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all 45 comments

[–]macwiz1220CT/NY/NREMT-Paramedic student, EMT Instructor Intern 11 points12 points ago

Almost as bad as patients denying any medical history, then handing you a bag full of prescription meds.

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 12 points13 points ago

And they definitely don't have diabetes- they've got the sugars.

[–]DiamondwolfWI EMT-P 9 points10 points ago

And they certainly don't have any cardiac problems. Not since that pacer was put in!

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 5 points6 points ago

Amen.

[–]ithinkthereforeNYC EMT 3 points4 points ago

Or denying psych history and listing Haldol as an allergy. Hmm, I wonder how they found that one out.

[–]MedicUp 5 points6 points ago

What they could possibly mean is that the person had a dystonic reaction to Haldol, which is a commonly associated - but very unpleasant - side effect of typical anti-psychotics.

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 0 points1 point ago

She had gotten a haldol shot the day before, and then called 911 when her tongue swelled to about apple-size. Both pieces of info were per pt, so who knows what the truth was.

[–]MedicUp 2 points3 points ago

"Patient is an unreliable historian."

Sigh

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 4 points5 points ago

I'm going to have to start adding that to my PCRs...

[–]Pixel16MA EMT-B 2 points3 points ago

thats usually what I end up saying, or "patient shows signs of advanced dementia, AAOx1" I actually had to explain myself when i had a pt who couldnt even tell me theyre name...

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 1 point2 points ago

yikes. I've only seen that level of fogginess in a conscious pt following a seizure or an OD.

[–]JshWright 2 points3 points ago

That's a classic dystonic reaction. Sounds fairly reasonable to me.

Specifically, it was an oromandibular dystonia (surprisingly common side effect of antipsychotics). Her tongue likely wasn't actually swollen, but was involuntarily moving towards the roof of her mouth, making it feel swollen.

[–]JshWright 1 point2 points ago

So, you were unfamiliar with oromandibular dystonia as a side effect of Haldol...

How is that the patient's fault?

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 2 points3 points ago

It's no one's fault. It was just funny when I asked about allergies, then current meds and haldol was in both categories.

[–]JshWright -1 points0 points ago

But... it was actually in both categories. She had received it recently enough that is warranted being listed as a medication she was on, and she had an adverse reaction to it, which is why she said she was allergic to it. Both of those things are true (well... you can get picky about the fact that a dystonic reaction isn't technically an 'allergic' reaction...)

Generally speaking, dystonic reactions don't occur the first time you take a med. They commonly occur after dosing increases, etc, so it's quite likely she's been on haldol in some form or another for quite some time.

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 1 point2 points ago

Yeah, it legitimately was in both categories, but it made me do a double take to hear them say it. I'm not saying it's wrong, it's just a funny thing to hear.

[–]hungoverbearMI EMT-B 5 points6 points ago

Medic: Are you allergic to anything? PT: yes i'm allergic to Haldol! Medic: ok what happens when you take Haldol? PT: I get really sleepy Medic: And thats it? PT: Yep Medic: *facepalm

[–]sumamus_exordioNREMT-B 2 points3 points ago

i'm allergic to epinephrine- it makes my heart race.

[–]silenceisconsent 6 points7 points ago

One of my nursing home patients had an allergy list as follows: Valium oral 2.5mg, Valium IV 2.5mg, Valium oral 5mg, Valium IV 5mg, Valium oral 10mg, Valium IV 10mg.

Doctor, maybe if we try 1.25mg, the allergy will disappear!

[–]JshWright 0 points1 point ago

That's likely just an automatically generated list that explicitly contraindicates every med they can pull.

[–]silenceisconsent 0 points1 point ago

Sadly, I made a comment about it... Something like "Well it looks like she's allergic to Valium!" Nurse said, "Yeah, we tried to taper down the dosage but it never helped at all."

[–]ExiDuzNJ-EMT 0 points1 point ago

You must be the life of parties

[–]Pixel16MA EMT-B 2 points3 points ago

my local hospital does this ALL THE TIME! (private transfer company) and of course im returning the LOLFDGB w/ "advanced dementia"

for those who didnt know that one its: little old lady, fall down go boom =P

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 1 point2 points ago

One of my all-time favorite acronyms.

[–]rumentrocarNC EMT-P/MS2 1 point2 points ago

"I'm allergic to lisinopril."

"Oh yeah, what happens when you take it."

"I get this dry cough."

Sigh.

[–]precordial_thumpFDNY Paramedic 2 points3 points ago

"I'm allergic to morphine"

"Oh? What happens when you take it?"

"I get nauseous"

ಠ_ಠ

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 3 points4 points ago

Ha! I heard a similar one -

"I'm allergic to Narcan, if you give it to me, I will get all sweaty and start puking."

You mean you'll come down?

[–]JshWright 4 points5 points ago

Why would you give Narcan to someone who is talking to you?

[–]cnash6NC EMT-B 0 points1 point ago

Agreed. If he's breathing, let him have his high.. I wouldn't risk an angry, possibly combative, post-comedown dude in front of me.

[–]JshWright 1 point2 points ago

Exactly... Narcan should be titrated to 'effective respirations' not consciousness... If you woke them up, you pushed too much.

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 0 points1 point ago

I wasn't giving Narcan. I'm just an EMT. I was helping out some medics, and the pt was barely conscious, and only able to speak a couple words at a time for the first few minutes we were on scene.

They respirations started decreasing, and as they were losing consciousness managed to tell us about the narcan allergy.

[–]sumamus_exordioNREMT-B 2 points3 points ago

i was standing too close to one of these after narcan was pushed. got punched in the face for "ruining my high, bitch!"

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 3 points4 points ago

Yeah, giving someone narcan immediately makes you an officer of the "fun police".

[–]4ourfeathers 1 point2 points ago

I still love the hospital patients that I see that are allerigic to Tylenol and ibuprofen and aspirin...but Toradol, morphine, Norco, Dilaudid are totally fine

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 1 point2 points ago

I'm in the process of making EMS bingo for my agency. Drug seekers will definitely be one of the boxes.

[–]sumamus_exordioNREMT-B 1 point2 points ago

during my clinicals, a medic told me that with some seekers, you can give them some saline "for the pain" and placebo effect will do the rest.

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 0 points1 point ago

Ha! I'll have to give that a try some time.

[–]JshWright 1 point2 points ago

Be sure to call it "Normals Aline" (Nor-malz A-lean)

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 0 points1 point ago

It's isotonic bro, it'll mess you up.

[–]4ourfeathers 0 points1 point ago

It works for pseudoseizures too.

Doc: "PUSH AN AMP OF NS STAT!"

Pt: "Whoa, what happened???"

[–]Pixel16MA EMT-B 0 points1 point ago

facepalm

[–]VcookieNYC EMT-B[S] 1 point2 points ago

"I can't take asprin, it could make a GI bleed worse."

"You have a GI bleed in addition to your chest pain?"

"Well, not that I know of, but I can't know for sure"

lolwut.

[–]dysreflexia 0 points1 point ago

I've had this - pt taking aspirin claimed to be allergic to aspirin. Further questions revealed the pt was incapable of answering questions properly.

[–]Darpa_Chief 0 points1 point ago

I always put this kind of joke in my friends practice scenarios....I can't believe this actually happened!

[–]jlitz 0 points1 point ago

Every time I see a GIF resubmitted for karma, I find myself wanting to tell you assholes to go back to digg, where you belong.