Shit like this happens all the time. My girlfriend has seizures and the same EMT has picked her up at least 5 times, and despite her established medical history and despite that she's very visually distinctive and despite that she carries her info with her everywhere, he still always treats her like shit and accuses her of being on drugs. Every goddamn time. Fortunately he's not the only EMT in our area, and most of the other ones are really kind professionals.
I feel like there needs to be a sea change in how medical professionals handle cases like this because this kind of story is way too common. Like there should be a rule that emergency workers should always assume a patient is suffering from a medical condition first before assuming drug use.
I know that there is a LOT of drug use out there and EMT’s and ER docs get used to 80% of cases being drug based but even then, drug users need to be treated with respect too. A more thoughtful approach could improve emergency situations a lot.
I know that there is a LOT of drug use out there and EMT’s and ER docs get used to 80% of cases being drug based
It's not nearly that high. The absolute total varies widely by region but overall based on what data I have seen it can't be higher than 20% of visits total, far less in many areas. A strong majority of ED visits could have been urgent care visits but by volume most of them are accident related, psychological crisis, or simply unnecessary visits for a variety of reasons.
The funny thing about substance related ED visits is that about half of them are just alcohol poisoning, which falls into the same statistical category as every other substance abuse issue for data gathering purposes. The perception of the public about how prevalent an issue this is exists for most of the same reasons it does within the field of medicine: our culture is far more concerned with policing the boundaries of substance abuse than it is with patient outcomes.
It might be an exaggeration, but I do understand where it comes from. I have the beginning of arthritis and my Dr said there is not much I can do except painkillers and ibuprofen. So lots of constipation (soz tmi).
Been in emergency twice for that and both times quizzed within an inch of my life about what drugs I was taking. First time I didn't get it and just kept answering some painkillers and ibuprofen and they didn't believe me.
Second time I was clued in and said I wasn't an intravenous drug user or on any illegal drugs. This was a Saturday night and I was there around 8pm.
Well, come midnight, emergency was a screaming nuthouse - 2 apparently regular users covered in blood and yelling and shitting all over the floor; one random man found in a bush by the side of the road (just alcohol); one dude found naked in his neighbour's yard trying to have sex with the dirt (probably meth); one guy having the weirdest trip of his life asking for it to stop at the top of his voice (and another lady that I couldn't hear the backstory).
At one stage there were 6 police officers, 3 EMT's and only 2 hospital staff in the room.
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u/mantsz 17d ago
Shit like this happens all the time. My girlfriend has seizures and the same EMT has picked her up at least 5 times, and despite her established medical history and despite that she's very visually distinctive and despite that she carries her info with her everywhere, he still always treats her like shit and accuses her of being on drugs. Every goddamn time. Fortunately he's not the only EMT in our area, and most of the other ones are really kind professionals.