ER Patients

It's been a hectic week of 12 hour ER shifts, I did 3 back to back 7a-7p ER shifts. Those 12 hours shifts seriously tire you out! In the ER there are always eyes watching you... The patients, nurses, attendings, everyone knows your move. If you make eye contact with a patient, or worse their worried family member, you are caught and cannot evade their piercing questions, which is part of the job of course, but ineveitably happens in the midst of chaos.

So I had some interesting patients this past week, especially my drunken Puerto Rican who was found passed out on the sidewalk with AOB (alcohol on breath). I went to see him in the "observation" room (pretty much a drunk tank--a room with white walls, no windows, and one big door, guarded by security) standard procedure for alcohol detox patients. He was this disheveled looking guy with a cut on his head and the "banana bag" running in his IV (kind of like a vitamin water for drunks). "So whats going on sir? What happened?" I ask. He looks at me and breaks down into tears, "I hate my wife, wahhhhhhh!!!! I hate my wife, wahhhhh!!" Despite feeling sorry for him somewhat, it was one of the funniest moments I've had thus far. A screaming, whining old drunken Puerto Rican guy. "And she hates me.. Wahhh.. I dont want to live, I hate her! I hate her!" ... So I ask him, "Sir why do you hate your wife??" .. “Because she’s black!! Wahhhh!” Good lord. I had to run out of the room because I couldn’t hold my laughter. He was alternating between a pathetic drunken cry, shaking his legs and all, and a sinister laugh. Alcohol level of about 550 I think. Gotta love the drunks.

ER shifts are hit or miss, they can be super busy but fun and fly by, but some days are slow but drag on forever. Like today for example, my first patient was a deaf mute. Do you have any idea how hard it is to triage and take a history from a deaf mute? Especially one who when you write on a piece of paper asking:  “So when did the dizziness start?” Responds with simply, “Chair.” I didn’t bother asking, so we had to set up the little video monitor with the sign language interpereter. What a hassle. Don’t even ask how we later got consent for the Cat scan.

Comments

[T]

Chair.

[Shirin]

wow having a patient thats deaf and mute is a tough call.