Best Psych Calls
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Aidey
Community Leader Emeritus
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Any disrespectful, mocking, shaming or generally not cool replies to this question will receive my undivided attention.
mycrofft
Still crazy but elsewhere
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Paranoid schiz pt off her meds thought a conspiracy was trying to kidnap her. I show my active duty USAF ID card, my partner showed his Army Reserve card, and she went willingly and cheerfully.
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Dalmain - what do you mean "best"?
I've never had a "good" psych call. They are all sad and tragic in their own way. Even when I can find humor in them, it is black humor, and not something to joke about outside those involved in the call.
I've never had a "good" psych call. They are all sad and tragic in their own way. Even when I can find humor in them, it is black humor, and not something to joke about outside those involved in the call.
Ridryder911
EMS Guru
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One of the best was not in regards to patient but to the new "Paragod"; as the ParaPup was doing the typical interview, I noticed that he was very close to the patient and began to inch closer and closer as he asked more questions. I whispered to him, "you might want to get out of personal his space"... With the typical shrug and statement.." I know what I'm doing from the medic...
WHAM!
A direct cross right to the medic... the patient immediately retreated and LEO subdued the patient. I stood over the Paragod and said.. how's that working for ya? ...
A valuable lesson learned ...
R/r 911
WHAM!
A direct cross right to the medic... the patient immediately retreated and LEO subdued the patient. I stood over the Paragod and said.. how's that working for ya? ...
A valuable lesson learned ...
R/r 911
mycrofft
Still crazy but elsewhere
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:rofl:
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One of the more interesting calls I had was the time a patient volunteered to be restrained... for his own safety. It's the only time I've ever had that happen. The voices in his head told him to hurt himself and he has acted on that in the past. I'm glad he recognized that he needed help and knew how to get it. He could have done what his voices were telling him to do. Instead, he sought help. I think he actually felt safer being in restraints because then he couldn't hurt himself. Not a great place to be, but on the flip side, that's a whole lot better than what could have been.
There are no "best" psych calls. I'm just glad that I never have been physically attacked during one.
There are no "best" psych calls. I'm just glad that I never have been physically attacked during one.
broken stretcher
Forum Crew Member
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The best ones are the ones where two things happen in this order.
1) My parter and I go home to our families unhurt, and alive.
2) The pt. gets delivered to an appropriate facility safely and unharmed.
1) My parter and I go home to our families unhurt, and alive.
2) The pt. gets delivered to an appropriate facility safely and unharmed.
A service I worked for sent out alphanumeric pages for IFTs, we'd get last name, age, gender, primary diagnosis, pick up location, drop off location, pickup time and a comments field, ordinarily that'd be automatically populated with special instructions for the facilities like door codes, but dispatch could type something in there if they felt like it.
Got a page once for an 87yo female going from the local ER to the local short-term psych facility with the comment "Swears like a pirate".
Got there and, and sure enough, she made my partner blush.
Got a page once for an 87yo female going from the local ER to the local short-term psych facility with the comment "Swears like a pirate".
Got there and, and sure enough, she made my partner blush.
TechMedic
Forum Lieutenant
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The one where I met the grim reaper.
Rin
Forum Captain
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I don't have a "best" call but it's sort of funny that I realized today that trying to reason with and calm my 5-year old in the midst of a breakdown has been my best training for dealing with psych patients.
(Not saying that psych patients are like bratty kids, but that similar techniques are needed to calm and convince someone you're not sure understands you that you are trying to help them.)
(Not saying that psych patients are like bratty kids, but that similar techniques are needed to calm and convince someone you're not sure understands you that you are trying to help them.)
TheLocalMedic
Grumpy Badger
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I used to like psych patients. Until I got the tar beat out of me by one. We were able to subdue him in the end, but it taught me to never trust any patient. I'm always on guard now, and have since been much more likely to immediately restrain or retreat. I also have an audio recorder which I generally employ with some female psychs. I take no chances, especially when all it may take is an unfounded allegation of abuse to end my career.
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spnjsquad
Forum Crew Member
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Guy got intoxicated and tried to kill himself. When we were getting him out of the house he hugged an officer and screamed "I LOVE YOU!" haha.
20 year old, Male, Transvestite, Vampire, 20 months pregnant. Going from 1 Level I to another for inpatient treatment. Suprised dispatch got that out on the radio without laughing
Wasn't my patient, but my partner and I showed up to check it out, and to help BLS crew if needed. (and so did everyone else on shift, not on runs).
Pt was all in black and wearing a cape (vampire cape?)
Wasn't my patient, but my partner and I showed up to check it out, and to help BLS crew if needed. (and so did everyone else on shift, not on runs).
Pt was all in black and wearing a cape (vampire cape?)
TheLocalMedic
Grumpy Badger
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This
I can't quite agree with you.
Best I can figure, there are three reasons to tell a war story:
1) "Look at what a big swinging **** I am" - As you can probably tell from my phrasing, I don't really think this is legitimate.
2) As a teaching tool - Hanging a lesson on the story of an actual patient makes it stick much better than talking in theory and abstract, in my experience.
3) As you say, in release/bonding, which in this regard, I think are one and the same - The problem I have here is that I think you either don't take it far enough, or are taking it too far, depending on how you look at it. We all have those bad calls, and we talk about those bad calls with our partner, and we make those horrible jokes, and after we've done that, we're gathered enough to clear ourselves with dispatch, but we're not over them. It's been a shade over 8 years since my first (unsuccessful) code, which was a 6 year old, and I've learned to live with it, but I'm not over it. There are a handful of calls I carry that way, but most of them become lost in the noise after a few days. That noise isn't sheer forgetfulness, it's made up of the accumulated sadness of every single one of my patients...by definition, every last patient I come in contact with is having a bad day (Even the "BS" calls.). Telling these stories about the funny ones isn't about that patient, it's about all of them.
I think you're applying the concept of telling the tale in public rather broadly. This is, in fact, a public forum, in that anyone on the internet can come along and read it...but they don't. The people who do are those who understand the humor...why it is(n't) funny, and why it's necessary. I would never tell dead baby stories/jokes to my great aunt Mae, but I'll tell it them to the "strangers" on this board, because I figure they'll get them for what they really are, and it helps to blow it off. I'll read theirs because they help me to read, just that little bit.
I had that before, then I transported him again a month later while he was on his meds for an unrelated issue. He was much better then.