please don't ask me how long it will take for anything..

so. its been a while.. and alot has happened so theres a ton on my mind and.. well.. I'm not sure where to begin, but i do hope you can keep up:



so first things first.

if you watch greys anatomy and saw "golden hour" (shown on 2/17/11) it should've helped people understand what we, on the other side, go through all the time and why we get soo pissed when you ask "how long and why its gonna take that long"

most of the time, we don't know and its not because were stupid. its because we don't know what could happen in the next two minutes and you could be bumped due to a trauma or any priority one patient. kind of like how the father got mad because his son had waited so long to see ortho, for a very valid reason, things happen.

when we say we dont know,it is not to be rude, it is simply because your foot pain you've had for so long that you all of a sudden had to come in today, isn't as serious as a person who possibly has a brain bleed or who has something impaled in their body or who just had a car accident. just saying..



i think what makes me the most mad is when people come into triage and get mad because there's a wait to be seen. welp. like i said, your foot/abd pain (that is so bad, by the way, that you couldnt eat all day but you sure can get down some hot cheetos while waiting) or whatever that you've waited months to come in for when you could've went to your doctors office isn't emergent therefore i cannot take you seriously especially when someone who is having by the book stroke like symptoms comes in. I'm sorry. i took an oath to save lives, not kiss them.

okay, so. pet peeve i need to get out. we live in Michigan correct? the great, mostly frozen mitten.. so every year it snows.. correct? or, for right now, almost every day. so why is it that people, especially those who have lived here there entire existence, still cannot seem to understand how to drive in the snow! its not rocket science! you do it for at least 4/12 months.. yet for some reason people still end up head first into trees or other rock solid objects or, my favorite, being hit by someone who lost control of their car and someone was driving a bit too close.
OR
at the first signs of spring, which we will be seeing this week, or so i hear, the motorcylces come out to play. totally not gonna knock people for wanting to get out and finally enjoy the sun but please remember that it can still be slippery out and, since there still will be snow on the ground, people tend to not remember *shocker! i know* what its like to drive with motorcycles. so look out and be aware of your surroundings.. especially big huge mini hospitals that tend to try to help people.
again, just saying but..
GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE! YOUR NOT THE ONLY ONE ON THE ROAD!



so recently our trauma room has been very full with what i call actual traumas. according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary (online of course) the definition of trauma is "an injury (as a wound) to living tissue caused by extrinsic agent.

this could be due to any number of things, but my point is, we have been busy with legit cases (sometimes).. and i blame 2/3 things: billboards and were the only hospital who stays open in our county. the third is because things just happen.

some of them took me off guard more than others mostly because of what happened and why and i feel what i learned from them i need to share with.. anyone that wants to hear.

so. the following are things that everyone should know:

1. always! call the ambulance for chest pain and stroke symptoms.

-for signs of stroke symptoms please see http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=symp and remember FAST

2. when you see the ambulance, fire engine, or cop car on the side of the road please try you best to avoid hitting them. moving to another lane would be wonderful if possible but usually the incident there dealing with is enough, they don't need you too..

3. coming to the er and lying to get seen faster will never help your case.

were not stupid.

we know when your lying and when your in actual pain. as mean as that sounds

its the plain and simple truth and the truth hurts.

4. if you think its okay to drop your friend off because you were doing something wrong and don't want to get in trouble for it, but your friend is half dead when you get there.. jsuk. your probably gonna end up in more trouble for leaving then you would for staying.

again, just saying.

sometimes i wish they would make up a medical game show for the public called "which is a medical emergency" so lets play now!

A. a 65 yo man complaining of chest pain, left arm pain, and is sweating so much he could fill a small kiddie pool or B. 24 yo woman complaining of abdominal pain, nausea, but is eating McDonald's and mad because she just dropped a fry on the floor. (one fry).

how about another.

A. a 28 yo woman who was in a car accident, 5 months pregnant, complaining of difficulty breathing, and lower leg pain (could be a fracture, or few) or B. a 38 yo with tooth pain, who just got done with her dairy queen coincidentally before she was called to be triaged. yeah.. not so hard to understand so why, oh why, does it take making a pamphlet and explaining every time the same person asks to understand that in the emergency room?

so you see. legit vs non legit. huuge difference. and while this may seem completely ridiculous, this is exactly what im talking about and what is driving us all a little bit insane but getting it out in a way that it may actually help the people who read it definitely makes me feel a little bit better.

until next time ladies and gentlemen..

peace, love, and bandaids..