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 ?

Actually 2 things; We had the noble ability to do phone triage. People would call in and ask, "I have a cut on my leg, should I come in and be seen?" To which one of our doc's replied, "Put it up nex to the phone so I can see it."

2nd. We had a lady come in for concern and, "not feeling well" p being in a tanning both for too long" :angryfire

Don't go there! I don't know you PedsERRN so I'll give you that one. We're all brothers in arms out there. They watch our backs we watch theirs. They have guns pointed at them we have Menengitis pointed at us. When your working the ER and gun or knife gets pointed at you there's nothing more sweeter sounding in the world then the sound of those sirens. The boys will be there in a heart beat. And, when the gun and knife come back to finish what they started. Until your ready to kick down that door and take what's on the other side not knowing what's on the other side so I can go home tonight - Baby you stand over there I'm hanging with my friends in blue. So leave them alone to do their jobs. So spend some time going those stupid policies and produres that we have to follow and weed out 99% of them before you knock on somebody elses door.

Sorry if I offended! :o I didn't mean to bash on the police-they are doing what they have to do. They had a juvenille who had a bad outcome, and now they are mandated to bring them all in no matter what the complaint. I have all the respect in the world for our police, and feel bad for them when they have to sit with a pt with no real complaint for a long time before a doc can get to them. The kids have learned that they will come to us, and often make things up to delay going to lock-up. My husband is a cop, and we often ***** together about the policies that affect us both(ours and theirs.)

So-I wasn't bashing the police, it just kills me what these kids will say is wrong with them to get out of lock-up for a couple of hours.

I have one silly one. My 18month (At the time) old daughter managed to get a popcorn kernal stuck in her forehead. Yes being a paranoid mama (aka seeing blood pouring out of my baby's head) I rushed her to the ER where she was seen immediately and got 3 stitches and a sucker.

I also have a serious one which I am still mad abot. About a month ago I was getting ready to take my kids to meet up with my husband and get some dinner All of a sudden I was in one of the worst pains I have ever been in. I couldn't breath, I couldn't move and I got off the road and waited for my husband to come get me because the pain was shooting through my chest. It felt like I was being peirced by something. He took me to the ER and After waiting 3 hours, Yes I said 3 hours I left without being seen thinking If I am not dead by now I will be fine with some time. I still do not know what caused the pain but I went through it for 4 days and hope I never have to go through it again

I have one silly one. My 18month (At the time) old daughter managed to get a popcorn kernal stuck in her forehead. Yes being a paranoid mama (aka seeing blood pouring out of my baby's head) I rushed her to the ER where she was seen immediately and got 3 stitches and a sucker.

I also have a serious one which I am still mad abot. About a month ago I was getting ready to take my kids to meet up with my husband and get some dinner All of a sudden I was in one of the worst pains I have ever been in. I couldn't breath, I couldn't move and I got off the road and waited for my husband to come get me because the pain was shooting through my chest. It felt like I was being peirced by something. He took me to the ER and After waiting 3 hours, Yes I said 3 hours I left without being seen thinking If I am not dead by now I will be fine with some time. I still do not know what caused the pain but I went through it for 4 days and hope I never have to go through it again

You mean you haven't gone to get a "follow" up? :eek: I suggest you go to your PCP ASAP. It may be something that will pop back up and this time won't go away and end up being something worse than you imagined. Then again it could be nothing. But go anyways. Now.

You mean you haven't gone to get a "follow" up? :eek: I suggest you go to your PCP ASAP. It may be something that will pop back up and this time won't go away and end up being something worse than you imagined. Then again it could be nothing. But go anyways. Now.

I went to my PCP and after having me get a chest xray which came back clear he said it was a pinched nerve. I have had pinched nerves before and none ever felt like that one. I am thankful it wasn't more serious.

O/T Pathetic as it may sound around here it is no wonder people go to the ER rather than their PCP. I have a minimum of a 2 hour wait when I go to my PCP and there are 3 Drs there they take visitors from pharmaceutical companies inbetween patients :rolleyes: Unfortunately that was the only place my insurance covered. I recently changed carriers so I am hoping for someplace better.

guardian of 13, 14 yr old female brings said child in for "virginity check" - "Isn't there a test you can do?" Puh-leeze! :stone

mom brings 12 year old kid in on a school night at 1am for ingrown toenail x1 month - saw the same kid & mom few nights ago with exact same problem on other foot - this time they checked in a little earlier..midnight :confused:

EMS brings in mom, dad, baby sibling & 2 year old patient because of a "laceration to foot" - examined the kid, teeny superficial scratch on toe - when asked why EMS was called, dad replied "well I AM a diabetic, we's just being careful" - and of course they had no ride home, no money, etc., etc. :banghead:

What really makes me mad is the lack of parenting education these parents get from their pediatricans/PCPs. It's OK for your kid to run a fever for a few hours; it's OK for them to cry a lot that day, for them to throw up once in a while. I spend half of my time educating all I can, at least on those who will listen.

You all are right: stupid people = endless ER job security.

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.

SICK AND WRONG! :rotfl:

Specializes in Tele, Home Health, MICU, CTICU, LTC.

During my EMS days I took a patient to the ER who had supposedly swallowed a small piece of a pork chop bone. She wasn't even sure if she had or not. No coughing, respiratory distress, or abdominal pain. When she got to the ER she asked for:

A pepsi, tapioca pudding, and a pap smear. I got a good laugh out of that one.

When she got to the ER she asked for:

A pepsi, tapioca pudding, and a pap smear. I got a good laugh out of that one.

:rotfl: In what order?? :rotfl:

You throw a LIVE snake into a freezer. That's mean! :stone

Here in Australia you HAVE to bring it in - in any condition you can. If they are live we throw them in a deep freezer until a herpetologist can correctly ID the snake. See a LOT of our snakes can only be accurately Id'd if you do a scale count including examining the anal scale - now I don't know about you but that is a closer relationship than I want to have with a live venomous snake:coollook:
Specializes in NICU.
You throw a LIVE snake into a freezer. That's mean! :stone

From what I understand it just makes them go to sleep. They're fine when they warm up.

One of our many frequent fliers came in one day (via EMS of course), hopped off the stretcher, and said, "I'm okay. I just needed a ride to the hospital for my doctor's appointment."

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