I’d been gettin' a vibe…
We headed to a call for seizures. We figured something else was going on when two police cars showed up too. The relatives on scene said they were worried that the patient had a seizure and was refusing to let them in the apartment. The patient had a history of being combative when postictal (the state someone is in after having a seizure, typically they are confused and out of it, occasionally to the point of being violent.) So, we headed up to the apartment which turned out to be about 400 degrees, with the patient lounging in a chair looking totally fine. The relative insisted that she go to the hospital to be checked out and the patient jumped up and appeared to ready herself for a trip to the ER.
On some calls, okay, on most calls you get a vibe of some sort. Sometimes it’s nothing, or that something doesn’t add up with the patient and their situation, or my favorite, when the vibe you feel is that of crazy. Just as this particular vibe was washing over me, the patient rushed forward and grabbed a bag so full of trash that things were spilling out of it, shouting “I’m not leaving without this!” and ran out the door. One of the cops went after her, and we all followed down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door. I thought that she had bolted, but had actually been putting the trash bag in the trash room in the basement. The patient then said, “I’m not going to say anything else.” stepped into the ambulance and laid down on the cot. My partner and I looked at each other, shrugged and stepped in behind her. From here on in, the patient did indeed not say anything else and refused to do anything but sit there.
I buckled her in and drove to the hospital. Just as I was pulling into the driveway and heard my partner saying things like “don’t unbuckle those seatbelts” “were almost there” and “don’t do that!” I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that their faces were inches apart, so I threw it into park, ran around and opened the back door. I had absolutely no plan as to what to say or do after that, but the patient looked at me, released my partner and jumped out of the ambulance before I could even shout “Hey!” My care level for her was at it’s absolute lowest at this point, and I didn’t even care that my supervisor watched as my partner and I threw up our hands and watched her walk into the ER. My partner was unharmed, although her radio mic was broken. We were both happy to be rid of this patient.
On some calls, okay, on most calls you get a vibe of some sort. Sometimes it’s nothing, or that something doesn’t add up with the patient and their situation, or my favorite, when the vibe you feel is that of crazy. Just as this particular vibe was washing over me, the patient rushed forward and grabbed a bag so full of trash that things were spilling out of it, shouting “I’m not leaving without this!” and ran out the door. One of the cops went after her, and we all followed down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door. I thought that she had bolted, but had actually been putting the trash bag in the trash room in the basement. The patient then said, “I’m not going to say anything else.” stepped into the ambulance and laid down on the cot. My partner and I looked at each other, shrugged and stepped in behind her. From here on in, the patient did indeed not say anything else and refused to do anything but sit there.
I buckled her in and drove to the hospital. Just as I was pulling into the driveway and heard my partner saying things like “don’t unbuckle those seatbelts” “were almost there” and “don’t do that!” I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that their faces were inches apart, so I threw it into park, ran around and opened the back door. I had absolutely no plan as to what to say or do after that, but the patient looked at me, released my partner and jumped out of the ambulance before I could even shout “Hey!” My care level for her was at it’s absolute lowest at this point, and I didn’t even care that my supervisor watched as my partner and I threw up our hands and watched her walk into the ER. My partner was unharmed, although her radio mic was broken. We were both happy to be rid of this patient.
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