February 10, 2013

• Terrifying things

  When people come into the ER, they always have a “chief complaint.”

  This is the main reason that person is here.  Usually it is quite easily summed up.  

  “Sore Throat”

  “Leg pain”

  “I have a cockroach in my ear (true story)”

   

  Now while some of the complaints I see cause no immediate alarm, others cause even my callous blackened heart to beat a little faster.

   

  “Status Asthmaticus” = terror

  “Bleeding Fistula” = better check this out soon

  “I’ve been shot” = ought to poke my head in the room in the near future.

   

  So our hero came in with a chief complaint of “I’ve been shot”

  As it turns out, he had been shot… about 20 years ago.  This made it slightly less concerning.  He was also concerned (4:30am) that said bullet now was deeply lodged in his spine.

  Unfortunately, he truly had a bullet in him.  Fortunately the bullet was just under his skin where it had been for a long time, and nowhere near his spine.

   

  Another life saved…

  • 7:50 pm
  • 2 Comments