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 ?

Things are a litle different the other side of the pond, in my A+E we are allowed to send patients home from triage, so the ones that come in complaining the the oral abs haven't worked after one day can be sent home, along with those that think constipation for 4 hrs is a medical emergency.

Had a good one last night, someone came in at 4 am and said they hadn't pu'd in the last 4 hrs. reminded pt that it is normal not to pu during the night,

oh and the mother that was concerned that her baby wasn't breathing whilst they were vomiting. assured mother that this was probably a good thing really, baby looked very well.

Let's see.....

1. Man comes in with insect bite on side of neck. Says he was cleaning up some brush in the yard and felt something bite him. Wants to know what it was.....:rolleyes:

2. Mom and two (adult) daughters come in within an hour of each other. Mom fell, one daughter "springed her back" trying to lift mom onto the couch, the second daughter "springed" her wrist attempting CPR on mom. Mom is complaining of sore chest. :uhoh3: We nicknamed them Larry, Moe and Curly...

3. Not really funny but kind of odd....Mom, who is a first year nursing student, brings her child into ER. Child is athsmatic, wheezing, blue lips, sat-ing 82%...we start the child on a breathing tx and are scrambling to get a vein when the mom asks if she can start the IV and, Oh, by the way, if there are any more "skills" to be done, can she do them? because it will look good in her lab skills book.......:stone

4. And finally.....We get a call over the scanner one night that EMS is bringing in a 16 yo boy with scrotal lesion....EMS comes rolling in about 20 min later with pale boy on a stretcher, mom is hovering around like a hummingbird on crack...EMS takes the boy to CP 6, our "only for big codes" room. Well, naturally, as with every major event, auxillary staff start filing into the room to see if they will be needed with the "code". About 3 min later, there is a mass exodus from the room. A few minutes later, I asked a friend of mine from EMS what the deal was with CP 6, he said, "body lice"....:uhoh21: :uhoh3:

"springed her back" :roll :yeah: :lol_hitti :lol_hitti :lol_hitti Don't you love that medical terminology?

Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

I have to wonder when Keith Richards went to the ER...

How did I get a subdural hematoma? Well, I was on vacation in Fiji. And I climbed up a coconut tree and then fell out of it.

Why, yes, I am in my 60s..what about it. Uhhhhh, no, I don't do any drugs or drink....anymore. Well, maybe just a joint once in a while, and well, one beer a day.

(I know it is serious and my best wishes for his recovery, but can't help myself)

Re Keith Richards, it was mentioned on a news report down here that when they took him for surgery that he was looking pale and gaunt.

When in the last 20 yrs + hasn't he looked pale and gaunt?????????:

Specializes in home & public health, med-surg, hospice.
Re Keith Richards, it was mentioned on a news report down here that when they took him for surgery that he was looking pale and gaunt.

When in the last 20 yrs + hasn't he looked pale and gaunt?????????:

LOL...right, schonna! :chuckle

Specializes in ICU.

Before I transferred up to the PICU, I worked in the ER ( also in the pediatric hospital , some of the ridiculous things were

Woman ( who uses us like her personal physician ) brought in her twins by ambulance because they were stuck in an elevator earlier that day and wanted their oxygen saturation checked...

A 15 yr old girl who in her catholic school girl uniform and all, on her way home, stopped and called an ambulance because of menstrual cramps. I told her to get off the stretcher and go to the waiting room and "welcome to womanhood "

Also hangnail that parents demanded a general surgery consult for . She waited a long ass time for that.

A 4 day old baby who's mother brought in at 4 am to know how to clean the umbilical cord .

A 16 yr old who cries alot..

:confused: What the heck is wrong with people?

Specializes in Urgent Care.

Here is one we couldnt believe last Friday night....

Pt. arriving by ambulance for......"poorly contolled restless leg syndrome"

I wanted to see what this pt was like (ie mental, lonely, etc) but I had to go hold the elevator for an incoming cardiac code to go up to the cath lab, by the time that was done my shift was over.

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

Had one come in with the chief c/o "Fear of Flying", by EMS yet. He had a flight the next morning and didnt want to wait at triage.

I just found this board, and I'm LMAO at these stories! I haven't worked in an ER yet (new student) so now I can see what I have to look forward to!

Ok...sharing a stupid story about myself:

One night my son (6) woke up SCREAMING (he's usually a good sleeper so I knew something was wrong).

I made him get up thinking it might be a cramp or something...but he just keeled over in pain and screamed "My stomach! Please take me to the doctor mommy". All I could think was his appendix burst.

My husband stayed w/ the other kids, and I sped to the hospital with him screaming in the backseat.

I carried him into the ER and they took us back right away b/c he was screaming so loud and they saw me struggling to carry him, so it was obvious he couldn't walk. Triage took quick vitals and sent us back to the dr right away. The doctor felt his belly and sent him for Xray (he's still screaming mind you).

He calmed down a bit for X ray, and after we got it back we saw that he was just backed up w/ POOP!

The kid was constipated! :madface:

I was horrified. The staff was nice though, they just laughed and had this "what can you do" type of attitude. The doctor did ask though why I hadn't noticed he hadn't pooped in a few days.

???? The kid is 6! He's in school all day, I don't check the toilet after he goes anymore. Geesh.

Anyway... a little Colace did the trick!

I felt like an idiot!

just last week, in the middle of a tornado warning, we had someone come in to the er, by ambulance because, they had to poop, but couldnt get it out! it's right there they said, i just can't get it out. this poor patient paid near $1,000.00 to get "dug out" by a nurse.:rolleyes:

How 'bout this...

I had just assumed my 5 bed assignment and and was given a "Lady Of The Night" with a roach in her ear. She had just been brought in by the local EMS guys... That's not the sad part. After removing the roach, teaching how to avoid having this happen again, suggesting changing motels for doing biz (once this happens, it's a good idea to try a different place), and her written instructions, she returns about 3 or 4 hours later by ambulance from the same motel with another roach in the same ear...

I guess they had set up a nest, LOL. Old habits die hard.

Specializes in Home Health and Hospice.

I know 11yrs ago in rural Ohio when I was on medicaid the only place that I could be seen for minor acute things such as strep throat was the ER otherwise I had to wait a month for an appt as they where no longer taking "new" pts and no walk-in clinic. In otherwords once they heard medicaid they didn't want the hassle. So where else are you to go? I would try like hell to wait out anything I had because it was embarrassing to go for something I should be at a clinic for.

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