Have you ever under-treated?

[mycrofft]

In c ase youu don't want your "name" associated with it, there is a poll posted.

Ever fail to catch one that "went west"? Dismissed your or a family member's complaint? Didn't call for backup because the company, your peers or you think it's a sign of weakness or "whackerishness"?

 

[Melclin]

http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_goldman_doctors_make_mistakes_can_we_talk_about_that.html

Might be of interest in relation to this topic.


Made plenty of mistakes and done a bunch of stupid stuff, but I'm not sure the details are relevant to this topic, specifically.

EDIT: Where is that poll option that says, I'm happy to call backup if needed, I'm comfortable in doing so, but rarely, if ever need too (if not already dispatched) because I'm provided with most of the tools I need to manage most patients?

 

[MedicBrew]

Made plenty of mistakes and done a bunch of stupid stuff, but I'm not sure the details are relevant to this topic, specifically.

Ditto.

Making mistakes gets a bad rap sometimes. Take your licks, learn from them and move forward.

I wouldn’t want anyone working on me that can’t admit they’ve never made a mistake.

Better to have and not need, then to need and not have. Within reason of course

 

[Zeroo]

I read unnecesary as necesary. -.- So ya...

 

[Aidey]

EDIT: Where is that poll option that says, I'm happy to call backup if needed, I'm comfortable in doing so, but rarely, if ever need too (if not already dispatched) because I'm provided with most of the tools I need to manage most patients?

This.

I work for a private amb service, and 99 times out of 100 there is either a BLS or ALS FD on scene with us. Occasionally in the outlying areas we don't get a response from the volunteer agencies, but it isn't common. Even when a facility calls us directly our contact stipulates that we must notify the FD if the call is a delta or echo. We do run calls at facilities on our own, but they are usually easily manageable with 2 people.

 

[mycrofft]

I screwed up ques 4 also. I was busy spilling club soda into my netbook.

 

[fast65]

No, I'm basically God's gift to EMS.

Now that I have my ego out of the way. Yes, I've made mistakes, I've made a couple in the past month or two as a few people here may know. However, I think I've been fortunate enough to have not seriously injured anyone by my lack of treatment. That being said, I have no doubt that it will happen eventually, I really hope it doesn't, and I will continue to better myself to try to mitigate that, but it seems everyone has that "one call" where they screwed up with unfortunate results.

I have no issues calling for backup, but I rarely find the need to. We usually have BLS fire on scene, so I have plenty of extra hands, but if I'm going to need an ALS unit, it's gonna be around 10-15 minutes.
​

 

[Tigger]

It's not generally feasible for me to get ALS in a timely manner where I work. I could get ALS in 10 minutes, or be at the hospital at 10 minutes. Which one is better for the patient?

Obviously this is not always the case, if I can't get the patient off the floor without pain control, I'll be waiting for medics. Same with codes, I'm going to work it as a 2 person BLS arrest until medics arrive. But for the borderline sick person with N/V and generalized pain and weakness, I'm not waiting around, I am getting them to definitive care. The obvious remedy to this problem is to send ALS to every call, but that is not a likely occurance where I work.

 

[Epi-do]

Like fast, I have made my share of mistakes and have been fortunate no one was any worse off because of it. Anyone who has spent any amount of time doing this job has made mistakes and/or missed things. Those that say they haven't are lying. We were all young and inexperienced at one time, and making mistakes is part of learning how to do things, and figuring out what to not do again.

As for calling for extra help, it is usually dispatched with the ambulance, and if it isn't, there is no problem getting it. We are fortunate that not only are all of our ambulances ALS, all of our fire apparatus typically are as well (at the department I work for, not when going on mutual aid calls). I've called and ended up not needing the extra hands before, but we just disregard them. It's really not a big deal.

 

[Steveb]

In c ase youu don't want your "name" associated with it, there is a poll posted.

Ever fail to catch one that "went west"? Dismissed your or a family member's complaint? Didn't call for backup because the company, your peers or you think it's a sign of weakness or "whackerishness"?

Not yet because I'm a newbie but I'm sure it will happen...

 

[bstone]

Nope. I'm perfect. Never mistreat a patient and every single one of them survived.

In retrospect, there was one patient who I wish I had turned up the O2, tho it didn't affect the outcome.

 

[bw2529]

"whackerishness"?

That word is way over used.

I don't hesitate to call for help when needed.

 

[Ewok Jerky]

funny timing

private ambo that also runs 911-

dispatched today Code 3 (L&S) for a private referral chest pain. Response time not less than ten minutes. We requested a response from Fire if they had a better ETA and were denied "no Fire requests on privates unless you are on-scene"

I routinely ask for a Fire response for Code 3 private referrals if we have an extended ETA even though we will get denied because A) I think it is in the Pts best interest, and B) we get burned once in a while with these private calls.

 

[DrParasite]

had a patient at the local train station, who just took the train 45 minutes to call 911 so she could be treated by the hospital 2 blocks away. walking and talking, we took her to the hospital.

the next day got pulled aside by the attending physician..... apparently she was admitted to the ICU due to exasperation of a chronic illness.

ooops

 

[ffemt8978]

I call for an ALS intercept more than some members of my agency think is necessary. Although I'm one of the highest level providers at my dept, the more I learn about medicine the more I realize that I don't know anything. Given our long transport times, I will admit that a large percentage of my assist calls are based more upon patient comfort and pain control than a true "necessity" as defined by other providers.

So I chose "YES" to #4 and 5 above: I've done it before, been told off, and will do it again PRN." The only ones that have ever complained about it have been other providers. I've never had a patient complain about me sending them to a higher level of care during transport.

 

[Backwoods]

As a volunteer there are times I'm on a double or triple basic squad. I don't hesitate to call for a medic/ als intercept if one of us thinks we may need for one. You can always call them off.