patient is the most impatient patient. They do not have that understanding that they have wait for us to provide emergent care to the higher priority patient. I can't tell how many times I have heard things like "I am tired of waiting, the other patient is gonna die, can't they just hurry up, I'm in pain." Or dad's is feeling sick, get him something now! This, as I am prepping an acute MI (different pt) for air transport & "dad's" family already knew about the emergency & actually followed me into the MI patient's room to demand MS & phenergan "now!"

Granted, not all minor care pts are rude & demanding, but as someone said before, it seems like the more serious pts don't complain near as much or as often as those minor treatment needs pts.

Exactly!!!!

And maybe it's wrong( and I'm willing to accept that) but, if you can not muster up even the smallest level of compassion for your fellow human being down the hall who is actively DYING while you yell, scream and swear about waiting for a finger splint, then my compassion level for you just dropped 20 points!:angryfire

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Medsurg, LTAC.

I'm sure the other poster meant to include the ABC emergencies, broken bones, GSW's (covered by hemorrhage, right?) Now, let's get back to the fun of this post.

The ER I worked was located directly between two homeless shelters, each merely blocks away.

911 from shelter- didn't like what they were serving and thought they'd come to the hospital to eat. Then complained that our food was even worse!

911 New in town from Chicago, c/o knee pain from arthritis x5yrs- wanted to be admitted because she "didn't like the shelter". (While I understand her c/o- I can't justify giving her a hospital bed)

911 ETOH on board. period- no LOC, falls, ABC prob. ETOH on board is not an emergency- it's a condition I pay good money for! :lol2:

(We had a memorable night with over 21- 911 calls with ETOH on board c/o- some were twofers) :uhoh3:

Want your kid drug tested, kid denies taking anything. BTW you can get these drug testing kits at Walmart now. (these are mostly reffered to counseling centers).

We also triaged a lot of 911's. If the c/o was something nonemergent you were triaged then sent to the waiting room. :idea:

We would also get a lot of 911's in with mystery c/o that cleared up just as mysteriously and then the pt requests cab voucher to someplace other than original pickup spot. Ahhh, the ER transport system... forget those other truly sick patients (I'd rather have pt's with a c/o that a PCP could handle if I could put a stop to the ER transport people). :angryfire

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Maybe I just don't understand EMTALA.....

If a patient shows up at triage and states she wants a pregnancy test...

are you bleeding? NO

Cramping? NO

do you have any other complaints? NO

then why doesn't that patient have to pay up front for the pregnancy test....which I am sure she will leave when told how much th ER will charge.....she has been triaged and determined to be stable. I just don't get it....but I love the stories:)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in 6 years of ER fun, med/surg, blah, blah.
Hiya!

I'm an R/N from south africa.

The stupidest reason I have ever seen for admission to our ER was a guy complaining of a blood nose. Pure old Epistaxis. So the guys did a routine Chest xray....only to find this:

http://www.freewebs.com/496cfonline/May1.jpg

When they looked at the xray and found the broken off tip of a steak knife in his chest, everyone panicked!!! OMG!!! Look at the knife!!! Get the cardiothoracic surgeons!!!!!

The guy looks up and says...yeah, it's been there for a year....please just fix my damned nose so I can go home!!!

Needless to say, the guy did NOT go home!!!

:nono:

OMG! Wish there was a smilie for "mouth agape & eyes bugged out", because that's what I would do when looking @ this xray!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER; Med/Surg/Oncology.

Not all ER's have a fast track, we have to see everything that walks thru the door regardless of how minor the problem is. There is such a thing as referral numbers so that they may obtain a pcp, but most don't bother because ER is "easier".

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion