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 Spinal Cord injuries, Emergency+EMS.
I had a guy once transported by ambulance for chapped lips. No kidding. I am not sure if I was more irritated by the patient or the ambulance crew...

two issues there

" no -one ever got sacked for transporting" is a mantra among the lazy in the ambulance service , it's also the path of least resistance with less than appropriate callers

and for the leftpond - you don't get paid if you don't transport ...

A man came into the ER because he inserted a coffee stirrer in his urethra. The coffee stirrer broke off and was lodged inside his urethra....again.

Heres a few--

1. Ambulance ride for a toothache x2 hours. No ride home and hungry/wanted meal tray because they couldn't eat lunch related to the pain.

2. Scratch to left ear. Didn't bleed at the time it happened it just "hurt real bad"....rated 10/10.

3. Abdominal pain after chugging a whole pint of whiskey....I suffered thru all my hangovers and it taught me valuable lessons like say no to chugging and my limits!

4. Minor MVA and comes to get "checked out" but refuses to have any CT/xrays done.

5. 450 lb guy complaining of back pain x10 years.

I'm sure there are more....i'll have to think more on this.

Specializes in SDU, Tele.
:rotfl::rotfl:That's hilarious!!!

It was just about the funniest thing I've ever read! :bugeyes:

Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
two issues there

" no -one ever got sacked for transporting" is a mantra among the lazy in the ambulance service , it's also the path of least resistance with less than appropriate callers

and for the leftpond - you don't get paid if you don't transport ...

Yes, EMS professionals love wasting their time bringing idiots in, instead of sitting at a relaxing post or in their ambulance. C'mon... Second, they are legally obligated to bring a patient in if the patient insists believe me they would would rather leave them at home, its a waste of time and paperwork for them. Again-they do not have a choice, so blame the patient taht insists on coming in for the idiotic reason, not the EMT or paramedic that are doing what they legally have to.

Yes, EMS professionals love wasting their time bringing idiots in, instead of sitting at a relaxing post or in their ambulance. C'mon... Second, they are legally obligated to bring a patient in if the patient insists believe me they would would rather leave them at home, its a waste of time and paperwork for them. Again-they do not have a choice, so blame the patient taht insists on coming in for the idiotic reason, not the EMT or paramedic that are doing what they legally have to.

Zippy cant help it; he's British. Their concepts of medicine, particularly emergency medicine, are about as wacked as their concept of rights, which is why our system of everyone having the right to be seen, having the right to ambulance services, etc. confuses them. You have to remember, they're *subjects* not citizens or individuals.

Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
Zippy cant help it; he's British. Their concepts of medicine, particularly emergency medicine, are about as wacked as their concept of rights, which is why our system of everyone having the right to be seen, having the right to ambulance services, etc. confuses them. You have to remember, they're *subjects* not citizens or individuals.

You made me laugh!!!! I had no idea, sorry :)

Also I can't help myself-I have 4 family members that are paramedics (1 thats worked and taught in EMS for 35 years) and another thats a firefighter/paramedic and my husband is a paramedic/police officer :)

Ive been a paramedic for 16 years and an ER/ICU nurse for four, so I can relate...

-child vomited once, now sitting on mom's lap eating chips and drinking coke

ahhhh gotta love those smart parents...a little deductive reasoning can go a long way! lol

...and then you have people like my grandmother, age 86, and pretty peppy for her age who have a VERY off day. Forgetting what she had for lunch, who came to visit her earlier, falls of a chair when she was trying to fix the blinds and ends up cutting her leg and it wont stop bleeding, her BP was like 159/115, she maybe weights 95 lbs soaking wet. It was all I could do to convince her to go to the ER, because she didn't want to "bother" the ER nurses. I was like NANA GET IN THE CAR, THEY WILL BE GREATFUL TO HAVE AN ACTUALY PATIENT WHO SHOULD BE THERE....

Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
Yes, EMS professionals love wasting their time bringing idiots in, instead of sitting at a relaxing post or in their ambulance. C'mon... Second, they are legally obligated to bring a patient in if the patient insists believe me they would would rather leave them at home, its a waste of time and paperwork for them. Again-they do not have a choice, so blame the patient taht insists on coming in for the idiotic reason, not the EMT or paramedic that are doing what they legally have to.
I can relate to this one. I lost many nights of sleep going after the time wasters.

During preceptorship we had a lady come in because the top of her foot was hurting her and she was complaining of throat pain...unrelated issues, we all swore up and down she was just "making sure her insurance worked"....turns out hgb was 6 and she had mono. We delivered the news and told her she was going to need a transfusion and get admitted to figure out the cause of the hgb...she said, I kid you not, "I just have to go home and eat dinner then it will be better"....ummm...NO! Her next excuse was, "I'll come back tomorrow". Now, keep in mind I am student, and I was trying to explain why she had to stay there, so I thought to myself, "Put on your nursing panties and DO NOT let her leave"...so I gave her the absolute worst situation that could happen if she leaves, she could have a heart attack or stroke and die. This scared her daughter enough to say her mom wouldnt leave, but it wasn't enough for mom, so my nurse walked in and said "If you leave and die, you can't sue us. The form you are about to sign says that you have no legal action if you die". Then and only then did she consent, stay and get her blood. SERIOUSLY????? That was probably one of the most ridiculous things I've seen.

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