frustrating call

[mstovall]

In the ER (where we are posted if we are the only truck available in the county as it is centrally located), and we are waiting for a truck coming in emergency traffic with GSW to the chest. Pt. was a 27 y/o M. (note: no gun was found on scene) VERY LITTLE BLOOD ON SCENE, ACLS HAS BROUGHT BACK AN AGONAL RHYTHM!!!! Dr. in ER makes comment that, "If this is even close to asystole, I'm not wasting our time with it. F@#$ing suicides."

The police treated this as a possible homicide due to lack of evidence at the scene of a suicide.

How do you deal with Dr's like this? Very frustrated as the kid was a family friend's son. He was also the nephew of a very EMS friendly Dr.

[crotchitymedic1986]

You cant. Because of the abuse to the medical system, you often find this attitude among doctors, nurses, and EMS workers. I think alot of it has to do with our perception of what the job should be, and the reality of what it was. Two things that happened in my career that changed my attitude:

1. I had this attitude in EMS, working for a very busy urban 911 system, and often found my blood pressure sky high, because of the idiot patient i had just dealt with. Then the system changed from 24/48 to 40 hour week. I realized that during my shift, I could either transport 6 or 7 patients, or not transport 10-12 patients, I would have to do about the same amount of paperword either way. Once I started transporting and not argueing, I no longer had high blood pressure, and my shifts were very pleasant.

2. Same thing when I first started working ER, the minute any of our regular drug seekers walked into triage, my BP would go sky-high. Once I accepted that this was a function of the ER, and started treating these patients with the same attitude and compassion that I treated everyone else with, my BP went down, and my shifts were enjoyable again.

I am not saying this abuse is right, but once you accept it as part of the job, life gets better. If you are a cop, sometimes you have to direct traffic in the rain. If you are a proctologists, you have to look at asses all day. If you are in the medical profession, you have to deal with people who abuse the system.

[DwayneEMTP]

You don't, unless you're willing to go to the mat.

That means documenting his medical treatment of this patient as well as the other patients that he feels unworthy, and comparing it to the patients that don't cause him to feel so.

He sounds like an asshole, or perhaps a burnout, or maybe he was just having a shitty night. But unless there was bad medicine following this comment, I think you just decide that you don't like him very much, that he hurt your feelings at a bad time, and move on. Anything else is simply setting yourself up for a beating.

Sorry to hear about your tragedy, but as pissed as you may be, unless you have documentation that he backed up his statement with substandard medicine, you just need to move on.

Dwayne

[spenac]

I've gotten frustrated with calls and even vented prior to getting on scene. Once on scene though the patient gets my best efforts. Did the doctor give bad patient care? In fact even if the doctor or myself is cold to the patient does not mean we did not treat correctly. You can give great care w/o becoming friends with your patients.

[Kaisu]

In fact even if the doctor or myself is cold to the patient does not mean we did not treat correctly. You can give great care w/o becoming friends with your patients.

Depends what you're treating. The vast majority of my calls need hand holding and a non-judgmental ear. I try to offer up one constructive thing to the drug seekers, the emotionally needy, the neglected, the marginal and even the assholes. Quantitative medicine comes first, but I am treating a person and not a condition. Pretty touchy feely but I LOVE my job and I work in a hellhole.

PS... this is good for about 20 minutes.... the long distance transfers have me gritting my teeth...

PPS.. for the original poster - I agree that you have to let it go. Those MDs will ALWAYS cover each other's asses - even when the medicine is absurdly bad...

[crotchitymedic1986]

I have to disagree (big shock there). Even when you are not overly rude to a patient, your body language and speech inflection (rolling your eyes, constant sighs) often indicate your attitude. I dont know who said it, but it is a true EMS Axiom: "You can kill a patient with your treatment, but as long as you smile, hold their hand, and show compassion, you will never get a complaint. But you can save someone's life with a poor bedside manner, and you will get a complaint every time."

[firedoc5]

Oh yes, I've had that many times. Most of them were the local docs that "had" to work the ER in rotation if a regular ER doc couldn't work. Guess they thought that seeing a pt., no matter their status, after office hours was a hassle.

It is frustrating. Especially if you've fought tooth & nail on someone in the field only to bring them to a apathetic and complaintant doc in the ER.

[crazyemt5150]

We have one of those doc's here. Complete ahole at sometimes its really annoying but you will get a chance to bust their chops every once in awhile

[firedoc5]

Now I do remember one doc that left a CA to go out and have a smoke.

[Richard B the EMT]

The ER action this string started with sounds reminiscent of an early "ER" show plot. A White doctor presumed the Black kid, who had been shot in the chest, was a "Gang-Banger" shot in the commission of some gang activity, based solely on the "fact" that it was a Black teenager.

Imagine his surprise when the hotshot surgeon, also a Black man, started all sorts of treatments on the "Gang-Banger", wondering openly why the surgeon was "waisting his time and hospital resources on a 'banger'". It wasn't until the surgeon turned around and punched him that he found out the Black teenager was: 1) from a respectable family, 2) was an honor student, and most importantly 3) the surgeon's nephew!

On hearing the commotion, and on hearing the story, the doctor in charge overall of the ER fired the White doctor.