Clearly, judging by the comment, I've upset someone with my previous post. I've tried, in the comments section, to rectify what I hope is a misunderstanding. Nevertheless, is there anyone else out there who agrees either with me or with our anonymous friend? Don't be shy... I'm intrigued to hear!
7 comments:
I think the key point is that they didn't understand the process. They should have called NHS direct first and if unsatisfied by the answer then taken her to A&E. The public don't appreciate when to dial 999 and when not to.
i agree with you mate, someone thats chucked up twice and then thinks that dialling 999 is the way forward shows the public sometimes need re educating. most of the trivial stuff that i get called out for are genuine stuff and it doesnt help with our out of hours gp service like to go oh call an ambulance far too often.
I believe that we need as a whole need to go into schools and educate as we are now going into the generation where they will call an ambulance for nothing.... ironically we are too busy attending calls to be able to go and educate people!!!
I agree with you, publice needs re educating, it doesnt help with our out of hours Dr service opting for an ambulance most of the time for trivial things.
i believe that education is the key doing school visits and educating them early but ironically we are too busy dealing with emergencies to do the education. Its a viscous circle
Hi Ben,
Im going to try and see this one from both sides here. I completely agree with your assessment of the patient, and I am under no doubt that you had nothing but the best interests of the patient at heart, however, what didnt come over in your blog post, is the automatic things we look for immediately on walking into a room.
'Annonymous' asks why you didnt think about a ruptured ectopic, or a grumbling appendix. Fellow paramedics who read your blog will know that the very fact that you were not transporting this woman means that she didnt 'look' poorly. I am assuming that she was a normal colour, not sweating, not doubled over and unable to sit up straight with rebound tenderness or guarding to the relevant anatomical areas of the abdomen. She will have been physiologically stable with no signs of compensation from an occult bleed somewhere. I could go on and on, but in the most basic of explanations, she did not look poorly.
Sometimes what we say can come across as a flippant remark, but that is only because we routinely don't go into depth about our medical assessments.
It has to be noted though, that we do sometimes misdiagnose patients (although I haven't yet, as far as I know, touch wood. But I know it will happen one day), but what we can say when, or if it happens, is that at the time of assessment, there were no signs or symptoms of any significant problems.
If we took every minor patient into hospital 'just in case' they had an extremely unlikely medical or surgical problem, we would never be available for the patients who we are really there for.
I wonder if your 'annonymous' commenter has had a bad experience in the past?
It would be great if he/she would come back on and join in the discussion.
Negative comments should be welcomed on our blogs as it promotes a good discussion which hopefully does educate people - on both sides of the paramedic/patient relationship.
Phew, that was a bit long, but I thought I would jump on in!!
Ok, I'll fess up - I'm Anonymous 2nd and thanks, MedicBlog999, you saw it from both sides and explained what Ben thought was obvious. That's not to ciritcise Ben's writing - I'm sure the medics all uinderstood immediately that he had taken stock of the situation, I just didn't read between the lines, and I should have.
But to answer your other question: Yes, I've had bad experiences. I'm a mum, and I've sat and waited it out at home with sick kids, and then been told that I really should have brought them in earlier.
And I've taken children to doctors and been turned away when even I could see that their tonsils were severely inflamed, but I've ended up at A & E in the middle of the night because the doctor in the morning told me to give them paracetamol and wait it out.
And yes, I've called an ambulance and had some tired, frustrated young man roll his eyes and tell me that my stomach ache was probably nothing, that I really should have just drunk some water and waited a couple of days, but because I happened to be 5 months pregnant he grumpily transported me to hospital. If he hadn't, my 5 year old wouldn't be here today, and I don't think I would be either.
Ben's latest blog is about the possiblity of getting it wrong. And I cannot imagine how hard it must be to deal with that. The responsibility of it must be immense and I admire you all.
Understand that the people who call, particularly when they are making the decision for minors or elderly people, are also terrified of getting it wrong. What if I waited because I didn't want to bother you, Ben, and it was the one time that I shouldn't have? Because however awful it is for you to lose a patient, Ben, you will get over it. Do I need to say more?
Hi Annonymous, and Ben!
I have loads I could say here, but to be honest, I don't want to jump in before Ben responds.
Ben, I'm not sure about the etiquette for your comments, do you mind if we jump in to form a discussion??
Annonymous, thanks for taking the request to get a dialogue going. It often is the medics who respond and we can get into the habit of patting ourselves on the back when we read each others blogs. I wish more patients/ non medical folk would speak up on all our blogs, it really does enhance things.
Medic999, thanks. Anonymous 2(I wish you'd give yourself a name, even if it is a fake one...), thanks too. I'm more than happy for discussions to be opened by anyone, so feel free! I'm also open to criticism, so don't hold back. Having said that, in the controversial post, I didn't write all about my assessments, all the checks I did, all the possibilities of illness that I ruled out, as I didn't really see it as being necessary for the point I was getting across. I'll ALWAYS be professional in my approach, and if a patient still feels the need to go to hospital, then I'll take them. I will NEVER walk in to a call and start my conversation with "YOU CALLED US FOR WHAT???". I still remember my basic training where we were told that anyone who calls an ambulance, needs help. They may not have a life-threatening condition, but they still need help. However, I feel that part of my job is public education. We don't get to go to schools much, like, for example, the fire brigade. We just don't have the resources. So we have to do it as we go along. I see that as a part of my job, and I guess, a little part of what this blog is all about. I'm glad, Anonymous 2, that you came back to read more. I agree with you 100% about people who call for their children, their elderly relatives, in fact for anyone, they also have a fear of getting it wrong. All I ask is that you think twice. If you're still not sure, give us a call. If it's at night and I'm in the area, you never know - it might even be me that turns up! And I promise not to roll my eyes...
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