I was in an MVA a month ago. Paramedics cut off my shirt, and strapped me on a backboard. When I got to the E.R, I was conscious, with no visible injuries, just a bit of a headache. Yet, I was almost immediately stripped completely naked. I laid there fully nude for what seemed like an eternity while I was examined. Then the nurse put a cup over my member and told me to pee. I wasn't able to, so they put a catheter in me.
I asked them to cover me several times, but the trauma team refused, even when i was given an ultra sound i was not covered up.
This just doesn't seem normal to me. Is this standard procedure or did I just get stuck with a bad trauma team.
If you come in with a broken arm and you're A/O x3, I'm not going to strip you naked. You come in from a nursing home, you're going to be naked because I don't trust "skin warm, dry and intact" from the local NH's.
If you come in from a high impact MVA and I think the lap belt may have ruptured your bladder or intestines, I'm going to keep your skin where I can see it until there's proof there's no bleeding or rupture. I was working in the ER one night (floated from ICU stepdown, ER was freakin' slammed) and a guy came in, high impact MVA. Lap belt ruptured his bladder, and the first sign was extreme scrotal swelling (don't know if that's usual or not, but it made a serious impression on me to look at everything, all the time, even on someone who keeps saying they are fine). He kept yelling "cover me up," and we were busy trying to get a ultrasound to find out if it was just the bladder or the maybe the shoulder belt had given him a liver lac as well. He wrote a nasty letter to the hospital saying we had treated him "disrespectfully" in the ER, leaving him uncovered for "almost an hour". Turned out he was in the ER for only 15 minutes before going down the hall to CT, and I was the one who threw a blanket out of the warmer on him before he went. No good deed goes unpunished...
I've also been on the other side of the blanket, and when they were telling me they were sorry to be cutting my clothes off, I told them I'd rather be alive and embarrassed than modestly dead.
I totally agree with this, a patient's modesty is important, but not nearly as important as their life. Sometime's a patient just needs to be naked to be properly assessed and treated (especially in major traumas!)
I only wrote one article about it for an aviation safety publication many years ago. I just tried to google it myself to see if it made it into cyberspace but no luck.
As to my post, you quoted it so you know what I wrote.
Anyway, what happened... aircraft struck the ground at about 20 knots vertical speed and about 170 knots forward speed, caused by having flown through a microburst on final approach. The second impact was on a road hitting cars, fences, and lightposts. Aircraft began to break up and burn and then stuck a water tank.
My injuries were composed of brain contusion, skull fracture, several fractures in some vertebra, bladder trauma, and lots and lots of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Got completely covered in fuel which also got in the eyes. Reinjured an already cracked sternum. That's all I can think of at the moment, my paperwork on the accident is stored in the attic so I don't have it in front of me. Lots of other people hurt way worse.
Feel free to PM if you need more detail, don't want to get in trouble for being :offtopic: :beer:
I am not a nurse, but I can kinda see why keeping you covered was not a top priority with all those other issues.
wow - you're lucky - you walked from that too... quite a story. :bowingpur I worked with a First Sergeant who had been in EIGHT helicopter accidents. He displayed the crashed copters in picture frames for all to see... he was a cat with 9 lives! (and a little nutso from PTSD, I believe...)
was this a small craft? Hopefully the ones that were hurt worse still survived. Thanks for the info! Not so off topic!
The aircraft was a Lockheed L1011, big wide body heavy jet. 163 souls on board at departure, 134 killed on arrival, plus 1 on the ground. 26 passengers and 3 flight attendants survived.
That First Sergeant of yours really does have 9 lives! I've heard of guys in Vietnam having crashed a number of times, but 8 is the most I have heard of yet! He wasn't afraid to jump back on the horse! I've only had 1 helicopter break on me, and I managed a successful autorotation. The Orlando news was all over it with film and color pictures. Fun...
The aircraft was a Lockheed L1011, big wide body heavy jet. 163 souls on board at departure, 134 killed on arrival, plus 1 on the ground. 26 passengers and 3 flight attendants survived.
That First Sergeant of yours really does have 9 lives! I've heard of guys in Vietnam having crashed a number of times, but 8 is the most I have heard of yet! He wasn't afraid to jump back on the horse! I've only had 1 helicopter break on me, and I managed a successful autorotation. The Orlando news was all over it with film and color pictures. Fun...
I guess I won't ask if you're a flight nurse.... ha ha - but in all seriousness - holy crap. I am attempting to locate the story of this Lockheed crash (you know it has to be in a paper online somewhere..).... that's quite amazing - you know this - wow. And I thought my brother, just standing outside of the Pentagon, on Sept 11th witnessed a catastrophic event (running from a commerical airliner... as it plunged into the side his company was renovating...)
If the nurse dosen't cover you up when you should be covered up then
that can only mean ONE thing! I'm sure this happens all too often
What is that supposed to mean it only means ONE thing?? I hope you are not implying that the staff just wanted to look at the patient's "parts" for their own viewing enjoyment.
To the original poster, I am sorry that you felt like you were violated, but I am sure that the time seemed like forever when it was only a few minutes. Nobody meant to make you feel uncomfortable, we don't want the patient to feel that way, but they were just trying to make sure that you didn't have any injuries that weren't visible under clothing. I have seen people walk into the ER stabbed and they did have stab wounds that they didn't even know about, and we wouldn't have known if we didn't strip them right away. Remember, time is critical in a trauma, and all of these things have to be done quickly and many things have to be done at the same time in order to save your life.
Sorry, worked in an ER or 8 years. I've seen trauma patients come in nearly naked from clothes being cut off, no problem. We need to assess the injuries. However this being said, there is absolutely no excuse for not covering you as you requested. Not just your "private parts" as others have suggested, but all of you. Lying in a hospital room naked can make you cold!! BURR!!
I would report this group. They should have respected your request and honored your dignity and modesty. There is NO EXCUSE for them NOT doing that.
Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.
I only wrote one article about it for an aviation safety publication many years ago. I just tried to google it myself to see if it made it into cyberspace but no luck.
As to my post, you quoted it so you know what I wrote.
Anyway, what happened... aircraft struck the ground at about 20 knots vertical speed and about 170 knots forward speed, caused by having flown through a microburst on final approach. The second impact was on a road hitting cars, fences, and lightposts. Aircraft began to break up and burn and then stuck a water tank.
My injuries were composed of brain contusion, skull fracture, several fractures in some vertebra, bladder trauma, and lots and lots of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Got completely covered in fuel which also got in the eyes. Reinjured an already cracked sternum. That's all I can think of at the moment, my paperwork on the accident is stored in the attic so I don't have it in front of me. Lots of other people hurt way worse.
Feel free to PM if you need more detail, don't want to get in trouble for being :offtopic: :beer:
Dallas/Ft Worth, during the 1970's???? According to the History Channel, this past weekend, you were indeed fortunate. I watched an Eastern Airlines jet crash during s similar accident, in the 1970's in which only four people survived. No one can be examined completely without being unclothed. And trust me, staff does initially exposed a patient. Trauma rooms are too cold and everyone is to aware of the impact on trauma patients of cold.
Sorry, worked in an ER or 8 years. I've seen trauma patients come in nearly naked from clothes being cut off, no problem. We need to assess the injuries. However this being said, there is absolutely no excuse for not covering you as you requested. Not just your "private parts" as others have suggested, but all of you. Lying in a hospital room naked can make you cold!! BURR!!
I would report this group. They should have respected your request and honored your dignity and modesty. There is NO EXCUSE for them NOT doing that.
Babs
Has anyone here ever had paramedics wheel a patient in without covering their privates?
It's only happened once in my 3 years, and the patient was in full cardiac arrest, so his privates were obviously the paramedics last concern.
Cutting clothes off is policy and procedure. Also obtaining urine speciman by catheter if needed. We do a good job of keeping pt covered almost all the time. We consider this a necessity.
If you were alert and oriented with no suspicion of head trauma or injury then you have the right to refuse any part of exam, unless there is a law enforcement issue (in custody).
I think I would write a letter to the ER director and medical director of ER with these concerns. May be hospital CEO too.
So if we were to refuse certain procedures and they ignore us what do we do? Can we try to push them away or will they just strap our arms to the gurney?
So if we were to refuse certain procedures and they ignore us what do we do? Can we try to push them away or will they just strap our arms to the gurney?
If you're coming in as the result of trauma, pushing people away might be construed as being combative, which could be the result of hypoxia or brain injury. That would obligate the medical staff to examine/treat you further.
If you don't want certain procedures, your best bet is to speak as calmly and rationally as you can to explain your wishes. Asking for names can get people's attention.
The thing is, if you've had a trauma, you might not be thinking clearly even though you feel like you are. I guess I'd urge you to cooperate until you are cleared. Yes, you can advocate for your own dignity (keeping covered and such), but there are a great many folks walking around who thought they were just fine and found out--through the work of the ED staff--that they weren't.
parker_trauma
4 Posts
I totally agree with this, a patient's modesty is important, but not nearly as important as their life. Sometime's a patient just needs to be naked to be properly assessed and treated (especially in major traumas!)