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 ?

One of my classics was the woman that 20 year old that called the squad, and was transported to the ER with the complaint of her feet were cold. Now mind you it was 20 below outside with windchills of 50 to 60 below.

The police had raided a crack house. In the refrigerator they found what they thought was a human fetus. They brought it to the ER. It was an oyster.

Sitting here feeling a bit depressed and this just cheered me up lol

Specializes in Inpatient Acute Rehab.

We had a lady several nights ago bring her daughter in for an earache (was infected). She then proceeded to tell them that she also wanted to be seen.... for chapped lips!!!! GO BUY SOME CHAPSTICK LADY!!!!

Gum stuck in long blond (bleached) hair. The doctor wrote a recommendation on an order sheet to a cosmetologist.

That's to funny Must have been really blond ! best dumb blond joke I have heard in awhile .Why didn't she just use ice It takes gum right out.

The pregancy test was good too.

What's really funny is my husband a chrioprator and his Pt's will ask for a pregancy test all the time. He has the staff do at least 5 a week.

I noticed at all a dollar they had pregancy test for a buck.

Oh I guess another interesting thing I saw in the ER was a homeless man with a really bad infection in his toes. When I helped him take off his shoes I knew it was going to be bad cause his sock was soaked in puss or icky stuff like that. With my gloves on (thank GOD) I took off his sock and much to my surprise, MAGGOTS everywhere all over the wounds. I had never heard of such a thing. I bought had a fit. I said to the guy, "Do you know you have worms in your wound?" He said, "I do?" "Yah, it looks pretty sore and dirty.

I learned later that the maggots actually do a good job of cleaning away the dead tissue and debris. Interesting. And YUcky.

Thanks for listening,. Curleysue :rotfl:

I can relate to this one Had a old guy come into lens crafters and said his glasses were bothering him They were filty litterally when he removed them his nose pad had broke and the metal part was sticking into the nose badly infected .and the longest magot was comming out .Tons of pus with it I was so distracted watching the worm riggle there. Luckly since I also worked in nursing at this time nothing was a shock to me. I just handed the man a mirror and said quitlety .Your nose is very infected you might want to have that looked at and handed him a tissue .He took a look and saw the worm and just pulled out the longest magot. I have ever seen Well I soaked the lenses and frame in Etoh for an 1 hr and then ultarsound them sodered a new pad on Handed his glasses back and he told me he was off to see his Dr. After that he came once a week and got his glasses cleaned.

Thanks for listening,. Curleysue :rotfl:

I can relate to this one Had a old guy come into lens crafters and said his glasses were bothering him They were filty litterally when he removed them his nose pad had broke and the metal part was sticking into the nose badly infected .and the longest magot was comming out .Tons of pus with it I was so distracted watching the worm riggle there. Luckly since I also worked in nursing at this time nothing was a shock to me. I just handed the man a mirror and said quitlety .Your nose is very infected you might want to have that looked at and handed him a tissue .He took a look and saw the worm and just pulled out the longest magot. I have ever seen Well I soaked the lenses and frame in Etoh for an 1 hr and then ultarsound them sodered a new pad on Handed his glasses back and he told me he was off to see his Dr. After that he came once a week and got his glasses cleaned.

OH MY GOD,,, That is truely disgusting! That is much worse than my story of maggots in the guys infected foot. I don't think I could handle this one. Just thinking about that long maggot wiggling out of his nose,,, YUCKY!

Specializes in ER/Trauma.
Here's another one...

20 y/o "Buffy" type sorority girl at an area university, comes in with the c/o "A bump down there and its tender", hx present x 2 mos.

External exam by the doc reveals nothing unusual or abnormal, as he palpates around she suddenly says "that's IT!"

He palpates again. "this?" he asked, with a slight flitter with his finger to make sure he was correct (never mind the WAY that happened)..

"yes, that" was the answer

He sat back, removed his gloves, took a deep breath, and said with every amount of composure he could muster...

"that's your privy parts. That's SUPPOSED to be there."

All I could think was...God bless her, some poor guy finally found it.

:rotfl:

That's INSANE! :uhoh21:
Specializes in ER/Trauma.
Why didn't she just use ice It takes gum right out.
THIS, I didn't know :) Thanks!
THIS, I didn't know :) Thanks!

Roy, peanut butter works well too, better in my opinion. You just glob it in the hair and the oil from the PB makes the gum slide right out then you just have to wash the PB out.

But I would not recommend trying this on a dog, apparently dog hair is different the gum will still be stuck and the poor dog will be trying to eat the PB and will bite his own ear and THEN you have to clean up the blood too. (LONG story....ended up having to call my friend who is a groomer LOL)

and do 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 :)

Once, we had mom and her three kids come to ED per ambulance. The family car would not start. Each child a cold symptoms. You know the classics signs, cough, sore throat, and headache. All this took place after clinics closed for the day. Then the doctor after discharging them, asked if we could find transportation home. I work in a rather small rural hospital. It was a cold and snowy evening. One of our Chaplins took them home. Mind you, this chaplin did this on his own. Home was 20 miles one way. And thats the truth!

Specializes in LTC, ER, ICU, Psych, Med-surg...etc....

I had a woman call and ask me if we could get some of her husbands semen to preserve by the sperm bank. I said we didn't do that in the ER that she needed to see a specialist....then overwhelmed by curiosity (it's 2 am) I asked her where her husband was...she said "Rest in Peace Funeral Home", I of course was flipping out, barely able to contain myself, but I had to know..."how long has he been there?" She said "Three days, the funeral is tomorrow"....I cracked up..... :roll :roll :roll :roll

I work with a nurse who works ER on weekends, she told me about this woman who crushed and snorted a mothball. She then went over to Wal-Mart with her kids. She was acting "off" so the helpful folks at Wally World called 911. EMS takes her to the hospital where the nice folks in the ER laugh at her and then call Child Protective Services who released the kids to grandma and grandpa.

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