Work Gripes

Seeing that I am working a ton of overtime right now, the little annoyances that come from the general public, are seeming much worse. One of the things I find most annoying is when all the patient cares about is their blood pressure. We can be there for something completely unrelated to blood pressure and they get that sad look on their face and say "How's my blood pressure?" They look at me as if they are waiting for me to tell them how much longer they have to live. Is blood pressure important? Yes! People don't understand that when they are placed in a stressful situation, (Paramedics entering your home, is stressful enough) your blood pressure will go up. They don't always understand that it is a situational thing. So we could be dealing with a guy who just broke his leg and the only thing he wants to know is "how's my blood pressure?" I find that saying "It's fine" and hiding the numbers works well. Another major annoyance is the fact that family members don't want to give up the patients ID and insurance cards. They say, "Oh, I will take them to the hospital." Well, the hospital isn't the only one who wants to get paid here. It cracks me up that they will hand over their most beloved family members but when it comes to the ID and insurance card, I can't take it. It's like they think I have some Indian head dress at home made from all the ID's and insurance cards I have collected throughout the years. And if you think about it, if it were a matter of identity theft, not many of the people we pick up, would get me anywhere if I stole their identity. I also LOVE when people try to pick their treatment. This isn't Burger King! You can't come in and say I'll take a ride to the ER, hold the IV, extra morphine, and no aspirin, it gives me a belly ache. Oh and can I get a water while you are at it? And where do you keep the pillows? If I say you need an IV, you are getting one. And if you NEED a medication, you are getting it. Unless it is a doctor, an actual medical doctor, not a person who has a doctorate degree in underwater basket weaving, I probably won't listen. We also use a 1 to 10 scale to have the patient rate his or her pain. For women, I say to them a 10 is like having a baby. These people will look you square in the face, with no grimmace, no uncomfortable looks, and say "It's an 8." Me personally, if I were in 8 out of 10 pain, you would be able to see it. Those people are usually the ones who volunteer the information that the regular old opiate drugs such as morphine don't work for them, they need the stronger stuff like dilaudid. They can't be bothered with such simple and weak drugs. And the most frustrating thing of all is once you have taken your patient to the hospital who was so concerned about his blood pressure, didn't trust you with his ID, put a special order in for his treatment and requested the strongest narcotics out there for his 8 out of 10 pain, and he slept on the way in, you get to the ER and there sits Granny. Now Granny hasn't driven a car since they were pulled by horses (the real ones) but since Pappy was having chest pain, she wanted to get him to the hospital quickly. So, she put on her coke bottle glasses, secured Pappy's seatbelt, and operated a motor vehicle all the way to the ER at break neck speeds of 20mph. Here sits Pappy, having his major heart attack, accepting all treatments for his 2 out of 10 pain, and Granny drove him to the hospital. Moral of the story, those who don't need us call, those who do, don't. I think I feel better now that I got that off my chest.