AndrewSchulcz

What is the difference in appearance between a fly larva and beetle larva? Which one eats more? or "Ma'am, how far along are you?.... Oh, umm, Err I mean Sir, where is your belly pain?" (as heard by a myopic coworker assesing an obese long haired man)

I work as a EMT -Triage officer working alongside RNs for a mid-size Detroit hospital ER. I completely agree with Ridryder911's two points about Triage being a common spot to put burned out nurses (my interpretation, not his actual words)... and that in order to be done effectively, you must put a LOT of work into effective screening of patients... especially given the very brief window we are given to push patients down the cattle chute into the main ER. Those two facts work against each other when it comes to performing triage, as I have many experienced and educated nurses that are so "not interested" in the patient. For example, the one who sits in front of them with a swollen tongue. Patient is given a low acuity level, sent to sit on a bed in the dark back hallway because no one noted the swelling for what it was. The patient then spent a week in the ICU after intubation as the tongue became swollen and obstructed the airway HOURS later. Many (most?) times triage seems reduced to determining who has cardiac-related chest pain, all else can sit and wait. We are unofficially told to watch for whatever symptoms JCAHO is concerned with this year, and focus directly on them (like r/o STEMI), to the exclusion of others... One thing I would love to see, although I know medical privacy laws would never allow it, is the list of WHO (what) ELSE WAS being triaged while this sick kid was "ignored". I have had many patients who complain that I was ignoring their vag bleed or their gangrenous leg over a chest pain, or a cyanotic lung CA patient. Since HIPAA is here, will we ever really know what ELSE this paramedic was actually facing in the lobby that night? Just like on the ambulance, the ED has a finite amount of resources! That agent, whether Paramedic/RN/PA/MD etc. has to make the best decisions- and the choices are frequently blurred. Tying green/yellow/red/black tags around toes in the waiting are does NOT go over well. From my own experience being the first face patients see when they enter the ER, this limited resource point is very real to me! On an emotional level, I want to reach out and comfort the 26 year old female, 6 weeks pregnant who has just started bleeding and is likely losing her 3rd pregnancy in a row. At the same time, I am required to more promptly attend to the 65 year old COPD'er who set herself afire (again) while smoking using her nasal cannula and now smells like an overcooked meatloaf, while fashionably modeling a georgeous new blue skin tone. You take the obvious choice, only to be assaulted by the first patient's family member who swears that when they lose this baby, it is my fault, and I'll be sued. So, I guess what I am saying, Triage can really SUCK! You can do the right thing, and people are still going to end up dying, even when every I is dotted, t is crossed and each tired cliche is used. If this girl was as sick as this article has indicated, yeah, he/she should've noticed. But again, what else was he/she also working on getting into the ER? (Just my thoughts... let the yelling continue...)

Well, I have to admit, I expected to see a lot of flaming in the replies for this post. Now, me, personally, working in a multicultural area, I find the joke pretty funny.... but after reading some of the other replies.... I am almost shocked not to see one particular anti-bigot spout flames over this one :!: :!:

----------- By the way....a South American scientist after a lengthy study has discovered that people with low IQ who have infrequent sexual activity always read their e-mails with their hand on the mouse. Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late. ----------- Dadgummit! I knew there was somebody who knew my secret! Well, the only reason I read this was because I heard that some websites leave cookies on your computer, and I was really hungry! Me love cookies!