Sometimes I wish the hospital would not sedate my psych patients before

[Hastings]

Ok but if that is the case then why the xbox? its not like your going to be able to play it on the rig. My second question is when you take your laptop to work, do you make sure its out of sight, when you are not in the ambulance?

Behind the seat, in a bag.

 

[raisingkahne9]

Then that I can understand, However, would you blame a psych patient if it went missing?

 

[Hastings]

Then that I can understand, However, would you blame a psych patient if it went missing?

Me?

I have yet to meet a Psych patient concerned with stealing anything of mine. I'm nice to Psych patients, take them seriously, treat them like I'd treat any other patient, and I get a very fair amount of respect from them as well. The only time I've heard of someone having trouble with a Psych patient is when that person doesn't treat them with respect. We have a few of those in our company. Psych patients aren't loaded guns looking for any excuse to go off. You don't have to treat them like a ticking bomb. Again, give them respect, help them feel at ease, listen to them, and don't laugh. It's the recipe for a great transfer. They're great people, and extremely interesting if you can gain their trust enough to have a conversation with them.

 

[daedalus]

The psych patients in LA are loaded guns...

My last transports regarding psych patients were all pick ups from LAPD stations in the brig. One was arrested for throwing rocks at african americans in downtown, and calling them racial slurs. The cops took him away before he was killed, and punted to us. He was loaded up on some serious drugs and took four police to restrain him to the gurney. I have never been called so may expletives in my life.

Another was a few months ago. A man from another LAPD substation in West LA who was telling the female officers he was going to rape them and than kill and chop them up and eat them. When he came out of his cell, he told the officers he had left a gift for them inside the cell. Turns out he smeared seamen all over the walls. He fought the whole way to the hospital.

Yet another was a women who set herself on fire in the middle of MLK Blvd.

Genders and locations, etc may have been changed. But as far as everything else, its all true.

 

[Hastings]

Guess we should have established the difference between the average Schizophrenic and the criminally insane / psychopaths.

 

[daedalus]

Guess we should have established the difference between the average Schizophrenic and the criminally insane / psychopaths.

No your absolutely correct. The majority of patients are depressed or suicidal and have great stories to tell. Since we (my service) gets the county pysch calls, we have the privilege of taking drunks and pyschos from jail to the serious pysch facilities.

 

[downunderwunda]

I think the overiding thing to remember is that regardles of our personal opinions, mentally disordered patients are still human beings. They deserve the same respect as any other patient with any other illness.

EMS sees these patients at their worst, &, in reality they are a very small proportion of the population.

To label them as criminals is medieval & small mided at the very least.

Yes some are criminals, yes some have issues with living on the wrong side of the law but the majority we never see, live as functioning members of our communities & contribue effectivly to society. We should also consider that those who do live on the wrong side of the law, in many cases, are forced there because of the narrow minded attitudes, as have been displayed in some posts here. This is an illness, an illness of the mind. Yes some are violent, but so are drunks, do we label them in the same way?

Open your mind, look inside & be 100% certain that you will NEVER have any mental illness issues before you criticize too hard.

Answer this question, i will answer it in a week, lets see who says what.

A woman attends the funeral of her mother with her sister. At that funeral she meets a man who she believes is her 'Perfect Match'. She has no contact numbers for him. 1 month later she murders her sister. Why did she murder her sister?

 

[daedalus]

She murdered her sister hoping that that perfect man would attend her sister's funeral so she could get his number there?

 

[Aidey]

I have never understood the negative feelings many EMTs/Medics feel towards psych patients. Just because they aren't physically ill doesn't mean they don't need medical care. The vast vast majority of psych patients I've met don't want to be sick, but they are.

 

[raisingkahne9]

I agree. There are times, when people just need someone to talk to, and if they can't find anyone to talk to, they think that people don't care. So, then they get even more depressed, and they think its the end of the world and they get to become suicidal, in some cases, I'm not saying in all cases. And they are normal people also, however to call them lowlives is completely wrong, and that makes it seem like you think that your better then them all because of a mental illness.

 

[Outbac1]

It's really simple. They get treated like any other pt. If they have violent tendencies a LEO accompanies. If they get violent they get restrained and/or sedated. I haven't had to sedate one yet. Usually they want something,(like a smoke), so I make a deal with them. If they behave I let them have their smoke before they go in the destination hosp. I always try to be the good guy. If I have that person again and they remember me I have an easy time, because I kept my word before.

 

[downunderwunda]

She murdered her sister hoping that that perfect man would attend her sister's funeral so she could get his number there?

OK, I really hope you have heard this ine before.

This was a psych test to see who was a psychopath, developed by psychiatrists who studied convicted murderers.

You answered the way the majority of psychopaths did.

I hope you have a really nice day, & i will leave very quietly now......

 

[Sasha]

OK, I really hope you have heard this ine before.

This was a psych test to see who was a psychopath, developed by psychiatrists who studied convicted murderers.

You answered the way the majority of psychopaths did.

I hope you have a really nice day, & i will leave very quietly now......

Lighten up! That is like the default answer, I'm pretty sure a lot of others would have answered in the same way, including myself.

 

[downunderwunda]

Lighten up! That is like the default answer, I'm pretty sure a lot of others would have answered in the same way, including myself.

Actually the vast majority of people answer that it is something to do with the mothers estate.

I was however having a joke when i said

I hope you have a really nice day, & i will leave very quietly now......

I should have been more precise in my reply & said that the answer given shows the respondant to have psychopathic tendancies. This, if you look into mental illness will show that does not mean you are a psychopath. It also does not mean you will act on your feelings.

The vast majority still have conflict between the Ego & the I, this also helps with the control of good & bad (although not directly related it shows that a person can differentiate between the two, mos psychopaths are ego dominant, like many in 'Uniformed' jobs, most with depression are Id dominant)

Whil that control is still there, we have nothing to worry about. If that is lost, then we may have a problem. Remember also that much of our psyche is learned as children. Having said that, some people are born bad.

 

[daedalus]

I didn't get it right the first time. The answer I gave is consistent with a killer.

 

[FF-EMT Diver]

My question is, why is there an x-box in an ambulance? I realize that people take game consoles to work, for when its a slow night, but for crying out loud keep them in your personal vehicle. And you have no one but yourself to blame for it being stolen. If it wasn't there in the first place, and to accuse a patient of breaking into the ambulance to steal it is pretty low, in my own opinion.

I don't think he meant the ambo, could be wrong though. I think he meant POV.

 

[raisingkahne9]

Oh, well if that's the case, the fact that he called the psych patient a low life don't change. If it was in his POV how did the patient have access to his vehicle? Especially if they were transporting him in an ambulance to a psych facility? Not all psych patients, are thieves, if i was going to carry and x-box in my vehicle I would put it in a non visble place like the trunk...But under no circumstances would I have accused a patient, psych or not, of stealing it.
But a question of mine is, would he accuse any other patient of breaking in to his vehicle?

 

[Hockey]

Jesus people

I guess I didn't make myself clear


It was my PERSONAL vehicle. It was secured behind my seat, under a few coats of mine and other things. Kills me because I had some of my emt stuff I forgot to get that day.

I said psych because it seems like the whole neighborhood around our headquarters is filled with them. I never accused my patient of stealing it. Was overall a nice guy, just a tad crazy.

 

[Hockey]

Interesting? These people are NOT your entertainment, they're your patients!



Perhaps your lack of empathy is better suited for another career where you're not in charge of taking care of people.

Yes, that must be true since it came from the expert.

Sarcasm?

One thing I have noticed in my time in EMS is the prevailing attitude to psych patients.

Psychiatric Illness is like an illness to any other part of the body. Never forget that. Statistics prove that 20% of us will suffer from some sort of mental illness at some point in our lives.

Let me ask you to reflect on this, would you speak of patients with Renal Failure, Chronic Heart Disease, Cancer, COPD or multiple fractures in the same way you talk about your mentally ill patients?

People do not choose Heart Disease, in the same way they do not choose Mental Illness.

Lowlife? or doing what they need to do to survive?

WTF??? Stealing stuff to sell it for crack? Sure...

If this is because of an Xbox, GET OVER IT. One is a human being, the other is a games console. Please, if your life is so pathetic that you have to prioritise an Xbox over a human life, maybe you need psychiatric help.

Actually, no, I think I'm pretty good

Or pattients are not her for our amusement. We are hear to help them. There is not reason for our patients to be treated like a toy. Seizures (the proper name for what you called fits) are dangerous causing Hypoxia to the brain. How is this interesting?

I think you might need to seek help yourself. You sound like you will be in the 20%.

downunderwunder, you must be new in EMS huh? I wasn't saying I wouldn't care about a patient because what happened. I'll say your not too bright on the obvious sarcasm either

 

[Hockey]

And about the patient jumping out. A local private agency had a MVA/PI patient rip off the straps on the backboard, jump out with headblocks taped to him and c-collar on at red light. I could only immagine what the car behind them thought