What's your craziest story of the ER

Dixen81 · Nov 17, 2003

That is just about the sickest thing I've heard in a long time...

LPN-n-2005 · Nov 17, 2003

after reading that i almost had to throw up. anyone who lives in that kind of filth should be sprayed down outside with a garden hose!!!

athomas91 · Nov 17, 2003

my friend and i have worked together in multiple ed's for a long time now - our best story is our frequent flyer who weighed >600lbs -came in at least 3x on a wkly basis - of course we did everything for him including holding the urinal over his turtled member when needed - after a few months - we finally talked to his sister who informed us that he walks and did his own adl's at home w/o a problem - we promptly stopped helping him - of course he would just urinate all over the floor - one nite while on the code team we were called to pcu for a code - guess who - he was laying on his side and he was too big to roll over w/o lifting him - which 15 of us could not do - we did cpr on him - she held his back - and i had to compress his chest - which basically ended up like punching his chest - needless to say - we couldn't intubate... finally someone called his doc - who informed us he was a dnr ------ we still talk about this all the time - just one of those things you cannot ever forget!

flashpoint · Nov 18, 2003

Not very compassionate, are you,

LPN-n-2005? Yes, living in those conditions is horrible, but many of the people who do live like that are unable to care for themselves becasue of mental or physical disabilities. I always try to think how I would want my favorite aunt treated and treat all of my patients as if they were my favorite aunt...

wandernsoul · Nov 19, 2003

Not nearly as impressive as the first story but still a good 'read'.

Great big older guy comes in by EMS, lives in a little apartment alone, hasn't been out in eons. He can't really get around at all, even to the bathroom, so he has a bucket next to his recliner......with newspaper under it.

He had used this bucket so often, and often so unsuccessfully, while standing on wet papers, that the newspaper had actually grown onto the bottom of his feet. WE COULD READ THE PAPER ON HIS FEET BUT NOT REMOVE IT CUZ SKIN HAD GROWN OVER IT!

Now isn't that just sad.....????

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Nov 19, 2003

Oh man-

I just cannot deal with that rat story.

a_clay · Nov 19, 2003

Yes....I am still :eek: x 3 over the rat story....I have never heard of anything like that in my life. How can you not know there's an ANIMAL on your body? That's crazy. Just makes you wonder how the rat got there to begin with.

wandernsoul · Nov 19, 2003

There's quite a difference here.

Disgusting, well rats are right at the top of the list. As are maggots, which we've had hopping off the bed.....that came from decubitus ulcers.

Crazy though.....? Oh so many stories to tell! How bout the guy who lit his beard on fire right in the middle of the ER?

Erin RN · Nov 19, 2003

I think I posted this story somewhere else but we had a young man who came in with beebees shoved up his member so far we had to send him to surgery. Apparently, he thought he would be able to be able to "do it" all night long with his girlfriend..Not too sure on how he planned to get them out??!!

My friend , who worked in a huge trauma center in down town Seattle for 20 yrs told me a story I won't forget...Motor cycle accident and the guy had severed his upper lip up to the nose off..she said it was so strange to actually shave an upper lip to be reattached while it's owner was sitting behind her...

Saddest story..the garden hose comment (Not very compassionate, I agree!!) prompts this.We have a REAL problem with meth in my city. dad bring his 7 yr old in to the ER since when he picked her up at moms they were cooking the crap at the house and she is contaminated.. I was at triage and we can't let them back without being decontaminated..so middle of winter, freezing, little girl stripped down wrapped in a blanket out in the ambulance bay being sprayed down with a hose (warm water)...crying "Daddy please make them stop"..I cried on that one...I would have liked to have taken that hose to the mom!!

Erin

Medic946RN · Nov 19, 2003

When I was a full time street medic I had a case of pure elder neglect. A grown brother and two grown sisters just left mom (in her late 60's to early 70's) naked on a couch in their den with papers all around like they were training a dog. Anyway oneday they called 911 concerned that mom had had a CVA. On arrival we found the poor woman complaining of pain and unable to move one side. That's because she hadn't been off that side for weeks. maybe months. The floor was covered with urine soaked newspapers and when we moved mom, little legged things scurried everywhere. We transported her to the closest facilty which was also a Level 1 Trauma Center which had a hazmat decom room, we took her into there and helped the nurses clean this poor woman up. while we did we found of course maggots in her various pressure ulcers along with roaches, and what one Doc whose hobby was entomology described as "flesh eating"beetles. Being grossed out was secondary to anger. We had the family arrested and it made front page news, they all ended up doing some time for elder abuse.

The interesting thing was that one of the Doc's said that the flesh eating insects had actually helped this woman, by consuming the decomposing flesh they kept her from going septic and dying.

maelee · Nov 19, 2003

you do realy sound youve had the most disgusting experience in your life. Well, what can we do. Were nurses right? and weve got the most gruesome work ever. But hey, have you ever wonder how that rat ever came to live in that mans body in the first place?. :confused: