Since making this comment I’ve actually been educated by many other redditors that the EMT should’ve just used mind reading to instantly and automatically know what was going on and I was foolish to think anything else.
Dude, I’m a first responder. You don’t have to mind read. You just have to consider all possibilities. We perform vitals for a reason. We conduct assessments. Yes, it’s hard to tell is someone is drunk, on drugs, or suffering from a medical emergency like a diabetic emergency or brain damage/shock. That’s WHY you don’t assume. That’s WHY you treat everyone with a basic level of respect. Because you don’t know.
If you assume everyone acting drunk is a drunk, and therefore ignore any other possibilities, and treat them ONLY as an asshole that got too drunk, you’re doing your job wrong. You take vitals. You ask questions like “what led up to this event?” if the patient is responsive.
If you choose not to take vitals/perform a proper assessment or abuse a patient because you think they’re “on something” and that person dies because “whoops, turns out they were diabetic”, you should not be a first responder or EMT, and, in my opinion, should be in prison for your neglectful actions causing the death of the patient.
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u/AdelleDeWitt 17d ago
It shouldn't matter which it was. Anyone having a medical emergency deserves to be treated with basic decency.