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 ?

Specializes in tactical/emercency medicine.

no you cant refuse to see them, but you CAN so a medical screen on them and refer them to a clinic or their primary care physician

Specializes in New in ICU; OB-GYN, PACU, Prehospital.

An EMT friend recently ran on a lady clearly faking a seizure. He called her on it, and she became belligerent. "I'm in ****ing status dammit! Give me valium!" She argued with him for over 30 min, maintaining she was currently in status epilepticus and my friend was an idiot for thinking otherwise. LE had to be called and fortunately she did NOT get transported as she had been several times prior in the same week for the same BS.

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
an emt friend recently ran on a lady clearly faking a seizure. he called her on it, and she became belligerent. "i'm in ****ing status dammit! give me valium!" she argued with him for over 30 min, maintaining she was currently in status epilepticus and my friend was an idiot for thinking otherwise. le had to be called and fortunately she did not get transported as she had been several times prior in the same week for the same bs.

not arguing that your patient was not faking her seizure, but with some types of seizure, the person can remain fully conscious, alert, able to converse without missing a beat etc.

those of us who have partial complex or simple complex seizures may have no more than a muscle contraction that lasts varying amounts of time, or other vague symptoms, so please don't automatically

assume complicit behavoir.

Specializes in New in ICU; OB-GYN, PACU, Prehospital.

My dad is epileptic and I understand quite a bit about seizure disorders. However, someone faking full-body convulsions for the fourth time in a week to seek drugs is not in status and nonconvulsive variants of status are extremely, extremely rare (and I'm willing to bet do not tend to present as someone fully conscious and with it screaming "I'm in status!")

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
my dad is epileptic and i understand quite a bit about seizure disorders. however, someone faking full-body convulsions for the fourth time in a week to seek drugs is not in status and nonconvulsive variants of status are extremely, extremely rare (and i'm willing to bet do not tend to present as someone fully conscious and with it screaming "i'm in status!")

i wasn't arguing that point and those types of patients are swift pains in the azz to everyone. i posted what i did because i get fed up arguing with a certain neighbor who is a surgeon and should know better, that some types seizures do not induce unconsiousness, or take away one's ability to realize one is having a seizure, or converse.

i'm really not trying to be difficult. never worked er, but i have worked psych and in drug and etoh detox, which did give me insight. i just get so &*^% sick of the public's and certain health professional's knee jerk reaction to some types of seizures.:D

I had one lady who waited to finally told us that she needed to know what time it was, since she needed to adjust her clock. I'm not kidding. It was in a small ER, and I had to do the triage and care for my pts, but still....

I also had people coming to update their prescriptions, or a small cut on a finger with a band-aid, claiming it was bleeding profusely..had a diabetic type 1 pt with high BS who thought insulin was just a fancy thing..

Specializes in med/surg, ob/gyn, CM.

chapped lips...no joke!

Specializes in ER.

hunger pains, no not abdominal pains(no n/v, d or c), he actually said he was hungry and wanted something to eat...and he came by ems because he didn't have a ride :confused:

Specializes in ED.

patient came to ER because water went into her ears while taking a bath.... honestly!

Last night. Bug bites. Not especially bad ones. Got drunk, slept on a friends couch.

I advised her not to do that again

i wasn't arguing that point and those types of patients are swift pains in the azz to everyone. i posted what i did because i get fed up arguing with a certain neighbor who is a surgeon and should know better, that some types seizures do not induce unconsiousness, or take away one's ability to realize one is having a seizure, or converse.

i'm really not trying to be difficult. never worked er, but i have worked psych and in drug and etoh detox, which did give me insight. i just get so &*^% sick of the public's and certain health professional's knee jerk reaction to some types of seizures.:D

some docs are really jerks. surgeons are among the worst, of course, but there are plenty of non-surgeons who are also jerks.

if a pt doesn't fit the textbook picture, they think the pt is lying, faking, or just plain stupid. how often do we actually see a textbook picture? i just pray for the day when they will have to be patients and can't get a doctor to believe them. perhaps then they will know, experience, and mourn for the unnecessary sorrow, frustration, aggravation, humiliation, and downright physical suffering they have caused their patients.

Specializes in Women's health & post-partum.
I just pray for the day when they will have to be patients and can't get a doctor to believe them. Perhaps then they will know, experience, and mourn for the unnecessary sorrow, frustration, aggravation, humiliation, and downright physical suffering they have caused their patients.

Like the one who, when hospitalized for back pain, was given a shot of (I think it was) trilafon. It was very painful, and he never again ordered it for a patient, I'm happy to say.

He was the same one who wanted me to give his delivering patient chloroform.:uhoh3: I wasn't licensed for that!

+ Join the Discussion