Ask a Paramedic anything at all...
Discussion
Inspired by other threads, of which I have enjoyed the insight, so I thought I might do the same. Ask within reason though, obviously 
and we're seriously constrained by patient confidentiality too, so some answers might be a bit vague. I won't be entertaining 'flippancy' or gore hunters, by the way 
Oh, and I work ridiculously long hours on shift work too, so the replies might take a while haha!
We're definitely having the most challenging winter I have ever seen so far too, it must be said. I'm proud of my Trust, the NHS and my colleagues, and what they've all managed to achieve in light of such adversity so far.
and we're seriously constrained by patient confidentiality too, so some answers might be a bit vague. I won't be entertaining 'flippancy' or gore hunters, by the way Oh, and I work ridiculously long hours on shift work too, so the replies might take a while haha!
We're definitely having the most challenging winter I have ever seen so far too, it must be said. I'm proud of my Trust, the NHS and my colleagues, and what they've all managed to achieve in light of such adversity so far.
DrDeAtH said:
Do you feel like telling some of your 'customers' to just cop themselves on and deal with their trivial ailment/injury?
If so, how often?
We're fortunate that we're given huge responsibility as autonomous clinicians, and as such, we can advise a patient that their presenting complaint may not be appropriate for an A&E admission. We also have alternative pathways that we can use too - e.g. I can call either the patient's GP or one of our out of hours GP's and arrange either for the patient to attend them, or for a GP to come and visit them in their house. If so, how often?
I can also refer to other teams, such as community nurses or mental health.
If the complaint would benefit from an A&E admission but is not life-threatening, I sometimes ask if the patient's partner can drive them into A&E themselves, thus freeing me up to see the next patient.
Of course, if a patient insists that I transport them to hospital then that is their prerogative and I have no problem with that.
4x4Tyke said:
What proportion of callers turn out to be time wasters when you get there?
What was the worst time waster you've had to deal with?
So, I always try to put cynicism away and treat every attendance on it's merits. What some people forget is that I am a qualified clinician, but members of the public are not. What may seem trivial to me, might have seemed serious to someone calling 999. What was the worst time waster you've had to deal with?
I go by the mantra that if someone felt that they HAD to call 999 for whatever reason, then that is good enough for me. Then if it does turn out to be a bit of a waste of time, I can then advise them accordingly, or use one of the alternative pathways I have described above.
Conversely however - I have also attended patients that have apologised because they thought they were wasting my time, but turned out to be VERY poorly. So, like anything in life, swings and roundabouts!
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
fido said:
what’s the most perverted incident you’ve been called put to? e.g. someone with a hoover nozzle stick up their orifice
Nope. Next!We all know the main question we all want is "What is the weirdest thing you found up someones bum?"...!
You wont hear the end of it until we get an answer!
Haddock82 said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
fido said:
what’s the most perverted incident you’ve been called put to? e.g. someone with a hoover nozzle stick up their orifice
Nope. Next!We all know the main question we all want is "What is the weirdest thing you found up someones bum?"...!
You wont hear the end of it until we get an answer!
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