the day the paramedics made me cry

[Food Lady]

Horrible. Why get in the medical field if you don't want to help people?

[Deserted]

He probably thought he was "helping".

[Sapphire Silk]

Horrible. Why get in the medical field if you don't want to help people?

Some people get burned out and very cynical. I'm not excusing it. It's wrong. But we do deal with a lot of fakers in emergency medicine, and it is very, very draining.

I once asked an ER doc I highly respected why he didn't just write "malingering" as his diagnosis on the people we KNEW were fakers. I've never forgotten what he told me.

"The patient doesn't have to prove to me that he's sick. I have to prove that he is well, and that's very hard to do when many real diseases have vague symptoms."

It changed the way I approached ER patients, mostly the frequent fliers. Assessment, assessment, assessment. Document, document, document. Gather all the empirical data I can and see what that tells me. And even then, be very very careful about conclusions that could delay treatment.

[mathnerd]

I've had it out with all sorts of medical personnel over the years, up to, and including having lawsuit papers drawn up and presented to the governing board of a major children's hospital. Honestly, your treatment by the paramedics was so bad, that I'd research statutes of limitation and if it's not too late, file a formal complaint and look into a malpractice suit.

[crazylegs]

I have only ever reported an ambulance man once.
<snip>

I saw the guy a couple of years later as a driver for doctors.

It sounds like he got busted down for that one. How long ago was this? With Techs being NHS band 4/Paramedics band 5 and DOOH (Drs Out of Hours) drivers being Band 1 or 2 he would have had a HUGE pay cut.

[Bardmaiden]

It sounds like he got busted down for that one. How long ago was this? With Techs being NHS band 4/Paramedics band 5 and DOOH (Drs Out of Hours) drivers being Band 1 or 2 he would have had a HUGE pay cut.

Quite a while ago in 1999. Good grief has it been 15 years already...

[Anakah]

I'm sorry you went through that. What a bunch of jerks! Gallbladder pain hurts and is scary. I had mine removed when I was 13. Karma will get them.

[Lady Legira]

It sounds like he got busted down for that one. How long ago was this? With Techs being NHS band 4/Paramedics band 5 and DOOH (Drs Out of Hours) drivers being Band 1 or 2 he would have had a HUGE pay cut.

About 15 years ago.

[Sliceanddice]

I'm sorry you went through that. What a bunch of jerks! Gallbladder pain hurts and is scary. I had mine removed when I was 13. Karma will get them.

apparently between the medication i took and the fact my moms side of the family seems to have a expiration date on their gall bladders for age 23 i was doomed to lose mine. i had two cousins have their removed around then too.

[Emsmedic]

I have been a paramedic for 10 years and I have never once done this to a patient. I am so sorry that this happened. Was this a fire department ambulance and paramedics that did this? If so then file a complaint against them. In my ambulance there are never more than two EMT/paramedics in the back do the ambulance at the same time with a. Patient unless it's a trauma. They had no right to lecture you nor was it right to. That was extremely unprofessional and that is NOT what we were taught in school. Please don't clump all emts/paramedics/firefighters in the same category. This person or these people are very unprofessional and they should be told so. File a complaint against them please. As for the blanket situation, we don't get to keep many on the ambulance because either the ambulance company or the fire department will get bitchy (I don't know why, bunch of babies that they can be) so we can't keep a lot on board and if we take too many from the hospital ER get yelled at. I'm sorry for how you were treated, again, that is not how we were trained to act. I think the paramedic was just trying to inform you of the possible risks but that was defiantly NOT the right time. I'm sorry, have a good day.