Dumbest thing you have been asked

On scene of a male who was assaulted and had possible bi lat orbital fractures.

Pt- Yo man does my face look okay?
Partner - Its does not look pretty
pt - so my face is okay right?
me - well you have a lot of swelling but well look better in a few days
pt - so my face is good right?
partner - I'm going to be pretty honest with you... Your face is pretty F'd up man.
pt - So its OK right???
me - sure buddy
 
Unreresponsive Pt, inserted NPA and placed Pt. on a mask. Get to the ER and the RN looks at me.

"You're an EMT right?"
"Yeah"
"What is that thing in his nose?"
"That's a nasal airway"
"Oh I wonder why they put that in..."
"I put it in because he was unresponsive, it is helping maintain an airway"
"Oh ok! Can I put a nasal cannula in that?"
"...No. Just use the mask he has on now" <_<
 
trevor1189 said:
Unreresponsive Pt, inserted NPA and placed Pt. on a mask. Get to the ER and the RN looks at me.

"You're an EMT right?"
"Yeah"
"What is that thing in his nose?"
"That's a nasal airway"
"Oh I wonder why they put that in..."
"I put it in because he was unresponsive, it is helping maintain an airway"
"Oh ok! Can I put a nasal cannula in that?"
"...No. Just use the mask he has on now" <_<
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... yikes.
 
While trying to transfer Pt to bed dispatch calls and asks if we're clear., We said transferring Pt why?., Got ER on floor below us for CP requesting medics., Ok, so we transfer the Pt., get the sigs and goto the floor., When we get there and ask about the emergency they look at us like we're morons until we mention about the CP., Then they remembered they called., Anyway my partner goes to check on the pt, and I get PW., Partner comes back and says cancel medics, pt was walking, A/Ox3 and had no CP., The person at the desk asks us and I quote, "ARE YOU SURE?"., Partner replies yes and explains., So we call dispatch and cancel medics(dispatcher had a relieved response)., I goto get a signature and the person goes to sign and I tell her I need a nurse to sign., She replies that she's the Unit Nurse Supervisor., So I get the sig and join my partner just in time to catch the Pt. coming out of the bathroom and helped them to the stretcher., When I asked about the CP, Pt. replies they had it hours ago.
 
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we serve a town of approx 17000 people and 2 hospitals within 5 miles, and 4 trauma centers within 30 miles. we were dispatched at 0630 for a "sore throat"...Pt asked if he could follow us. he ended up sigining refusal slip, and asked us where the closest hospital was...he lived 3 blocks away
 
Mitch94 said:
we serve a town of approx 17000 people and 2 hospitals within 5 miles, and 4 trauma centers within 30 miles. we were dispatched at 0630 for a "sore throat"...Pt asked if he could follow us. he ended up sigining refusal slip, and asked us where the closest hospital was...he lived 3 blocks away
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Thats just as great as a call I got last week at 0030. We were called out for SOB, got on scene and it was a 5y/o with tonsilitis. When I asked the mother if she wanted to go to the county hospital she said "Do you think she needs to go to the hospital" once I told her I could not recommend to leave the pt, she said that if they decided to take the girl to the hospital they would go POV.

So why did you wake me up. :wacko:
 
The stupidity of nurses when it comes to oxygen knows no bounds. They get less training on it than even basic EMTs do. My first rule out when a nurse at the hospital calls me to come check on the patient "because their sats keep dropping even though they are on the cannula/simple mask/non-rebreather" is to make sure they:
a. Have the cannula/mask actually on the patient like they think they do (this is the problem about 40% of the time)
b. Have the oxygen device hooked to the flowmeter on the wall (this is the problem about 40% of the time)
c. Have the oxygen device hooked to the oxygen flowmeter and not the compressed air flowmeter (about 5% of the time). I mean, yeah, it's an easy mistake to make....it's only bright yellow for the compressed air and green for the O2 and each flow meter is labeled and the outlet on the wall has "AIR" and "OXYGEN" on it in about 30 pt bold font.

In other words, rule out that the nurse is a moron who is not paying attention before assuming there is something wrong with the patient. More often than not, the nurses have screwed something up and this has held true for every hospital I've worked at from a Level I trauma center down to a 25-bed critical access hospital. About the only places in hospitals where nurses generally know what they are doing with oxygen is the ER and ICU.

Some of my favorites:
-Non-rebreather hooked up to 2 L O2 (ICU patient...wrote the agency nurse up for that one; she was not allowed back for obvious reasons)
-Non-rebreather hooked up to compressed air
-Unresponsive patient with a severe nosebleed from a cannula turned up to 15 L because "she's short of breath and her sats were low so I thought she needed high flow O2" (wrote the nurse up for that one)
-Exhalation valves on the NRB taped down to (and I quote because I could pithe myself and not be this boneheaded) "increase the amount of O2 the patient is getting. Some is leaking out through those little flaps."
 
usafmedic45 said:
Exhalation valves on the NRB taped down to (and I quote because I could pithe myself and not be this boneheaded) "increase the amount of O2 the patient is getting. Some is leaking out through those little flaps."
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LOL!! I'm a Basic student and even I know what's wrong with that! :lol:
 
rjw225 said:
LOL!! I'm a Basic student and even I know what's wrong with that! :lol:
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This is where the "more education does not necessarily equal more intelligence or knowledge" rule comes into play. Stupid people are still stupid no matter how many or what letters they have after their name, especially now that one can effectively buy "accredited" masters and doctoral degrees from places like Kaplan and University of Phoenix (thankfully most employers laugh at such things but people will still do it and claim "but I have a masters!" :lol: ) As my paternal grandfather taught me as a small child: common sense is an uncommon virtue. We have plenty of work in EMS thanks to that fact. :lol:
 
Arrived at our regular hospital (not uncommon to go there 10 times in a 12hr shift), this is the biggest hospital in the State. We firstly have to give the patient's details to the triage clerk (admin people), then progress to the triage nurse (unless we call it in first).

Triage clerk who has been working there since before I started (read >3yrs) asks me.. "Are you a paramedic?!"

Despite living in Australia we don't wear board shorts and singlets to work, in fact we wear these on our shoulders and one like a name tag...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/stewy_man/photo.jpg
 
"why does it say ""ambulance"" backwards on the front of your truck?

My response... "so when we rear end you for not yielding it will stamp it the correct way on your bumper"
 
the security guards at Ala Moana Shopping Center, the biggest mall in honolulu,also wear a white shirt and black pants.

but despite hauling a gurney, a drug bag and having a stethoscope around my neck, we constantly get asked where the restrooms are by tourists.
 
abuan said:
the security guards at Ala Moana Shopping Center, the biggest mall in honolulu,also wear a white shirt and black pants.

but despite hauling a gurney, a drug bag and having a stethoscope around my neck, we constantly get asked where the restrooms are by tourists.
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You'd be amazed how little it takes for someone to assume you work somewhere. I stopped wearing my keys on a lanyard after asked questions three different times in one visit by wal-mart customers. Off duty, wearing shorts and a golf shirt.
 
Female with a broken ankle,

"Can you tell me if my ankle is broken?"
"It looks broken, they can do some x-rays at the hospital and find out"
"Oh, so you can't like tell me, do I have to go to the hospital?"

No, we have an x-ray machine in our truck and I'm really a radiologist-in-disguise! :P
 
I had a black guy in a store line ahead of me once complain to the guy he was with "I can't go into a store without them following me around because they think I am going to steal something. It's not fair." I laughed and said "Well, I can't go into a store without people following me assuming I'm the assistant manager. Being white isn't all it's cracked up to be".
 
Actual hern call...

Alpha Unit for Priority K, Can we have a Dr to the hern please.

Receiving Facility: This is Dr. So and So, Go ahead.

Alpha Unit: We are on scene with a 47 year old male, gsw to the face with decap. Can we obtain a time of death please.

Dr. So and So: Could you please confirm this with a 2 Lead?

Alpha Unit: Doc, the patient doesn't have a head... are you sure this is necessary?
 
pinknsassyemt said:
Actual hern call...

Alpha Unit for Priority K, Can we have a Dr to the hern please.

Receiving Facility: This is Dr. So and So, Go ahead.

Alpha Unit: We are on scene with a 47 year old male, gsw to the face with decap. Can we obtain a time of death please.

Dr. So and So: Could you please confirm this with a 2 Lead?

Alpha Unit: Doc, the patient doesn't have a head... are you sure this is necessary?
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LOL You seriously have to call in for a pronouncement of that? Jesus Christ....talk about a "mother-may-I?" system. If we needed a verified time, we just asked dispatch that way it was from the same clock as police/fire/EMS were dispatched.
 
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