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 ?

19 yo female came to ER, with her mother in tow. Pt states she was on the toilette having a BM and something came out of her lady parts. She has no idea what it was and wants to be evaluated. She, incidentally brought the item in with her in a paper bag. I continued to traige her and asked questions. and pain, discharge? no. Last menstrual period? About 1 month ago. It's due to start in a few days. After the triage exam I then opened this paper bag to se the item. Half expecting to see a fetus I was shocked to see what was clearly a tampon! And the smell! I can take a lot, but that was over the edge! :uhoh3:

Not only am I confused at loosing a tampon for a month, but what really bafels me is that I, being a male and having no tampon experience, took one look and knew what it was, but this 10 yo female and her mother could not figure it out.

She was worked up for toxic shock, but was negative and had no symptoms, she was only concerned that she didn't know what came out of her.

The number one reason my ED is crowded is that 70% of my patients get up in the morning, take two stupid pills and then chase them with a glass of dumba**. The really bad ones even get their stupid pill Rx refilled!!!!

i have a great aunt that will be thrilled to hear that hiccups can be cured with gambling!

good one! in originally reading the post to which you allude, i failed to note the spelling error - probably because they are so frequent on this board . spell checker appears to be in great need.

again, thanks for the early morning laugh.

salty

A man with a ring on his member- which was easily removed with lubricant.

I'd hate to have to be the one that had to remove it. We actually had the same thing happen- we tried the lubricant, didn't work. Had to use ring cutters. What a fright for that guy. And by the way- he came in by ambulance for this too.

True story, I saw the Xray.

Man presented to ER hunched over and in great pain. Asked for a male nurse(my friend got him that night, I was up in NICU) Man had lodged a 12inch pleasuring device in his colon. The pleasuring device was complete with a fake scrotum. Apparently, the man frequently put the device into his colon but normally was able to expel it after his "session" was finished. This time it got lodged. In fact, it was lodged so tightly that he ended up in surgery to have it removed abdominally and needed a colostomy. The resident showed me the xray. The device was all the way up to his thoracic spine! It must have been hitting the transverse colon. Funniest part of the story is that the when the resident checked in on the surgery, he saw the prissy female resident surgeon pulling this giant black device out of this mans belly. He said it was quite a sight!

On the same line- my father in law is an ED doc up north. Years ago, when people still were using glass bottles for soda he took care of a man who was quite creative. He would position the bottle with the smaller gerth side up- place a straightened close hanger in the top. He used the clothes hanger to help pull the bottle out. Until one night it didn't quite work out that way- the hanger came out of the top of the bottle and perfed his bowels- oops. :crying2:

I managed to stop my daughter from going to the ER for a blister on her heel. She was prepared to wait 7 hours! :uhoh3:

Educumacate the public and start at home!!!! :chuckle

By ambulance at 2am, a blister on the rt great toe.

No ride back, no friends, and hungry (but I didn't need to tell you guys that)

And, yes we get a lot of people wanting a pregnancy test. Seems some insurances will pay for an er visit, but not an OTC test (go figure)

15 year old by ambulance 9 pm no shoes (mom called giving permission to treat) Neck pain I was brushing my teeth and I turned my neck and it hurt.

Saw her 16 year old sister earlier in the evening who also came by ambulance no shoes with menstral cramps. Five kids in the family all show up each week you guessed it by ambulance no shoes :angryfire

By ambulance at 2am, a blister on the rt great toe.

No ride back, no friends, and hungry (but I didn't need to tell you guys that)

And, yes we get a lot of people wanting a pregnancy test. Seems some insurances will pay for an er visit, but not an OTC test (go figure)

15 year old by ambulance 9 pm no shoes (mom called giving permission to treat) Neck pain I was brushing my teeth and I turned my neck and it hurt.

Saw her 16 year old sister earlier in the evening who also came by ambulance no shoes with menstral cramps. Five kids in the family all show up each week you guessed it by ambulance no shoes :angryfire

Convenience is the best excuse for our problem. Patients sometimes 3/shift coming in accompanied by the police in handcuffs with one diagnosis DRUNK turns out the officers are giving them the option jail or the emergency dept. DUH, lets see bars or a bed with a TV, three good meals and nurses you call call on a whim. Good for the officer no paperwork good for the patient no police record BAD for the nurse, patient cannot leave until sober which can be up to 16 hrs for some needless to say the patient gets a complete physical each time he comes in which can be literally just long enough to leave and get drunk again. Talk about abusing the system. What ever happened to check the patient out to medically clear him and send him off to jail :o

Well, I don't disagree with what you say, but I think it is more than not having access to a primary care provider. I live in a very rural area in the deep south, and even here we have a Public Health Department, a federally funded clinic for the indigent and working poor as well as a community mental health center.

Unfortunately, I think many folks come to the ER for other reasons:

-convenience (no need to make an appointment, and where else can you get your kids' runny noses checked out, your vag bleeding evaluated and your mom's migraine treated all at the same time and place? I mean, what ER nurse hasn't heard "While I'm here....")

-ignorance

-entertainment

-avoidence (you can't hardly go back to your pcp for more Lorcet when you just got your 'script filled yesterday)

-the system: some people must have that dreaded doctor's excuse to go back to work after only one sick day and if you live in an area with no urgent care, what can they do? Also, I think we've taught people over the past few generations to rely on the system instead of thinking for themselves (so of course you bring you kids to the doc if they vomit once).

-lack of funds (like we're not going to ask them to pay and then follow-up on it)

I think the answer is going to depend on a change in the whole health care system, and pardon my cynical attitude, but that ain't gonna happen any time soon.

Convenience is the best excuse for our problem. Patients sometimes 3/shift coming in accompanied by the police in handcuffs with one diagnosis DRUNK turns out the officers are giving them the option jail or the emergency dept. DUH, lets see bars or a bed with a TV, three good meals and nurses you call call on a whim. Good for the officer no paperwork good for the patient no police record BAD for the nurse, patient cannot leave until sober which can be up to 16 hrs for some needless to say the patient gets a complete physical each time he comes in which can be literally just long enough to leave and get drunk again. Talk about abusing the system. What ever happened to check the patient out to medically clear him and send him off to jail :o

Well, I don't disagree with what you say, but I think it is more than not having access to a primary care provider. I live in a very rural area in the deep south, and even here we have a Public Health Department, a federally funded clinic for the indigent and working poor as well as a community mental health center.

Unfortunately, I think many folks come to the ER for other reasons:

-convenience (no need to make an appointment, and where else can you get your kids' runny noses checked out, your vag bleeding evaluated and your mom's migraine treated all at the same time and place? I mean, what ER nurse hasn't heard "While I'm here....")

-ignorance

-entertainment

-avoidence (you can't hardly go back to your pcp for more Lorcet when you just got your 'script filled yesterday)

-the system: some people must have that dreaded doctor's excuse to go back to work after only one sick day and if you live in an area with no urgent care, what can they do? Also, I think we've taught people over the past few generations to rely on the system instead of thinking for themselves (so of course you bring you kids to the doc if they vomit once).

-lack of funds (like we're not going to ask them to pay and then follow-up on it)

I think the answer is going to depend on a change in the whole health care system, and pardon my cynical attitude, but that ain't gonna happen any time soon.

I guess these folks don't mind paying the larger co pay for stupidity

What do you mean pay.. I truly don't think they have any intention of paying for the visits or the ambulance rides. Even if there is a co pay, :angryfire they tell the billing dept they didn't bring any money they get treated and when the bill is sent it is placed in the round file. :angryfire

18 yrs er nursing

I had a man wanting to pay $105 to have his blood pressure checked.

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