Basics First

Status
Not open for further replies.

RedBlanketRunner

Opheophagus Hannah Cuddler
337
58
28
A friend came by to show me her 'spider bite'. Diagnosed as such by an ER doc. It hadn't healed in over a month and she returned to that doc. He said that was typical of some types of spider "poison."

Curious, I did a rudimentary assessment and asked her general past medical history. Bells rang and I did a glucose check. 210.

And doc, spiders have venoms, glandular secretions, proteins that have various toxic properties. As a rule they are harmless if digested where most poisons aren't.
 

CCCSD

Forum Deputy Chief
1,757
1,081
113
So now you know more than the MDs?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

silver

Forum Asst. Chief
916
125
43
A friend came by to show me her 'spider bite'. Diagnosed as such by an ER doc. It hadn't healed in over a month and she returned to that doc. He said that was typical of some types of spider "poison."

Curious, I did a rudimentary assessment and asked her general past medical history. Bells rang and I did a glucose check. 210.

And doc, spiders have venoms, glandular secretions, proteins that have various toxic properties. As a rule they are harmless if digested where most poisons aren't.

Doctors are specifically taught to avoid jargon when possible...
 
OP
OP
RedBlanketRunner

RedBlanketRunner

Opheophagus Hannah Cuddler
337
58
28
So now you know more than the MDs. Did you call the physician and tell him how stupid he was?
I work within my level of training. May I respectfully request you do the same.
Doctors are specifically taught to avoid jargon when possible...
I'd like to hear a physician or two weigh in on that. Last I heard, from numerous physicians, is they are not constrained in such fashion.

But what is interesting here is I get trollish comments directed my way but the rudimentary miss the physician did twice is ignored.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
RedBlanketRunner

RedBlanketRunner

Opheophagus Hannah Cuddler
337
58
28
You already have.
More than one as a matter of fact. One a pretty angry physician towards other physicians that didn't spell out to the woman, clearly and in detail, that she was a borderline. She thought the diet they put her on was for weight loss.
He also went so far as to compliment me on my catch. And interestingly, he too is an avid entomologist and we had a nice discussion of arachnid evolution over lunch.
 

hometownmedic5

Forum Asst. Chief
806
612
93
I’ll bet my left kidney, which is my favorite kidney, that right around 0% of that is true.

You’re not going to make any friends playing the super basic(or medic) card around here. There are straight whacker forums that are little more than an echo chamber for people to congratulate each other. This isn‘t one of them.

Please try to keep in mind that a sugar at that level is indicative of a problem, but is a far cry from a hair on fire emergency. It’s good that you checked it. Thoroughness is appreciated; but lets pump the brakes on the BLS saves MD routine, k?
 
OP
OP
RedBlanketRunner

RedBlanketRunner

Opheophagus Hannah Cuddler
337
58
28
but lets pump the brakes on the BLS saves MD routine, k?
Let's pump the brakes on know all of all doctors the world over. Sounds like that maybe a cop who speaks for every cop in the world, bitter, vindictive, snide and weighs in on medical he is obviously clueless about constantly.
FYI, many of the docs here get paid $7 per patient visit. The doc I work with most often was trained in Bangladesh and Singapore and does the physician route only to help people. His main trade is in the chemistry field. My other favorite doc was trained in Australia and owns a couple of commercial fishing boats. The doc who took my wife's appendix out did it gratis. Never explained why. It's an entirely different ballgame than in the US. Don't hold the entire world to the standards you happen to know.
You owe me a kidney.
 
Last edited:

Peak

ED/Prehospital Registered Nurse
1,023
604
113
Let me offer some advice that I didn't receive until I was working in the hospital with an amazing old school EM doc (old school like trained in the 70s, still working, and still compassionate). I certainly didn't appreciate it when I was in the fire service, nor the first level 1 I worked at.

Talking poorly of another doctor, nurse, paramedics, another hospital, or other departments doesn't make you look better, it actually makes you look worse. The term in the physician community is jousting. You can certainly guide a patient to better care or make recommendations, but talking poorly of others in public just makes you look like a jerk.

Take all of those ambulance driver vs doctor helper memes on Facebook. They don't make nurses or EMS look more professional. The same goes when you talk poorly of a doctor, nurse, medic, or whomever else publicly. This doesn't mean you can't offer good care or justify why you are doing something different than prior care providers, but you have to be professional about it.
 

Tigger

Dodges Pucks
Community Leader
7,844
2,794
113
A friend came by to show me her 'spider bite'. Diagnosed as such by an ER doc. It hadn't healed in over a month and she returned to that doc. He said that was typical of some types of spider "poison."

Curious, I did a rudimentary assessment and asked her general past medical history. Bells rang and I did a glucose check. 210.

And doc, spiders have venoms, glandular secretions, proteins that have various toxic properties. As a rule they are harmless if digested where most poisons aren't.
So what is your diagnosis then?
 

akflightmedic

Forum Deputy Chief
3,891
2,564
113
@RBR....Just a quick check in, maybe for your benefit, maybe not?

Many of us on here have worked, lived, and played in third worlds or "less". The majority of us here strive to elevate our profession so that when newbies enter, they see an entirely different side of EMS as opposed to chest thumping hero saves.

We also have many doctors on this very forum...some who were former medics turn doc, some who are docs but love EMS. We have NPs, PAs, CRNA's, RNs, Paramedics, Basics and every other title imaginable contributing in a positive, education, professional format.

The way you keep presenting topics does little to improve our profession, they do little to teach others who do not have the higher education or experience of those I listed. We ALL have done some pretty amazing things...the difference is we do not share them unless there is a lesson to be learned or it is very relevant to the topic at hand, as in improving someone's understanding.

We are happy to hear your perspectives, experiences, and we would love to learn from your encounters to adjust our own care, perceptions or whatever....however, it is imperative that you present it in a professional manner for that bonus learning to occur.

Just my direct opinion from watching your first post to now...
 

silver

Forum Asst. Chief
916
125
43
Talking poorly of another doctor, nurse, paramedics, another hospital, or other departments doesn't make you look better, it actually makes you look worse. The term in the physician community is jousting. You can certainly guide a patient to better care or make recommendations, but talking poorly of others in public just makes you look like a jerk.

...And remember, there is always more than 1 side to a story (especially on the internet).


An EM doc is there to treat emergencies, not diagnose chronic conditions. Did your "friend" go to their PCP after they went to the ED the first time?
 
OP
OP
RedBlanketRunner

RedBlanketRunner

Opheophagus Hannah Cuddler
337
58
28
So what is your diagnosis then?
No necrosis evident. Good profusion at the site of the injury but poor profusion and water retention in lower extremities. Doc fired off a battery of tests but I'm out of the loop there. Smells like he's sleuthing for latent chronic.

We are happy to hear your perspectives, experiences, and we would love to learn from your encounters to adjust our own care, perceptions or whatever....however, it is imperative that you present it in a professional manner for that bonus learning to occur.
I would ask tolerance as well s extend apologies if needed.
It is difficult for much of the medical world to grasp 3rd world medical practice where the hierarchy chain often doesn't exist. Well over half the people I encounter have limited or no access to medical care. Between extremely poor education standards, or no education at all - as my mother in law, for those who are at or below poverty level with basic health care there is usually a queue starting around 03:00, and there are thousands, tens of thousands of stateless people who risk deportation, getting locked up in refugee camps, or press ganged into illegal logging that simply have no access to medical care at all. The governments could not care less about those people. They are cheap labor if they stay in line and healthy, nothing more.
So the NGOs enter the picture. And other stop gaps like field health care workers who often can't send the patients to a regular hospital and deal directly with the physicians who often offer advice and sometimes medication gratis.
It's a major jump shift from the medical world I knew in the States. A whole heck of a lot of free form thinking on your feet and working out how to get a person medical care without trying to get them into a system that doesn't want them. And people like me cultivate relationships with certain doctors out of necessity both ways. These docs aren't in it for the money obviously. They want to provide care and often throw niceties and even the book out the window.

So what I mentioned about my doc being angry was an understatement. He doesn't just go through the motions. His patients aren't on an assembly line*. He doesn't get perks for pushing meds or specialist diagnostics. And he, and the numerous others with the same mentality appreciate the efforts of people in the field so they can make the connections and often make a real difference.
Take that gal in my other post Alternative EMT stuff. Probable CVA. She's hill tribe. Non citizen. Ice cubes chance in hell she will ever get a scan and diagnosis. That would probably be a years wages. Dozens and dozens of people who need diagnostics and treatment that will never happen. Got HIV? Tough. You can't afford medication. Renal issues? Better hope you won't need a kidney transplant. Amputations? Get by without that part. And on and on and on.

*And that doc, also being an entomologist, knows that for every medically significant spider bite there are several thousand more likely causes. There are only around 10 species of spider that even possess medically significant venom and around 5 that can cause necrosis. Paraphrasing him: "Diagnosing a spider bite without seeing and identifying the spider is like diagnosing a gunshot wound without finding the bullet or having an exit wound".
 
Last edited:

hometownmedic5

Forum Asst. Chief
806
612
93
I don’t need either the exit wound or the bullet to diagnose someone as gun shot.

question 1: was there a gun?
question 2: did it go off?
Question 3: was it pointed at this fella when it did/
question 4: has he always had this smoking, bleeding hole in his chest?
Diagnosis: high velocity penetrating trauma to the thorax.

I get that not everybody on earth practices within the environs of a world class academic hospital, but if the doctors in your country have such ****ty training and practices, what in the world is there to suggest that an EMS worker has received such substantially greater training? I’m all for case reviews, and the occasional humble brag is allowable, but if you’re only going to post here about how awesome you are and then argue the point endlessly, can we just not?
 

Summit

Critical Crazy
2,691
1,312
113
I'm picking up on the OP's posting formula:

I will present someone as making a gross mistake or obvious oversight. Then I'll talk about how I figured it out.

Everyone has stories like that... but if the only stories you tell are variations on that theme...
 

akflightmedic

Forum Deputy Chief
3,891
2,564
113
This one time, the patient started complaining of the feeling of not being able to breathe. And then they showed obvious signs of discomfort, and his O2 sats started to drop. It was obvious he needed some help. While the doctor and attending called out for a nurse to do something, they then paged respiratory. RT and RN grabbed a non-breather and started fumbling with untangling the tubing, all the while you could sense the panic and urgency in the air as the patient was now extremely anxious and declining in front of our eyes.

I decided to not hold back...all these smart people and nothing was happening....so I reached over and sat the patient upright. Ahhh, immediate relief. The patient calmed down, sats increased, decreased effort to breathe...we all smiled, high fived and thought how close of a call that was!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top