Jump to content

"talk and die" syndrome - potentially deadly head injury


spenac

Recommended Posts

That didn't make any relevant sense whatsoever. Got a minute to clue the rest of us in as to what you meant there?

Bumps on the noggin are very common. Many people are totally competent to refuse care after a bump on the noggin. Refusing BLS care when they're totally competent, resulting in cancellation of ALS, seems perfectly appropriate and normal to me.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

cant help stupid...that is a preexisting condition

Not sure I can agree with you on that point. Nothing to suggest she was "stupid." The incident occurred and she initially felt fine, had no noticeable problems, and refused. I dare say many of us would do the same thing.

What are we to do, demand a CT with every injury? As Doczilla stated, there are pitfalls to having CT's. Even one CT may potentially increase your cancer risk. While it is common technology, it is a diagnostic procedure with potential risks.

Take care,

chbare.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

cant help stupid...that is a preexisting condition

So with you the patient can not win.

She didn't call EMS. Someone else called EMS. She wasn't feeling symptomatic at the time. EMS was canceled. What makes her stupid? YOU would have probably have thought she was stupid if she had wanted transport without obvious symptoms.

When someone suffers a fall, I look at how the fall happened. If a ski instructor or martial arts instructor, who see hundreds of falls, tell me the patient took a hard hit, I may give some weight to that.

I would also look at the patient's age, overall body structure, fitness level and medications. How she fell would also provide some clues. Did her feet just fly out from under her not allowing time to break her fall? Other injuries to arms, hands or knees that indicated she may have broken her fall before her head hit? Surface?

I seriously doubt if this is going to have everyone running to the ED. Our radiology department was talking about this but still have not seen an increase in people demanding CT Scans. And, that is with our sometimes overly cautious doctors. We also will admit some patients on a 23 hour hospital stay for observation it there is something that makes the doctors feel uncomfortable. But, so far, admissions have not increased from people who are scared they have a subdural hematoma.

Edited by VentMedic
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure I can agree with you on that point. Nothing to suggest she was "stupid." The incident occurred and she initially felt fine, had no noticeable problems, and refused. I dare say many of us would do the same thing.

What are we to do, demand a CT with every injury? As Doczilla stated, there are pitfalls to having CT's. Even one CT may potentially increase your cancer risk. While it is common technology, it is a diagnostic procedure with potential risks.

Take care,

chbare.

I was making a generalized statement, nothing towards the person on topic. I guess I was somewhat still hinging on my last post as when a patient that is fully informed that they could die or be a vegetable, and they choose to take chances. In that case you cant help stupid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...